What is flextime?

Flextime gives employees the option to work flexible hours instead of traditional office hours. Employers usually allow team members to use flextime to better accommodate their personal schedules. For example:

• A parent might choose to work 7am to 3pm to pick up their child from school.
• Someone who prefers later hours might work 10am to 6pm.
• An employee could take a longer lunch break (e.g., 11am to 1pm) and make up the time by starting earlier or staying later.

An employee’s schedule has a major impact on their life, so many candidates seek employers with flextime policies. Offering flextime helps show you support a healthy work-life balance, making it an important tool for attracting and retaining quality team members.

Examples of flexible work arrangements

Some employers allow team members to create their own flexible schedules, while others handle team scheduling. These are common examples of flextime policies:

• Flexible start and end times: Employees who come to work in the early morning can go home earlier, and those who start later stay later in the evening.
• Job sharing: Two employees share the same position. One person may work in the morning, while the other works in the afternoon. Alternatively, one employee may work half the week, leaving the remaining days to the other employee.
• Compressed workweek: Team members work four days per week, but they work longer hours to make up for the fifth workday. For example, some companies may offer four 10-hour shifts.
• Remote work: Employees work from home or another location outside the office, either full-time or several days throughout the week.
• Summer Fridays: Employers give team members Fridays off or allow remote work on Fridays during the summer.

Flextime advantages and disadvantages

Common advantages of offering flextime may include:

• Increased interest: Offering flextime can show candidates you’re willing to accommodate their needs, which may encourage candidates to seek employment with your company.
• Improved work-life balance : Allowing employees to work when it’s most convenient for them makes it easier to achieve work-life balance. This often leads to improved employee well-being.
• Enhanced trust within the workplace : Creating flextime policies encourages team members to appreciate you as an employer and builds trust in your leadership team. Having a strong relationship with employers often cultivates employee loyalty, resulting in stronger retention rates.

Common disadvantages certain companies face with flex schedules include:

• Business needs: If you need to operate at full capacity during specific hours, flextime may not be the best option.
• Scheduling difficulties: It may be more challenging to include all employees in meetings and other events.
• Communication complexity: Using team communication software can help enhance collaboration while giving employees the flexibility they need. This type of software lets individuals store messages and files in a central location, ensuring everyone can access the same information regardless of their location.

How to determine if flextime is right for your business

Follow these steps to determine if flextime is the right option for your business.

1. Determine whether employees can work nontraditional hours

Assess your team’s work style, job functions, business goals and organizational culture. The following considerations may help you evaluate if flextime is a good fit for your organization:

• Is the work outcome-based or time-based?
• Are there set hours required for collaboration?
• Do you have the tools for both synchronous and asynchronous communication?
• Can employees easily track their time and productivity?

2. Decide how flextime impacts job performance

Analyze your team’s current productivity levels to determine how well they may perform working remotely or in nontraditional settings. If you believe your employees have the self-discipline to work independently, they may excel on a flex schedule.

Consider allowing employees to work nontraditional hours for a few days a week. If they can remain productive, you might implement a permanent flextime policy.

3. Determine if you have the infrastructure to accommodate flextime

Before you offer flextime, make sure your company has the infrastructure to support it. Ask yourself these questions:

• Can our network accommodate increased traffic during work hours?
• If employees want to work late, can they access critical resources, or do those resources go offline at a specific time?
• If working onsite, can employees access parking lots, restrooms and other key areas outside normal business hours?
• Do our employees have the necessary equipment and access to work outside normal business hours or from alternative locations?

You may have to implement several changes to make flextime possible. For example, you can implement key card access to your parking lot, allowing employees to enter and exit anytime.

Tips for implementing a flextime policy

Once you determine a flextime policy is best for your business, follow these tips to implement it:

1. Decide which employees are eligible: Make a list of roles compatible with flextime. Typically, these include roles that can be done remotely or outside traditional business hours.
2. Discuss your expectations: Meet with your team beforehand to communicate the flextime policy and explain expectations. If you have to change their performance metrics to accommodate flextime, make sure everyone understands what they should achieve.
3. Include your policy in your handbook: Once you’ve built a flextime policy that works best for your company, craft a clear and relevant policy to include in your handbook.

When creating a flextime policy for your company, consider your team’s opinions and preferences. The final policy should benefit the organization and its employees.