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Flex Policies
I've been asked to join a "flex committee" as my new place of employment. They have been incredibly vague as to the requirements or constraints of this committee and so I'd like to do some equally broad research.
If you are able to share your organization's flex policy or relay your personal experience with flex policies, the feedback/information would be very helpful!
Thank you for your consideration.
Jessica
alissa cartun
17
11/15/20 at 10:07PM UTC
You are asking a very good question and there is already some very good guidance provided. I have worked in environments where we needed to think through the cultural impact as well. Some framing that helped: 1) Define business needs and job requirements. Not all jobs may be able to have the same flexibility. For example, a receptionist job may be more difficult to provide flexibility than other office staff. Yet, for a job like receptionist, there probably are already protocols in place for things like a lunch break that could be expanded to allow for flexibility. 2) Define the types of flexibility the team may be willing to allow. Some examples: compressed 4 day work weeks of 10 hours a day, short-term arrangements to ease back someone returning from leave allowing a few days a week to work from home, varying schedules to allow people to start earlier or later - but still in person for the full week, etc. 3) Put in place a process to monitor flexible arrangements. Some organizations use a 1 month trial period. Others have flexible workers sign an agreement that says their manager can end the flexible arrangement with two weeks notice if business needs change. If you google for Remote working, Flexible work, and telecommuting policies... you will find some examples. Hope this helps.
M Elizabeth IngramHR, administration, & benefits at work; mom of 2
731
11/12/20 at 3:03PM UTC (Edited)
We have flexible scheduling that is actually pretty flexible: we have core hours from 10-2, and employees provide their typical schedule to their manager and the office manager. We also ask that employees schedule doctor's appointments toward the beginning or end of day if possible, but count that as working time unless it's a half day+. There are a lot of considerations to take into account; here are some of the questions we had to answer. You will also need a policy written if flex time is put into place. Are there core hours? Is management willing to actually adhere to those core hours (i.e. schedule team meetings then)? Is it flexible in terms of hours, location (work from home days, office time), or days of the week? Is management involved in the flex committee? Are people expected to put in 40 hours (or more) or just to get their work done? Who does the flexible schedule apply to (i.e. do your sales folks need to do whatever gets them in front of the most clients & does your receptionist have to work office hours)? Good luck!
Francesca Vanderwall
610
11/11/20 at 2:41PM UTC
Can you share your industry and high level office facility situation? I've worked in financial services and retail (corporate) and they were VERY different based on several factors. Most of them claimed flexibility but didn't offer it in practice.
Jessica Bunting, PMP, MPA, CSMdata systems enthusiast & project manager
27
11/12/20 at 4:31PM UTC
I am in nonprofit (a local United Way). We are in a standard office building with most core staff in cubicles. We are currently all in the office and have been since May. Everyone is required to work 8:20 to 5pm.
Francesca Vanderwall
610
11/13/20 at 1:28PM UTC
I think the cultural change will be harder than the policy change. Others have expressed great ideas for how to structure things and what pitfalls to avoid.
Jessica Bunting, PMP, MPA, CSMdata systems enthusiast & project manager
27
11/13/20 at 2:03PM UTC
I absolutely agree! I would say our first committee meeting made that even more evident. We have two committee members that have been here 30+ years that culturally seem to be against even discussing new ideas or thoughts... It will be interesting.
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Danielle WhiteIT Ops professional at large
57
11/11/20 at 4:41AM UTC
A couple thoughts from flex-time policies I've had in the past:
Is there actual flexibility? Will it be effectively defeated by mandatory meetings outside of core hours? Will it apply as well to things like an early morning/late afternoon doctor appointment?
I say these because I dealt with those issues at prior jobs, mostly at a well known US public university IT division. The "core hours" were 9-3, which meant our choice was to work 7-3, 8-4, or 9-5. For a time there was a mandatory 5-6 P.M. daily status meeting (nicknamed "detention" due to it being a school) for which they required we be in-person, thus all of us who had to be in that refused to arrive before 9. Also they were very strict that if an appointment required being in at all after 9 or leaving before 3, even by a few minutes, we had to use sick time. Through all of this I note that most of us in the division were salaried and exempt.
I did, ultimately, work 7-3 for a few reasons. My commute was far less time; rather than catching every light red at least once on the commute route and many 2-3 times I at most caught 25% of them red and was often the only vehicle at the light in that direction at 6:30. Further, the division had a serious problem with projects that sat in someone's inbox all day and became an emergency, "must be completed before the next business day so cancel your evening plans" at 4 P.M. and were typically dumped on me as the least-senior person but I was no longer in the office to be assigned them when they arrived. If such an issue is present in your workplace flex time may create additional issues (if it's present there is already a problem.)
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