IMPACT OF FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS

 

Flexible working hours refers to the schedule which allows employees to start and finish their workday when they want. This means that employees can come to work earlier or later than the set time.

Based upon both international labour standards related to working time (e.g., hours of work, weekly rest, paid annual leave, night work, part-time work, workers with family responsibilities) and recent research findings on working time and its effects, the ILO has identified five significant dimensions of decent work in the area of working time, or “decent working time” (International Labour Organization 2019)

 

The five dimensions

• promoting health and safety

• advancing the productivity and sustainability of enterprises

• being “family-friendly” and improving work-life balance

• promoting gender equality

• offering workers a degree of choice and influence over their hours of work.

 

With the changing demographics of our workforce, economic challenges, increasing fuel prices, and transportation challenges for employees, flexible work time may be an option that can meet the needs of both the employer and the employee. Departments may be as flexible as possible, but must continue to offer full services during the core business hours (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday)

Employers should find ways to implement flexible working hours that generate positive organizational outcomes such as lower absenteeism, turnover and surveillance among employees while aiming at increased performance. This strategy primarily benefits the employer, especially traditional arrangements, such as shiftwork, weekend work, annual hours count and fixed-term contracts, are most likely to generate negative relationships with both financial and non-financial organizational outcomes. Hence, the importance of generating and developing flexible working hours that match both employers' and employees' needs that would improve both employee quality of life and organizational performance.

 

Creating a “win-win” situation

If properly structured, “flexible” Working Time can be advantageous for both workers and employers. Workers often appreciate having some degree of flexibility in their daily and weekly working hours and consider it as an important means to improve their work-life balance and overall job satisfaction. For employers, more flexible work schedules can be a measure to cope with workload fluctuations, improve motivation and performance, reduce absenteeism and staff turnover as well as to minimize costs. As expectations on both sides do not always coincide, however, in practice such working time flexibility depends largely on the actual implementation of specific Working Time at the enterprise level (International Labour Organization 2019)

 

 References

International Labour Organization (2019) ISBN 978-92-2-133240-4Guide to developing balanced working time arrangements. Geneva:International Labour Organization.

Ifeyinwa,S. IHERIOHANMA, E. B. NWOKORIE,C. (2020) Flexible Working Arrangments and Organizational Performance:An Overview. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 25(5), pp.2846-56 [Online]. Available at www.swetswise.com. Accessed on 15^th May 2013

ABC News (Australia) (2011) An Australian study has found flexible work hours can provide businesses with higher productivity from staff.[online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCqKDEy23fY [Accessed 27 March 2021].