WHAT ARE FLEXIBLE WORK OPTIONS

Flexible work options offer creative approaches for completing work while promoting balance between work and personal commitments. These approaches involve use of non-traditional work hours, locations, and/or job structures, flexible work arrangements, time worked does not equate to achieved outcomes. Outcomes are based on the staff member's achievement of results and use of competencies critical to achieving those results. Except in the case of conversion from full-time to a less-than-full time schedule, such as for a part-time assignment or job share, the total numbers of hours worked and expected productivity remain the same.

Typical flexible work options are:

Flextime: The most requested, easiest to manage and the most affordable FWO, flextime offers flexibility in arrival, departure and/or lunch times, typically with a designated core-time mid-day during which all staff are present.

Flexplace: This arrangement allows for a portion of the job to be performed off-site, on a regular, recurring basis. The majority of work time is spent at the office and the off-site work typically is done at home. It may be the most complicated flexible work option to arrange since it generally requires electronic equipment and technological support.

Note: Flexplace does not connote the professional or management practice of working at home after-hours to work on reports or presentations or to catch up on reading. For University purposes, Flexplace also does not represent an off-site work arrangement implemented by the organization to meet organizational goals and requiring use of electronic equipment and technology to complete the work assignment. This is referred to as Telecommuting assignment. Most or all of the work is performed at the off-site location.

Compressed Work Schedules: A traditional 35-40 hour work week is condensed into fewer than five days of work. This option is more easily applied to non-exempt (weekly paid) staff for whom maximum work hours are identified, but it is not ruled out for monthly paid staff who may work more than 40 hours during the work week. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires weekly paid staff to be paid overtime if they work over 40 hours in a work week.

Part-time work is a regular arrangement for between 17.5 and 28 hours a week. This is different from a temporary work assignment where an employee is expected to have a temporary, non-recurring relationship to the workplace and does not receive paid time off.

Job sharing allows two staff members to share the responsibilities of one full-time position, typically with a prorated salary and paid time off. This is not the same as a part-time job. Each staff member shares a specific proportion of a full-time position. Creative and innovative schedules can be designed to meet the needs of the job sharers and the office. Note: If one position is scheduled for less than 17.5 hours a week, it becomes temporary and cannot retain regular part-time status.