Flexible Work Arrangements - Where Are They Now?

In 2010 President Obama said making workplace rules flexible “isn’t” only a women’s issue.  "We know that companies with flexible work arrangements can actually have lower turnover and absenteeism and higher productivity," Obama told guests at a dinner for Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women conference in 2010.  "This is not just a women's issue, or just a work-family balance issue.  It's an economic competitiveness issue."  The Obama administration is clearly on record as promoting flexibility.

Where are we now?

On February 29, 2012 Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) reintroduced the Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 4106, S. 2142), a bill that would provide employees with a statutory right to request flexible work terms and conditions.

This new legislation would authorize an employee to request from an employer a change in the terms or conditions of the employee’s employment.  To be eligible, the employee would have to work an average of at least 20 hours per week or a minimum of 1,000 hours per year.  This new bill would only apply to employers with more than 15 employees.

Under the proposed bill, a flexible work arrangement request from the employee must relate to: (1) the number of hours the employee is required to work; (2) the times when the employee is required to work or be on call for work; (3) where the employee is required to work; or (4) the amount of notification the employee receives of work schedule assignments.

Upon receiving a request, an employer would be required to hold a meeting with the employee to discuss his or her application and provide a written decision regarding the application “within a reasonable period” after the meeting. If the application is rejected, the employer would be required to provide a reason for the denial. The employer would be permitted to propose an alternative change to the employee’s hours, times, place, and amount of notification of schedule assignments. If the employee is dissatisfied with this proposal and has another supervisor, the employee would have the right to have the other supervisor reconsider the alternate schedule.

Do flexible work arrangements work?

In 2006 the city of Houston promoted flextime as a way to ease the notoriously congested highways.  The "Flex in the City" program was successful.  It slashed workers' stress, boosting their performance and saving money.   The August 2010 Analysis of Alternative Work Schedules issued by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts stated that "AWS benefits retention efforts more than budgets.  Survey responses indicate that while some entities have seen savings from AWS, employee retention and satisfaction are the most common benefits.  AWS should be considered primarily as a means to recruit and retain employees."

Yes, there are challenges to Flexible Work Arrangements.  They may not work in some industries/companies.  But there are benefits.