Alternative Work Schedules

The following alternative work schedules allow employees to adjust their work time to balance child care needs and the needs of their employer.

The benefits of alternative work schedules:

  • Contributes to lower absenteeism and higher productivity.
  • Reduces overtime costs.
  • Improve morale and reduce stress for employees who are parents.
  • Enhances recruitment, particularly of those employees who might not be available for a traditional work schedule.
  • Business hours can be extended
  • Economical use of office space and equipment

Flexible leave policies

Systems that allow accrued sick and annual leave to be combined for employees’ to use as they choose. Policies may include paid or unpaid “personal leave time.”

Parental leave

Sometimes called “family leave,” a flexible policy that provides time off for mothers or fathers to care for newborn or very young children.

Flex-time

Work schedules that allow employees to vary their arrival and/or departure times as long as they work a prescribed number of hours per pay period and are present during a daily “core time,” usually peak business hours.  Flex-time is the most commonly known of
the alternative work schedule options.

Job sharing

Two or more workers share the duties of one full-time job, each working part-time. Alternatively, two or more workers who have unrelated part-time assignments may share the same budget line.

Compressed workweek

 A work schedule enabling full-time employees to work the equivalent of a full week in less than 5 days, or for employees on biweekly pay schedules to work less than 10 full work days.

Part-time employment

Can refer to portions of days, weeks, months, or years worked by temporary or permanent workers.

Voluntary reduced work time

Employees can reduce their work time and salary by a specified amount (usually 5-50 percent) for a specific period (6-12 months) or permanently, while retaining benefits and seniority on a pro-rated basis.

Flex-place-telecommuting

Employees work at home or at a satellite work site where they are connected to their offices by computer and/or telephone.

Phased retirement

Enables employees to transition gradually from full-time work to retirement. During an interim period of part time work, the employee may train a replacement worker.