Flextime Guidelines: Overview
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H) values its faculty and staff and supports each department's managerial decision to offer flextime to its employees provided the job is appropriate for flextime and the missions of the department and the University are uncompromised and met. The Flextime Guide should assist UTHSC-H supervisors and employees appropriately and effectively utilize flextime and include a definition of flextime, potential advantages/disadvantages of flextime, and tips for employees and supervisors implementing flextime.
The University especially supports the use of flextime to help employees balance their competing demands of work and personal life.
The standard UTHSC-H workday is from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. A typical workday consists of 9 hours within a 24 hour period consisting of 8 hours worked and 1 hour for a lunch break. A supervisor may establish a different work schedule for an employee or group of employees as long as the schedule meets the needs of the department and the University and is not designed to evade the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standard Act (Refer to HOOP 5.07 Shift Differential Pay).
Any employee working a non-standard schedule should have the schedule documented on the Flextime Understanding at Appendix B, or an appropriate statement and maintained in his/her departmental files. This documentation is especially critical for non-exempt employees since it is used as the basis to determine overtime. (Refer to HOOP 5.05 Overtime Pay and 5.06 Compensatory Time Off or contact Human Resources for pertinent information.
Definition of Flextime
Flextime is the term used for variable work hours that permit flexibility in starting and ending times within limits set by management. Flextime requires employees to work a standard number of hours within a given time period, usually forty hours during a 4 or 5 day week.
Possible variations in the use of flextime:
- Flex-hours/core hours: Core hours are designated as those from 9:00 – 4:00 p.m. while flexible hours are those from 7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Compressed workweek:
- Four 10 hour days with one day off during the workweek.
- Four 9 hours days and one 4 hour day, allowing for one afternoon off during the workweek
- Nine/eighty (9/80) – employees work 80 hours in nine days with one day off every other week Sample Schedule Work Week (Appendix C)
- Job share: Two employees share the duties of one job by sharing the 40 hours between them, usually one working the morning and the other working the afternoon.
Advantages of Flextime
- Increases coverage by extending service hours.
- Reduces overtime cost because of extended coverage.
- Reduces tardiness and paid time off because employees have more flexibility in scheduling personal appointments, handling transportation or heavy traffic problems, dropping children at school, etc.
- Increases productivity because employees can schedule work according to their "biological" clocks.
- Increases employee satisfaction because employees feel they have more input and control over their working life.
- Promotes cross-training for employees who may be covering for other flextime employees.
- Excellent recruitment and retention tool. Studies indicate that organizations that advertise flextime schedules have greater recruitment pool and employee retention than those that do not offer this option.
- Increases employee commitment, productivity, and morale.
- Employees see flextime as a great tool to help balance their work/life demands and are more inclined to go the extra mile for their employer.
Disadvantages of Flextime
- Can create inadequate staffing during some hours or days depending on the size of the department.
- Can create difficulties with employee communication, scheduling meetings, and coordinating work among employees if many are on different schedules.
- Can create supervision challenges.
- Can create unhappiness for employees unable to use flextime because their jobs are not appropriate for flextime.
Questions to Consider When Evaluating Flextime as an Option: For Employers
- Are there enough employees to provide flexible time options and still meet the missions of the department and the UTHSC-H required standard workday hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.?
- Would expanding the work hours increase customer service and/or satisfaction?
- Would flextime help employees better balance demands of work and personal life, thereby reducing problems of tardiness and absenteeism?
- Will a compressed workweek or job share option for selected employees threaten productivity or the missions of the department or University?
- Are you willing to try flextime as a means to increase productivity, increase employee commitment, employee morale, and retention even though you may have to be more flexible and creative in your own supervision scheduling?
- Would you like to offer employees a benefit known to be popular and effective but which costs nothing to implement?
Requesting Flextime: Tips for Employees
- Before approaching your supervisor do your homework. Take an honest look at your job responsibilities. Can they be performed just as well or better on a different time schedule, in a compressed workweek, or with job share? Does your job require you to be at your site during the standard workweek/work hours?
- Consider your department’s needs and any concerns your supervisor may have about flextime. How is your flextime schedule going to meet the department’s needs, enhance productivity, impact over all office operations, help make your supervisor’s job easier or better? These questions need to be answered before you approach your supervisor.
- What type of schedule are you seeking? How will you arrange for supervision? What will be your hours/days in the office? How will your schedule impact your fellow co-workers and their job?
- Can your productivity be maximized with flextime?
If you have answered all of the above questions and believe that flextime may be appropriate, complete a Proposal for Flex Time (Appendix A) and request a meeting with your supervisor.
If your request is denied discuss your supervisor’s concerns to see if you can do anything else to make flextime a reality. If the answer is still "No" remember flextime is a supervisory option and not an employee benefit or right. You may want to consider looking for another job that is more appropriate for flextime.
Guidelines for Implementing Flextime
- The HOOP requires the standard workweek for the UTHSC-H to be 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Offices must be appropriately staffed and open for business during these hours before flextime can be considered an option. If it is determined that flextime is an option and a 9/80 workweek is to be used, the employee's workweek must be changed. Please contact Human Resources/Employee Relations for further information regarding altering the employee's workweek to accommodate this option.
- A formal written proposal is recommended for any employee seeking permission to use flextime (See Appendix A). If approved, a formal written FlexTime Understanding Appendix-B should be signed by the employee and supervisor and placed in the employee’s file. This documentation is especially critical for non-exempt employees since it is used as the basis to determine overtime and for compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Refer to Hoop 5.05 Overtime Pay and 5.06 Compensatory Time Off or consult with Human Resources for further information . Refer to Sample Schedule Work Week (Appendix C) for helpful timekeeping information.
- Worker’s Compensation will apply to accidents/injury sustained "in the course and scope of employment."
- Salaries and benefits will not be affected by flextime unless work hours are reduced, i.e., an employee working 50% time will receive salary and benefits in accordance with time worked even if working on a flextime schedule.
- A supervisor has the right to terminate or alter the flextime agreement at any time if it appears that flextime is no longer in the best interest of the department or University. It is recommended that a minimum notice of at least one week be given to the employee(s).
- Unless the supervisor has made flextime a requirement of the job, an employee has the right to terminate the flextime agreement with a minimum notice of at least one week.
- Employees using flextime should be receptive to changes in their schedules if the department’s needs so require.
- Supervisors should ensure flextime does not have a negative impact on customer service or departmental/University needs, and in fact, should consider ways flextime might enhance customer/employee satisfaction and productivity for the department and University.
Managing Flextime Employees: Tips for Supervisors
- Managing flextime employees is no different than managing employees working the standard 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday workweek. It still requires management skills such as goal setting, progress assessment, regular feedback and management based on outcomes.
- Identify and discuss problem areas as they arise and develop a plan of action as soon as possible to avoid bigger problems later.
- Include flextime employees in all appropriate office meetings, both official and social, to prevent them from feeling left out or isolated from the other office team members.
- Remember that flextime is first and foremost a supervisor’s option and should be reviewed and approved with careful consideration of the missions of the department and those of the University.
- While flextime is viewed by some as a benefit only to employees most studies indicate flextime is the least expensive (cost is zero) and most popular benefit employers can offer their employees. The rewards include increased productivity, customer satisfaction, increased employee morale, commitment, and retention. It also reduces overtime, tardiness, absenteeism, and turnover. It is usually a win-win for everyone.
Click on the following links to view samples of Flextime documents:
Appendix A - Sample Flextime Proposal
Appendix B - Flextime Understanding
