Flextime – Hard Rules to Follow

As flextime is increasingly overshadowing the 8-5 workday, it is instructive to learn just how widespread the flexible work schedule is.

As reported in the Chicago Tribune, an institute study found that 39% of a sample of large and small companies allow a few of their employees to work a flexible work arrangement at least part of the year. However, for most employees flextime is still difficult to find.

Ensuring a flextime work schedule is many times up to the employee to prove that they can be equally or more productive with a flextime schedule. Many times it is the employee’s responsibility to demonstrate that he/she can be even more productive working a flextime schedule than working a more traditional 40 hours each week.

Carolyn Bigda at the Chicago Tribune has these recommendations:

1. Know the flextime procedure. Does your company have a formal policy about flexible work arrangements? There may be an application that you will need to fill out to make a flextime schedule request.

2. Present a business argument. In your flexible work schedule proposal stress the business benefits over your personal motivations. Although spending extra time with your family is important to you, your boss will be more concerned with your job performance.

3. Be practical. Some managers will be receptive to a flexible work arrangement while others may need some more persuasion. Many companies will only approve a trial period first. Then it is up to the boss to decide whether the new schedule is working for the company or not.

4. Ask upfront. Ask about a company’s flextime policy before you take a new job.

After you have landed a flextime job or convinced your boss that a flexible work schedule will benefit both you and the company, you can focus on further enhancing your work life balance.

National Work and Family Month

In 2003, Fortune Magazine predicted that work-life effectiveness was going to be one of the most important business growth trends of the decade. In collaboration with the Alliance for Work-Life Progress, the National Work-Life Initiative (NWLI) was formed. In addition to publishing an annual work-life special section in Fortune Magazine, the goal of the NWLI was to pass a Congressional resolution instating an official work-life month.

 

On Sept. 5, 2003 the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Resolution 210, designating October as National Work and Family Month. This was a great step toward raising awareness about the importance of maintaining work-life balance. The resolution states that the ability to successfully manage work, family, and personal responsibilities affects the well-being and productivity workers and their workplace.

 

At Needlestack Jobs, we are celebrating National Work and Family Month by offering free access to our online employer center and online job seeker center. Flextime employers will receive full access to the resume bank as well as five job postings for professional flextime jobs on the Needlestack Jobs job board. Flextime job seekers who sign up during October will receive a free three month membership with full access to all job postings, job contact information, unlimited job applications, five resume postings, and unlimited cover letters.

 

National Work and Family Month is a great chance to help connect flextime professionals and employers. Flexible work schedules help working parents manage work-life balance by giving them time to fulfill their family and personal needs while still maintaining work obligations.

 

The Work and Family Connection has a list of ways employers can celebrate National Work and Family Month:

 

- Launch a work-life survey to solicit employee opinion on programs/ offerings that your company should expand upon, add or discontinue.

 

- Solicit real-life stories from employees on how they successfully manage work and family challenges for inclusion into an article to be posted on the corporate Web site.

 

- Have a guest speaker on work and family at the next all staff meeting.

 

- Hold an art contest for the children of employees to participate in depicting work and family together. The art can be displayed on the meeting room walls at an all staff meeting and the top three winners (or their parents) can be presented with a prize.

 

Tips on Asking your Employer about Flextime Options

Flextime is great for working parents with young children, employees who are at the age of retirement but not ready to retire, and full-time employees who are going to school.

However, a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that only about 28 percent of full-time and salaried employees in the USA had flexible work schedules.

If your employer does not currently offer an alternative work schedule, here are five tips on the best ways to go about asking.

1.    Be the best employee you can be. Companies are going to offer flextime to good employees and not to slackers

2.    Outline your job responsibilities and ways to measure productivity with your boss. Your boss will be impressed if you have established goals for yourself and let him know what to expect from you.

3.    Address possible concerns and objections your boss may have right away. One of the biggest concerns is that companies cannot afford to offer flextime to all employees. What your employer should know is that, for financial or personal reasons, not all employees are interested in or would utilize flextime.

4.    Make the proposal about the company and highlight ways flextime will benefit them. Increased productivity, employee satisfaction, and reduced stress are great examples. Focus on how flextime is great for your employer.

5.    Start out small and on a trail basis. Suggest to your boss that you could use some flexibility during your daughter’s track season or while you are taking an extra class at school. If things work out during the trial period your boss may be more open to a flexible schedule in the future.

New Online Employment Site Meets Growing Demand for Flextime Professional Jobs

Many professional employees are seeking flextime work arrangements to optimize work-life balance while employers save in compensation costs. One Ohio online employment job board is helping to connect the two parties.

Columbus,OH (PRWEB) September 17, 2007 — Flexible work hour arrangements are becoming an increasingly popular employee-employer agreement. Flextime allows an employee to select personalized working hours, often drifting from the typical Monday through Friday routine. As an increasing portion of America’s employers and employees are realizing flextime’s benefits, the alternative work arrangement is gaining popularity.

Employees with flextime schedules feel an increased sense of work-life balance. Flexible work schedules allow for working parents to serve their children’s needs while still maintaining their own professional needs. Caregivers can coordinate children’s daycare, doctor appointments, and other extracurricular activities with their own work schedules. Flextime allows parents to achieve optimum work-family balance, while maintaining their professional status, their potential for advancement and their income.

Nearly 25% of America’s entire workforce will be reaching retirement age in the next ten years. Boomers are active, experienced and well-educated. Industry still needs their workplace contributions and boomers are still financially dependent on industry- flextime works for both parties.

Along with working parents, baby boomers are also seeking alternative work schedules in order to accommodate their changing lifestyles. This sector of the workforce is not yet ready to retire, but is, nonetheless, less interested in working standard hours. These flexible work schedules include telecommuting, working part-time, working a compressed work schedule or any combination that strays from the conventional Monday through Friday, 8-5. A flexible work schedule allows boomers to ease into retirement while continuing to provide financial support for their families and to offer professional knowledge and counseling to colleagues.

Flexible work hours also benefit employers. Companies who have adopted flextime policies have seen reductions in employee tardiness and absenteeism as employees can schedule medical appointments and other personal, but necessary activities, outside of their business hours. Since employees are able to better balance family life with work activities, job satisfaction increases as do employee retention rates and productivity rates. Experts estimate replacing a lost professional can cost an employer up to $150,000. Flextime may also decrease overhead costs. Employees working alternate schedules can share expensive office equipment and desk space and also utilize home resources instead of work resources. In addition, flextime employees often do not need to receive the same benefits packages as full time employees receive.

Columbus, Ohio-based Needlestack Jobs specializes in connecting flextime job-seekers with employers. Needlestack founders, Carol Clark and Kathleen Wiant, have identified this need for a flexible employment resource through personal experiences.

Needlestack VP of Finance and Baby Boomer, Clark says, “Nearly 25% of America’s entire workforce will be reaching retirement age in the next ten years. Boomers are active, experienced and well-educated. Industry still needs their workplace contributions and boomers are still financially dependent on industry- flextime works for both parties.”

Wiant, Needlestack Jobs VP of Sales firmly believes in flextime arrangements, “As a working mother I wanted to spend time enjoying and meeting the needs of my children, while still contributing to the growth of my career. A flextime arrangement allowed me to continue my sales job while still being Mom to my five kids. It’s the best of both worlds.”

“Carol and I got together and found that a lot of the workforce is like us; busy parents and experienced boomers who have a lot to contribute. That’s when we decided to build Needlestack Jobs,” Wiant explains.

Clark and Wiant believe that the main reason employers will utilize Needlestack Jobs is increased savings. “Obviously employers will pay out less in salary for fewer hours. But the big savings may be benefits. Benefits are approximately 25% of the total compensation costs an employer incurs for an employee. So the employer may be saving that cost right off the bat in cases where flextime employees do not require benefits,” explains Wiant.

According to Wiant, the Needlestackjobs.com site will feature flextime job postings from leading Ohio employers as well as resumes from highly-qualified, professional candidates. While Needlestack Jobs currently services the Ohio area, the company plans to expand nationwide in the near future.

Those interested in learning more about Needlestack Jobs and flextime working arrangements should visit http://www.NeedleStackJobs.com

About NeedleStack Jobs:
NeedleStack Jobs specializes in the modern work day, believeing that in today’s world, the best and the brightest professionals are looking for meaningful work and a flexible schedule. Which means smart businesses are also looking to hire them. That is why NeedleStack Jobs has created a website where flextime professionals and employers may connect. NeedleStack Jobs.com gives employers quick, convenient access to a bank of well- qualified flextime professionals while helping professionals find great jobs that also offer a more flexible schedule than most. NeedleStack Jobs currently services the Ohio area.

Welcome to the Modern, Flexible Workday

The challenge of balancing work and family has been a constant one for many
professionals. There is always pressure to choose where to dedicate their
time. This struggle is especially difficult for working mothers who want to
be with their children but also want to excel in the professional world.

Fortunately for these women, the modern work environment is changing.
Working a full-time job to no longer means working a 9 to 5 job at the
office. The modern workday is something new, exciting and flexible.

Professionals in today’s world are not only looking for a job, but are
looking for meaningful work with a flexible schedule. In turn, smart
businesses are looking to hire the best and brightest and are more willing
than ever to offer flexible work schedules.

As experts in the modern workday, we at Needlestack Jobs have created a
place for flextime professionals and employers to connect.

Needlestack (NSJ) helps professionals find great jobs that offer flexible
schedules. We also provide employers with quick and convenient access to a
directory of qualified flextime professionals. This allows employers and
professionals to connect. Employers get the best candidates, and job seekers
can be confident that their family time will not be jeopardized by a new
career.

We are beginning in our home state of Ohio and expanding to other states
over the coming months. If you are outside of Ohio, you can still visit our
News and Resources Center to stay current on changing workplace trends.

More than anything, we want to hear from you. If you’re a working mom, tell
us how a flextime job has, or could, change your life. If you’re an
employer, we’d love to hear your flextime success stories. Just click the
comment link below to tell your story.