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Popular Flexible Work Arrangements and Their Definitions

Written by: Kirsten Ross

Article Overview: Entrepreneurs can benefit from utilizing flexible work arrangements such as part time, telecommuting, job share and flex time. Consider these options when you are designing your workforce.

Popular Flexible Work Arrangements and Their Definitions

Organizations can benefit from utilizing flexible work arrangements such as part time, telecommuting, job share and flex time. There are many highly skilled candidates who do not wish to work a traditional 9-5, in the office job. These individuals represent a virtually untapped labor market.

Examples of possible circumstances where employees may ask for an alternative work arrangement are:

~ Employees returning from maternity, paternity or adoptive leave,

~ Individuals having to care for elderly relatives,

~ Employees who may, due to a disability, now wish to work on a part-time basis,

~ Employees who may wish to spend more time on leisure interests.


The most popular flexible work options are as follows:

Job Share
In a job share, one full time job is shared by two individuals. This differs from a traditional part time job in that it generally is a job that can not be done on a part time basis. Thus, the partners in a job share must work very diligently to maintain strong communication so that the hand off of responsibilities is seamless.

Examples of how hours can be shared in a job share are as follows:

Half or split days, i.e. one partner working in the morning and the other partner working in the afternoon.
Half or split weeks i.e. One partner working the first 2.5 days (Monday to Wednesday morning) and the other partner working the remaining 2.5 days (Wednesday afternoon to Friday)
Two days one week and three days the next with the job sharers alternating to work the extra day.
Alternate weeks i.e. Job share partners each work one week on, one week off. This normally is on a Wednesday PM to Wednesday AM basis.

Telecommuting or Teleworking Definition
In a telecommuting arrangement, the employee works from a home office for either a portion of or all of the work week. He or she maintains a presence in the office electronically via phone, fax, pager and e-mail and is usually, at a minimum, required to participate in some quarterly, monthly or weekly meetings at the work location.

Work From Home Definition
A work from home or work at home arrangement involves working from home and differs from the teleworking/telecommuting arrangement in that it does not require that the employee stay electronically connected to the work location during business hours. Work performed is generally done independently so does not require team interaction or consistent communication. It also is more likely that the employee can live far from the actual location of the business for which he or she is working because face to face contact at the location may not be necessary.

Flex Scheduling or Flex Time Definition
This alternative work arrangement, flexible scheduling, allows an employee to work a non-traditional schedule to meet personal needs. Generally, a flexible schedule is agreed to and worked for a period of time. Some employers do, however, allow employees to shift schedules daily as personal needs require. Several kinds of Flex-Time arrangements are popular including:

Compressed Work Week: employee works a full time job in less than 5 working days. An example is 4 ten hour days.
Core Hours Schedule: An employer defines core work hours (10:00 AM to 3:00 PM for example) during which employees must be at work. Each individual can then pick an arrival and departure time, for a total of 8 hours of work per day, which meets his or her needs and includes the core hours. For instance, one employee may choose to start the day at 6:30 AM and leave at 3:00 PM (allowing 1/2 hour for lunch), while another may prefer to start at 10:00 AM and leave at 6:30.
Adjusted Lunch Period: An employee may choose to take time off in the middle of the day to work out or run errands and then adjust the start or leave time accordingly. For instance, an employee starts the day at 8:00 AM and then is off from 11-1 to go to the gym. The normal work day would then end at 6:00 PM.

Part Time Work Definition
A part time arrangement is available only when the responsibilities of a job can be decreased by giving an employee a smaller service area, fewer projects or where a section of the job can be split off and delegated to someone else. This differs from a job share in that there is less need for communication between the part time employee and co-workers. The work delegated to others can be fully separated from the part time employee's work.

Freelance or Contract Work
Freelance or contract work can be a great way to work from home. Organizations are often looking for individuals with great skills to work on short term projects. If you opt for this type of alternative work arrangement, you will not be an employee of the company. However, the advantage is that you can pick and choose the projects that you wish to bid on. Name your price, sell your skills and do the work, generally from home. If the project does not sound fun or challenging skip it! The internet has made it very easy to find this kind of alternative work arrangement.

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