Flexitime

I have heard many employees complaining about working hours and in

the process of interviewing new employees, I was also asked a lot about
that.
I have thought many times about that issue so I suggest that our company
should apply the flexitime policies for all departments not for only office
staffs.
Flextime – also known as flexitime – refers to flexible working
arrangements where employees are given the freedom to select when their
working day begins and ends, as long as they work their contracted
number of hours.
For many employees, the ability to have a healthy work-life balance ranks
highly in the list of what they want from a workplace. This is where
flexible working hours prove to be an advantage.

What does a flex time policy include?

Employee eligibility

Not all employees fit into a flexible time policy, and not all employees have
needs.

Consider which employees may be eligible for flexible hours at your

company. Outline what positions (e.g. IT) and job types (e.g. full-time
employees) qualify for flexible time in your policy. And, outline roles that
cannot take advantage of flexible time.

In your policy, you should also specify what makes certain employees
eligible for flexible hours, such as a solid attendance record and good work
performance.

 Acceptable hours

A flexible time policy should include a section detailing acceptable hours for
employees. This section serves as a guide for employees when they require
or use flexible time.

In this section include information about:

Number of hours the employee must work per day/week (e.g. 40 hours per
week)

Acceptable hours (e.g. employees can work anytime between 6am and 7pm)
Consistency in hours (e.g. working on the same flexible hours each day)

Lunch and break

This section will clarify what is and is not acceptable for flexible working
hours. Break down as much time information as possible to avoid confusion.

You might also consider including “core hours” for your employees to
follow in this section. Core hours are the time all flex-time employees must
work to help enhance collaboration. For example, you can require all
employees to work flex hours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in case you need to
have a meeting.

If you want employees to fill out a form for their flexible time request, be
sure to include where they can access the form.

 Discipline
If an employee breaks any rules pertaining to your flextime policy, lay
out the consequences in this section. Include whether they get “warnings”
or “strikes” for certain situations.

For example, you may give an employee a warning if they don’t work
during your core hours one day. But, you may give an employee a strike
if you catch them taking advantage of flextime and not working during
their flextime hours.

If you plan on requiring employees to have a trial or probationary period

for flex time, also include details about it in this section (e.g., two-week
probation period).

implementing flextime

When it comes to implementing a flex time policy, you must keep a few
things in mind. You need to:

Think about which employees you will offer flex time to

Spell out your policy in your employee handbook
Be clear about your expectations
Set up consequences if flex time rules are broken

Benefits to your employees

A SHRM study found that 80% of employers saw an increase in
employee engagement and morale after offering flexible work
arrangements.
Increased opportunities to match other commitments and activities at
work and make better use of their free time
Take more control of their workload and manage a better work-life
balance. Allow employees to schedule travel and work time to avoid
congestion
Avoid the stress of commuting to work during rush hour if their start and
finish times are mixed or if they work from home
Personal matters can be sorted out without a break
Useful for caregivers of children or other dependents
Benefits to your organization
Greater staff morale and job satisfaction
Greater staff retention and increased ability to attract new staff
Ability to attract a higher level of skills because the business is able to
attract and retain a skilled and more diverse workforce.
An incentive to complete tasks instead of being carried forward to the
next day as extra hours worked count towards the final target

For example, flextime will allow your staff members to drop their
children at school when they miss their bus. Similarly, your employee can
visit a doctor who's available only in the morning and join work after the
appointment.

Conclusion: The more you include in your policy about flex time, the
better off your business will be. Be sure your policy is thorough and
consistent. That way, employees know your expectations and have a
crystal clear understanding of how the flextime process works.