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Flexible Work OptionsFlexible Work Options

FLEXIBLE WORK•Flexible work means different work styles and employment practices. •It encompasses all types of employment practices other than conventional 9am to 5pm jobs.

•It enables employees to strike a right balance between their professional and personal lives.

Types Of Flexible Working OptionsFlexible LocationFlexible TimeFlexibility in Contracts

Flexible LocationIt means working at a location which is most suitable or

favourable.

Types Of Location Flexibility

Working on the move – Advancements in IT made this possible. Devices used are laptops, notebooks, palmtops and desktop replacement PCs and other portable devices.

Tele centres – Common offices in which the facilities are shared by the employees of several companies or different departments of the same company.

Satellite offices – Offices set up far from the main offices of the company and are connected through satellite to the main office. It was created basically after the separation of the front end and back end jobs

Flexible TimeIt is the most oldest and most widely used

FWO.Types Of FlexiTimeVariable hoursRestructured HoursReduced Working HoursLeave

Variable Hours

It has the option of varying the number of working hours

Types Of Variable Hours Flexitime

work for ‘core hours’ during any part of the day. Annualized Hours

Agreement to work for total working hours per annum.

Zero Hourson call arrangement. As per the arrangement,

employee was called for work only when required. Time Accounts

Employees could take compensatory leave anytime against the extra time “time credits” put in by them.

Restructured HoursIt comprises of compressed work week

option 4/10 schedule – Employee works for 10

hours for 4 days a week and can take the 5th day off.

9/80 schedule – It means 80 hours to be completed in 9 days. It is also called as” nine day fortnight” in UK.

Reduced Work Hour Options Part-time: requires employee to work for a few hours

per day or every week.

Job share: It is a form of part time employment shared between 2 employees. Distribution of work may be equal or unequal.

Term time working: This is for the parents of school going children. In addition to the 4-6 weeks of annual paid leave, an additional 7-9 weeks of unpaid leave was granted to employees with school going children.

Phased retirement: Option offered to the employees a few years before retirement, where they could for lesser number of hours per day and postpone the retirement day. This was an unpopular option since reduced hours meant reduced pay.

Leave Options Maternity/Parental leave

Sabbatical leave – It is meant for up gradation of one’s skills- technical or academic. In many countries it is given even for a period of more than a year for people who want to pursue further studies and also to write a book and so on

Career breaks – It is an unpaid leave granted for a period of one year or more in which the contract of employment is suspended. In addition to that the break is not considered during the calculation of benefits like pension entitlements etc

Other leaves - Other leave options are like bereavement leave which is granted to an employee at the time of a family member’s death. Also, marriage leaves are provided in some companies over and above the annual leave.

Flexible Contracts It refers to the various flexible contracts that

employer and employee enters into. Fixed term contracts Outsourcing Using agency labour contract

Individual enters into a contract with an employment agency that finds him work on contractual basis.

Company first contracts individual has to work for a fixed number of

hours for a company that called him first for his services. When company does not want his services he is free to do other jobs.

Examples of Companies applying flexible work options

HP India was ranked 3rd best employer in India by Best Employer’s in India Survey. It was distinguished based on the flexible work options provided

by the company to its employees. It allowed part time work or flexible work especially for young

mothers. It also allowed telecommuting where in half a day people

worked in office and the rest of the day they could work from home.

Employee could shift or change from one flexibility option to another easily.

P&G ranked the second in 2002 survey introduced FWO in 1999. It offered flexi time option, tele commuting and sabbatical

leaves. ICICI which was the 4th best employer at that time offered

flexible work options for women keeping in mind their domestic responsibilities.

Flexibility Work Options In India

In India HP India was the most flexible workplace. Employees to start work within two hours from 8 am on

regular 8-hr working dayAllowed job sharing whereby any two employees could

work for 20-40 hours per week Work half a day in office and other half from any locationProvided reduced hours employment and various leave

optionsApart from any statutory leave, HP offered marriage

leave for 10 days, study leave for competitive exams for 10 days, 8 weeks for legal adoption of child and 5 days for paternity and for bereavement

HP India treated both flexi-time options employees and regular employees equally.

Other example - P&G India, they started offering FWOs in 1999.

The MNCs in India (HP India & P&G India) offered FWOs to all the employees wherein Indian companies focussed more on their women employees.

ICICI was one of the few Indian companies which offered flexi-time as well as the work from home option to their employees. In 2001, 8% of ICICI employees availed these options.Sales department of ICICI Preudential shifted its

timings from 9am - 6 pm to 11 am – 8pm.

FWOs are also popular in IT, Finance and Retail industries in India.

FWOs –Advantages

FWOs best time for employees to devote time for their families

FWOs enabled employers to become ‘employers of choice’ by adopting family-friendly policies

Cost-effective in boosting the morale of their employees

Act as effective employee retention strategy

Many women can take up the jobs

HBR Case Study: Mommy-Track BacklashAuthor: Alden M. Hayashi

Introduction to the Characters Involved: Ms. Jessica – Vice President of sales and customer support at

ClarityBase. The decision maker

Ms. Jana Rowe – Account Manager in the sales support department Married woman (No children)

Mr. Davis Bennett – Account Manager in the sales support department Un-married (No children)

Ms. Megan Flood – Account Manager in the sales support department Married (two-children) Had three years of work experience with at Dawson Software (Main

competitor to the ClarityBase) Good technical skills No other person was available during the recruitment who had the

same skills as Ms. Megan Flood.

Mr. Bill Welensky – HR Manager Mentor to Ms. Jessica

Summary Of Case Ms. Jessica while hiring has accepted the demands of Ms. Megan Flood for the flexi

work timings (freedom to come late and leave early, Friday off ,no travel for business purpose, ‘No’ to afterhours meetings etc)

Now that other employees have learned about the same, they also wanted to avail the same privileges Ms. Jana Rowe

wanted to avail flexi-time facilities and was even ready for 20% pay cut she was ready to take the pay cut she was hesitant to give reason for the flexi-work time option (stating the

reason as personal) raises questions about parental and non-parental discrimination

Mr. Davis Bennett He wanted flexi-work time option for the preparation of the Ironman Triathlon

world championship Wanted to leave work at 3 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays (during winter) Wanted to work for 4 days (during fall) Willing to come to office at 6am to cover up for the time lapsed due to early

leaving from the office Shows positive attitude When asked about whether he will be able to keep up with the needs of the

customers with the new schedule, Mr. Bennett was not confident. Was handling the most critical account which involved more hard work

Problem

How to resolve the grievances/issues regarding flexible working hours and at the same time to ensure that the company sales targets are achieved?

Also, ensure equal treatment to parental, non-parental and single employees in terms of the perks and other benefits.

SHORT TERM SOLUTIONS Usage of technological advances such as teleconferencing,

wireless technology basically to facilitate remote working from home

Ensuring the availability of the employee even during the off hours on phone or through internet to counter critical issues of the customer

Rotation policy in the organization (wherever possible) so that each employee can avail the facility of flexible work timing

To balance the pay and the perks of the parental and non parental employees.

Transparency in terms of the policies regarding work options Each of the manager under Jessica should always have one

person from their team available as a backup for all kinds of meetings or to handle client issues.

Any person willing to cover up the work for another person by working extra hours will be provided with rewards with immediate effect.

Employees will have an option to choose flexible working hours but the total working hours per week will be fixed.

LONG TERM SOLUTIONS

To have clear cut policies regarding the flexible working hours, this must be communicated to the employees at the time of joining.

To have variable component in their compensation structure based on the number of working hours.

Recruit or promote a person as a backup who needs to be trained for specific role.

For a win-win situation, foster good relations within the team and encourage a discussion within a team emphasizing the importance of each person’s role and to support and work as a team.

Jessica’s action plan

Allow Jana and Davis to avail flexi-time after two weeks provided they –submit their schedule They should be ready to take a pay cut if required

total number of hours are not metPrior intimation of leave requests so as to

eliminate overlap of leaves and planning hassles.Both of them are open to negotiations regarding

the work timings Review the contract signed by Megan and make

proper amendments so as to remove disparity. Will provide less pay for people like Megan who

are availing the flexi time and working lesser number of hours.

References

ICFAI case study Volume – IVFlexible Work Option – Case Study

HBR Case Study – Mommy Track Backlash

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