Alternative Work Arrangements Brent Battye, Andrew Cook, Jeffery Inman, Brandon Long, Ryan Rumbold

Definition  A work arrangement in which some or all of the work is performed at an off-campus work site such as the home or in office space near home.”  Communication may be by one of several means, such as a computer, phone, modem, fax, and pager. Equipment may be owned and maintained by the employee or by the employer.

Types of Flexible Work Schedules  Compressed Schedule  Involves longer but fewer work days  Can complete a full 80 hours during each biweekly pay period in less than 10 work days  Flexible Schedule  Variety of options  All involving certain core hours during which everyone must be present, coupled with flexible arrival and departure times

Compressed Schedules  Schedules are fixed, so no flexibility when your arrive and depart from work each.  Cannot change schedule  Most common schedules are  5-4/9 – Work 8 9 -hour days and 1 8-hour day in the pay period and get an extra day off  4-10 – Work 4 10-hour days each week of pay period and have an extra day off each week  In every case you will work 80 hour s each bi-weekly pay period  Advantage is getting that extra day off

Flexible Schedules  Name implies, more flexible schedules.  Doesn’t mean you come and go as you please, you still have to work out a schedule with your supervisor  2 things in common  Core hours – You and everyone else in your unit must be at work  Flexible Times – Times you can vary to arrive and depart from work

5 Types of Flexible Work Schedules  Maxiflex – The Most flexible Schedule  Variable Week – Daily and Weekly Flexibility  Variable Day – Daily Flexibility  Gliding – Flexibility in arrival and departure times  Flexi Tour – Almost the same as Gliding

Maxiflex  Contains core hours which are established on fewer than 10 workdays during each biweekly period  Schedules may include more hours in one week than the next  The basic requirement is to complete 80 hours of work during each biweekly pay period

Variable Week  Basic requirement to complete 80 hours in each biweekly pay period  Must work during core hours on each of the 10 workdays in the pay period  Flexibility is in the number of hours you work each day and each week  Schedules can vary from to week and day to day, with more hours worked in one week than the other

Variable Day  Schedule can vary each day around the hours, but have to complete 40 hours each week  Can’t work fewer hours one week than the other during a biweekly pay period  Schedule could have varied hours on different days, hour days, and two 5-hour days each week.

Gliding schedule  Work 8 hours each day and 40 hours each week  Can vary the time you arrive and leave work each day, as long as you’re there during the established core hours

Flexi Tour  Similar to Gliding Schedule  Work 8 hours each day and 40 hours each week  Schedule is the same every day until a formal opportunity for changing it arises

Benefits and challenges  Benefits  Increased employee retention  Loyalty and morale  Higher employee  Higher productivity  Improved recruiting of highly qualified workers  Challenges  Difficulties with employee training, monitoring and performance evaluation  Difficulty in maintaining relationships between bosses and employees

What employees want  Many employees are placing flexible work schedules on there list of desired benefits  What do different types of employees want from this  Parents want more time with family  Students want time for class and work  Some people look for work after retirement  Younger and older employees want different things out of work

Generational differences  Generation X or Y  Want as much out of life as possible  Desire to blend work with there personal lives  Expect to be treated as individuals with skills to contribute  Baby Boomers  Choosing to stretch retirement by slowly moving out of the workplace  Demand less demanding tasks  Represent an issue as the the size of this demographic exceeds current college graduates.

How does this relate  Both baby boomers and Generations X and Y are asking for work arrangements beyond the traditional 8 to 5 Monday to Friday workweek  Boomers want to accommodate their transition to retirement and X and Y want to be individualistic and do there own thing

Big Issue: Fuel Costs and environmental issues  A May 2008 poll conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management indicated that I8 percent of the responding organizations offered telecommuting in order to help employees with rising fuel costs.  Another report states that rising gas prices are encouraging companies to further expand telecommuting networks in order to help employees conserve fuel  Concerns about global warming have also fostered more concerns about commuting

What employees are doing  Methods other than telecommuting of cutting costs  Carpools  Public transportation  Altered work schedules (4 day work week)

The economy  The economy and the poor state of the housing market limits peoples ability to move to new jobs  Long distance telecommuting is now a necessity in some cases  The economy is also increasing the amount of commuter marriages where spouses work in different cities  Telecommuting for work is a good option here to preserve the marriage

What’s going on in the world  Many countries are pursuing alternative work arrangements, some even enacting legislation  The U.S has not made any laws but demographic and economic changes might make it a necessity  Alternative work arrangements could play an important role in preparing the US economy for the future.

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