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Improving Work-Life Fit in Hourly Jobs
The Center for WorkLife Law
Half of the team teleworks at all times;
the other half uses a combination of
flexible starting and stopping times,
and compressed workweeks. (Corporate
Voices n.d.)
· At Proctor & Gamble, some administrative
assistants use compressed workweeks,
which allows for greater flexibility in
scheduling meetings or meeting customer
needs. The result has been a decrease in
overtime costs. (Corporate Voices n.d.)
Flex-time
Flex-time schedules allow workers flexibility in when
they start and stop work. Only 37% of low-wage
workers, and 39% of other hourly workers, can choose
their own starting and stopping times. (Swanberg
2008) A survey of five companies that offer workplace
flexibility found that 13% of hourly workers surveyed
used flex-time that could be changed on a daily
basis, and 30% used flex-time on a set schedule.
(Corporate Voices n.d.) A study of eight unionized
companies found that 65% of employees with eldercare
responsibilities, 58% of employees with children
under 18, and 54% of employers overall used flex-
time; usage rates were higher among white-, pink- and
blue-collar workers. (Berg & Kossek n.d. a) Flex-time
is something professionals often take for granted; it is
a highly prized benefit for hourly workers who can use
it, for example, to match their work hours with their
partner's work hours when tag teaming, or to enable
them to care for an elder before coming to work.
· Kodak, with 62,000 employees in the U.S.
offers flex-time. (McGuire & Brashler n.d.)
· At Autoliv Australia, which manufactures
seat belts for cars, factory workers can start
at 6, 7, 8 or 9 a.m. (Heymann 2010)
· Bottom Line Systems, Inc. (BLS), provides
medical services to 85 client companies,
offers 30-minute Flex, which allows
associates to start work 30 minutes before
or after their designated starting time, and
leave work 30 minutes before or after their
designed ending time. (Swanberg 2010)
· San Clara County in California offers
flex-time, with starting and stopping times
anytime between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m..
(Labor Project for Working Families, n.d.)
· The Library of Congress allows employees
to flex their time by taking off between 11
a.m. and 2 p.m., with prior supervisor
approval, and makes up the time during
the morning or evening, or requests leave
for time spent not working. (Labor Project
for Working Families database, n.d.)
· The Immigration and Naturalization
Service allows employees flex-time,
consistent with service requirements
(Labor Project for Working Families
database n.d.)
· The MITRE Corporation, a government
contractor with 7000 employees, allows
employees at all levels to choose from a
"`Let's try this for a month, everybody
having the opportunity to start a half
hour earlier, but you understand that
we're doing this as a month trial....'
And they found that it worked, and
just gradually it evolved into a little
bit more, but everything was done
on a one-month trial."
"[Flexibility] saves us money by
reducing turnover. The majority of
the work-from-home folks have
been with the company for longer
than 20 years. I would guess that if
we had to replace any of our work-
from-home people, it would cost,
in turnover, retraining, all of it, a
minimum of $60,000 in the first 12
months."