| What is flexitime?
Find out all about flexitime. Could it help you achieve a better work-life balance? Flexitime is a scheme that lets you choose when you start and finish work, within certain limits agreed with your employer. For example, you might agree to
The hours you work between these times are credited to you. In effect, you set up a time bank with your employer. Most schemes allow you a credit or debit margin, often of about 10 hours. Say you work a 35-hour week, then, over four weeks, you will ‘owe’ your employer 140 hours. These four weeks are your ‘accounting period’: if you work more than 140 hours in four weeks then you will be in credit, and if you work fewer hours then you will owe time to your employer. If you go beyond your credit margin, into surplus, you may lose those extra hours; if you go beyond your debit margin, into debt, you might be disciplined or lose pay. One of the best-liked features of flexitime is flexileave. You can turn your credit hours into time off. Depending on the scheme you are in, this might be two half days a month or one full day, or you may be able to add days to your holiday entitlement. If you join a scheme, or you want to come to a flexitime arrangement with your employer, make sure that you have agreed a fair, accurate and efficient system for recording your working hours. Also, make sure that flexitime does not interfere with any legitimate overtime payments or with your entitlement to time off for dental or hospital appointments. This system seems to work well for full-time office staff. But, if you are working to a shift pattern or on a production line, it may not be a viable option. If you work for a small organisation, it may be too awkward to provide cover during non-core times and so is not a reasonable option. But there’s no harm in trying. Working patterns are generally moving towards greater flexibility, so new ideas are bound to be explored and implemented. Further information
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