When an employee can adjust their daily starting and quitting times provided that they work a certain number of hours per day or week their work schedule is known as?

Flextime, short for flexible time, is a work arrangement that allows employees to choose the start and end time for their workday. As employees seek a better work-life balance, flextime offers an opportunity to better manage their time. However, flextime may mandate that employees be in the office during certain hours to accommodate customers and allow for meetings and collaboration.

• Flextime is a work arrangement in which employees can choose the starting and finishing times of their workday.
• Flextime employees are typically required to work during their employer's core hours.
• Flextime work arrangements are popular because they help employees achieve a positive work-life balance.
• Flexplace, similar to flextime, allows employees to choose where they accomplish their work, such as from home.

Ordinarily, flextime requires that employees work a certain number of hours within a specific period (e.g., 40 hours per week). However, more progressive work systems may disregard work hours as a measure of productivity and only require that employees fulfill their work duties within a specific period of time.

Flextime works best when work is either highly individual or when information technology allows opportunities for asynchronous collaboration. Flextime is typically only available to exempt employees. Exempt employees are salaried workers who are exempt from minimum wage, overtime rules, and other rights and protections afforded to non-exempt workers.

A flextime work arrangement gives workers the right to start and end their workday as desired or within a specific window. For example, some companies require flextime employees to be present during core hours, such as from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They may also require that all work be conducted and completed during the hours between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m., known as bandwidth time. The shoulder hours outside of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. are the flexible hours. This is in contrast to the traditional workday of roughly 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Workers have consistently rated workplace flexibility more important than compensation and advancement. Employers are often willing to reward workers with flextime because it is easier and less expensive to implement than issuing raises and promoting workers.

Workers are also more likely to remain at a job that offers greater flexibility because it allows for a better work-life balance. Flextime may also play a role in reducing healthcare costs, stress, and burnout.

Like flextime, "flexplace" is a work arrangement where employees can make adjustments to how their work is accomplished. Flexplace gives workers a greater say in how they schedule their workday by allowing them to determine where they work. These work arrangements are common and popular among people with long commutes to work.

Thanks to advancements in technology, many organizations where office presence is not required are adopting this concept. Workers with children, disabilities, demanding childcare needs, unique circumstances in caring for older individuals, long commutes, or other time- and place-related challenges may benefit the most from flextime and flexplace. However, when their presence is required, the employer may request the employee to report to an office location for work or for meetings.

1. Work schedules are up to an employer to set and enforce, i.e., scheduling of employees is entirely within the employer's control, and it is up to the employees to comply with the schedule that is given to them.

2. With only extremely narrow exceptions relating to certain regulated industries or collective bargaining agreements, adults, as well as youths ages 16 or 17, may work, and/or may be required to work, unlimited hours each day (the only limits are employee morale, practical realities, and common sense in general).

3. One exception to the unlimited hours rule in Texas is for employees in the retail sector. A retail employer must allow full-time employees (defined in the following statute as those who work more than 30 hours in a week) at least one 24-hour period off in seven, i.e., each week, the employee must be allowed to have a day off. See the following link for the statute in question: Section 52.001 of the Texas Labor Code. For an even narrower exception for employees who have been continuously employed with the same retail business since August 31, 1985, see Section 52.002.

4. Another exception pertains to employers with 15 or more employees: due to religious discrimination laws, in the case of employees who do not want to work at a particular time for reasons related to observance of their religion, failure to allow reasonable time off for religious observances may potentially be considered an act of religious discrimination, unless the company can show that it would be an undue hardship to accommodate an employee's need for time off for the religious observance.

5. Employers can require employees to work overtime, as long as the non-exempt employees are properly paid for the overtime hours they put in (keep in mind that neither Texas nor federal law require payment of "daily overtime" - overtime pay at time and a half is owed only for hours in excess of 40 in a seven-day workweek); for details on overtime hours and pay, see "Determining Hours Worked for Non-Exempt Employees" and "Calculating Overtime Pay" in this book.

1. The only exception is for nurses (RNs and LVNs) - under Texas Health and Safety Code Section 258.003, mandatory overtime for RNs and LVNs is permissible only in disaster and other emergency situations. For purposes of this law, "mandatory overtime" is defined as work time above and beyond the normal pre-scheduled shifts (Section 258.002). Thus, while such a nurse can be required to work a schedule of 50 or more hours per week (with payment of overtime pay for any nurse who is non-exempt), they cannot be required to work beyond what they were told they would have to work, unless an emergency situation demands additional hours beyond the pre-scheduled shifts.

6. Under the employment at will doctrine, an employer can change an employee's hours with or without notice. However, excessive application of flexible / just-in-time scheduling can lead to turnover – see below.

7. No Texas or federal law requires advance notice of overtime or schedule changes, but as with most employee relations matters, it is a good idea to give as much advance notice as possible when informing employees of extra work or changes in their hours; sudden and adverse changes in hours, or burdensome overtime requirements announced with little or no notice, can under some circumstances amount to good cause connected with the work for an employee to resign, resulting in potential unemployment insurance eligibility for the employee who resigned. Any such employee would have the burden of proving that a reasonable employee would have resigned under the circumstances, and in addition would have to show that they gave reasonable notice to the employer that they were so dissatisfied over the schedule change that they were considering resigning from the company.

8. When using scheduling software, try to avoid the downsides of flexible scheduling such as "clopenings" (the same employee works late, closes the store, and opens again a few hours later), insufficient notice of duty times (leading to unavoidable lateness), split shifts, burnout, distractions related to family concerns, and the like.

9. Although some states require what is known as "show-up pay" (a minimum amount that is paid to employees who show up for work, only to be sent home early or with no work at all), no Texas or federal law requires such a payment; however, it is best to express the employer's policy on that issue clearly in a written policy, one way or the other.

For a sample policy regarding work schedules and compliance with company timekeeping procedures, click here.

Whether formally written into company policy or an agreement between the employee and employer, common arrangements include:

Flex time

Flex time is an arrangement where employees work a full day but they can vary their working hours. These arrangements may include specific guidelines so that a "core" working day exists. Flex time is usually arranged in advance with the employee and employer or supervisor and a set range of start and finish times are established. The total hours of work are not usually affected by this arrangement.

For example, the employee may choose to start between 7:30 and 9:30 AM, and finish between 3:30 and 5:30 PM. This arrangement establishes that core hours are between 9:30 AM and 3:30 PM when all employees will be at work. Lunch periods are usually required by law and for a set length (30 minutes or more). Employees may wish to maintain their start/finish times so that a routine is established and co-workers can become accustomed to each others' schedules.

Reduced hours/Part-time

Employees may choose to work fewer than the standard 37.5 or 40 hours work week. These arrangements may be on a temporary or permanent basis depending on individual circumstances. It may also be considered in some cases for employees with health problems or disabilities. Work hours may be negotiated, or they may be chosen to coincide with peak workload hours depending on the type of business. However, employee benefits and qualification for government programs (such as employment insurance or pension plans) may be affected, and should be examined thoroughly before starting a reduced hour or part-time arrangement.

Compressed work week

Compressed work week occurs when an employee works for longer periods of time per day or shift in exchange for a day off. Employees may start earlier or finish later than the normal work day. Compressed work weeks are often initiated by the employee, but sometimes the employer may initiate the option to improve operational efficiency, to maximize production (lower daily start up costs) or to establish longer business hours which can enhance customer service.

Common arrangements for a 40 hours work week are working 10 hours per day, 4 days a week; working an extra hour a day with 1 day off every 2 weeks; or working an extra half hour a day and having one day every 3 or 4 weeks off.

Telework/Working Remotely/Telecommuting

Telework or working remotely occurs when people do at least some of their regular work from home instead of going into the office or work at a different location. Details such as hours of work, and how communications between the teleworker/remote worker, co-workers and customers need to be outlined. For more information, please see the OSH Answers document on Telework/Remote Work/Working From Home.

Job sharing

Job sharing occurs when two or more employees share one or more positions or set of duties. It should be clear before starting how these arrangements affect pay, benefits, and holidays. It is very important that those in a job sharing arrangement work effectively as a team, and communicate well. Job sharing may be an option when few part-time positions are available within the company.

Banking of Hours/ Annualized hours

This arrangement allows employees to choose, within negotiated boundaries, their days and hours of work to the maximum for a set period of time. This period of time may be weekly, monthly or yearly. Such arrangements are often a combination of flex time and compressed work week and can help reduce the amount of overtime hours required. These arrangements may be suited to fields where there is variation in demands such as peak hours or seasonal peaks.

Gradual Retirement

Gradual retirement allows employees to reduce their working hours or reduce their workload over a period of time rather than switching from full time employment to retirement abruptly. This phased period can be used to train the replacement employee, help others adjust to restructuring within the organization, or to adjust for the redistribution of tasks among the remaining employees.

Leaves and Sabbaticals

Leaves and sabbaticals are authorized periods of time away from work without loss of employment rights. Paid or unpaid leaves are usually granted for family, health care, education or leisure reasons. Sabbaticals are usually paid (or partially funded) and occur on a regular basis in addition to vacation time. In some cases, self-funded leaves may be possible where a portion of the employee's salary is withheld and returned to the employee 'as pay' during the time away from work.