Flexible Work Practices
The idea of flexibility in the workplace includes how and where tasks are done and choices of when to start and end work [9]. Flexible work practices give workers more control over when and where they work [10] – which distinguishes them from flexible work arrangements, which are about the terms and conditions of practices [11]. When workers can regulate their work schedules, they experience autonomy and better psychological outcomes, two of the characteristics Hackman and Oldham [12] show have consistent positive outcomes – especially when there is a psychological safety climate [13]. These practices have been empirically tested and shown to reduce burnout.
| Flexible Work Practice | Job Status | Hours Required/Week |
|---|---|---|
| 3-2-2 | Employee only | Variable work hours |
| Condensed/Compressed Workweek | Employee only | Variable work hours (e.g., 4-day workweek) |
| Flexible Year | Employee & Independent Contractor | Variable work schedule (e.g., an academic year) |
| Flextime/Flexible Scheduling | Employee & Independent Contractor | Variable work hours (e.g., varying one’s schedule on different days) |
| Hybrid Work | Employee only | Variable work hours |
| Job Sharing | Employee & Independent Contractor | Variable work hours (e.g., two workers share one job) |
| Part-Time Work | Employee only | Fixed time < 30 hours per week |
| Phased Retirement | Employee only | Variable work hours |
| Remote Work | Employee & Independent Contractor | Variable work hours |
| Self-Scheduling & Shift Trading | Employee & Independent Contractor | Variable work hours |
| Shift Work | Employee only | Fixed schedule w/variable work hours |
The 3-2-2 sets up employees to work three days in the office, two remotely, and two off days. The 3-2-2 reduces stress levels for employees by assisting with maintaining optimal work-life balance. Overall, the 3-2-2 work practice is growing in popularity and potentially benefits employees’ quality of life and job performance.
Condensed/compressed workweek involves compressing the workweek into fewer than five days. The most popular compressed workweek in the United States is working four days a week, 10 hours per day, to add to a 40-hour workweek. Off days are usually Monday or Friday, which leads to a three-day weekend. Several condensed workweek studies show similar results. For example, when Microsoft Japan tested a 4-day workweek, costs decreased, and productivity improved by 40%. Also, the Icelandic government tested reducing workweeks to a 36-hour, 4-day workweek from a 40-hour, 5-day workweek without reducing pay over four years, involving more than 2,500 Icelandic workers. They found that work-life balance and well-being improved while productivity was sustained or even improved, and the number of job postings offering a four-day workweek tripled from 2018 to 2021, but they are still less than 1% of jobs. In addition, 4-Day Week Global conducted one of the largest 4-day workweek experiments, which included 61 organizations in the UK, resulting in a 57% retention increase and a 16% burnout decrease. Since the 2017 inception of the global longitudinal pilot program, 4-day Week Global has piloted the 4-day workweek in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK, resulting in a 68% burnout decrease, 42% turnover decrease, and a 35% work-life balance increase.
The flexible year is typically tied to a specific season or time of year, such as an academic year or seasonal work. An academic year is structured with terms and semesters and can include sabbatical leaves for faculty. Seasonal work is found in industries that experience fluctuations, including farm work, tourism, retail (such as for holidays or festivals), or outdoor work (such as landscaping or construction).
Flextime allows employees to decide the time of the day they get to start and depart from working, but usually with a limit to arrival and departure times. Some companies permit the carryover of hours worked. Flextime is a common form of flexible work adopted by Malaysian banks, and a study of the 27 European Union countries showed evidence that flextime relieves work-to-family conflict. Flexible work scholarship suggests rethinking the workday and shortening the workweek.
Hybrid work occurs when employees work a combination of on-site and remote on different days. Such a model emphasizes how employees work instead of where they work. It seems beneficial for workers who feel most productive outside conventional working hours, prefer to perform high-focus tasks away from office distractions, or who balance work with other responsibilities, such as caring for children. For example, a study of how Fujitsu implemented a hybrid work model for their 80,000 Japan-based employees led to most employees believing that hybrid work was the best way to work.
Job sharing is when two workers divide one full-time job with a pro-rated salary and benefits; therefore, each worker works part-time. Employees may divide the work hours of one day (e.g., one works from 8 AM -12 PM, the other from 1 PM – 5 PM), or each person works full time on particular days (e.g., one works on Mondays and Tuesdays, the other on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and they alternate working Fridays).
Part-time work refers to working fewer hours than a full-time job. Typically, part-time jobs require less than 40 hours per week, but the number of hours worked can vary depending on the country, employer, and industry. Part-time work can allow for a better balance between work and life, such as caregiving or pursuing further education. Others may prefer part-time work as a way to supplement their income. Part-time work is proposed as a solution for integrating women into the workforce and is becoming a more prevalent strategy for balancing work and life.
Phased retirement allows employees nearing the statutory retirement age to reduce work hours. This arrangement enables employees to improve their work-life balance as they transition toward retirement while facilitating knowledge transfer from senior employees to novice workers.
Remote work, arguably the earliest form of flexible work coined in 1972 by NASA engineer Jack Nilles, is when employees work from a location beyond the employing organization’s work area, such as teleworking. Employees work in a location different from the central workplace, replacing commuting to and from the workplace. Many organizations across the globe, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, have embraced this practice. Certain resources are important, such as accessible broadband. In a survey of over 5,000 employees across 10 countries, most employees would like to continue working remotely, at least in part after the COVID-19 pandemic, with 20-25% of respondents preferring working remotely full-time. A Gallup study estimated that over 70 million workers in the U.S. can do their jobs remotely, and remote capable workers without the option to telecommute experience lower work engagement, higher intention to turnover, and higher burnout.
Self-scheduling shifts the duty of developing a work schedule to the employees, granting them autonomy over their work hours. Job self-scheduling has been positively associated with job satisfaction and work-life balance across various industries.
Shift work describes a way of structuring work hours whereby individuals or groups work in a series to cover more than the standard eight-hour work day. This arrangement is commonly used in the medical profession and organizations that operate 24 hours per day. As a result, employees’ work hours may vary from the traditional work model, and their hours may vary across days.
Each flexible work practice presents different advantages and disadvantages for workers and organizations. Drawing from the literature, flexible work practices have advantages and disadvantages that inform the PWM. The three advantages include: (1) cost savings for organizations and workers by saving on commuting costs and employee benefits by reducing overhead costs, (2) improved work-life balance and reduced stress for workers by allowing workers to manage their personal and work responsibilities better, and (3) increased flexibility and autonomy for workers by managing their workloads, schedules, and tasks increase levels of control.
Disadvantages include: (1) lack of clear boundaries between work and personal life – when employees have more control over when and where they work, it can become challenging to separate work and personal life, leading to stress and burnout, (2) communication and collaboration difficulties due to the dependence on technology: with employees working from different locations and at different times, there may be communication and collaboration issues, which can impact productivity and teamwork because flexible work practices rely heavily on technology, and technical issues can disrupt work and communication, leading to frustration and delays, and (3) reduced face-to-face interaction: remote work can limit face-to-face interaction between employees and their managers, reducing opportunities for mentoring, coaching, and feedback, especially for new employees who prefer in-person communication.
Findings show that access to and use of flexible work practices are negatively associated with burnout. This supports the need to shift to the PWM which provides flexible practices as an option to traditional practices, such as a rigid 9-to-5 schedule. Also, the most significant differences in working hours and productivity were observed during the late morning (8 AM – noon) and evening (4 PM – 8 PM) hours. Seven percent of late morning and 16.5% of evening workers are required to work during those hours and do not prefer it. These work hours are mostly during the beginning and end of the 9-to-5 schedule. This indicates a gap between organization requirements and worker preferences, suggesting that more flexibility is needed regarding the time of day work is performed because it is difficult for workers to be productive working during hours counter to their circadian rhythm. For example, workers who prefer to work late hours could be allowed to do shift work and be scheduled for the late shift, and workers who prefer early hours work the early shift.
An important practical implication of these findings is that organizations should consider adjusting their work designs to accommodate the flexibility and work-life balance demands of the workforce. More generally, it is time for organizations to shift to the PWM so workers can consistently decide which mode of work suits them for their current work-life balance needs to mitigate possible burnout.
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