Human Resources: Fewer Than One-Third Of U.S. Workers Have Access To Flexible Work Schedules

In recent years, the number of workers with flexible work schedules has remained almost stagnant, so that only 28.8 percent of workers in the U.S. now have such schedules, up from 27.6 percent in 1997. Â Only 11.6 percent of workers work at home at least once a week.

These findings, from a report released this Labor Day by the Center for Designing Work Wisely, offer clear evidence that employees are finding little relief from the time squeeze - created by the competing demands of work and family responsibilities - in the form of flexibility at work.

"In a weak economic climate, employers should view flexible arrangements as an inexpensive method for helping their employees balance work and family priorities," says CDWW co-president Eileen Appelbaum, who authored the report, The Standard Workday or the Highway, with CDWW research associate Lonnie Golden.

Flexible work schedules allow employees to vary the time they begin or end the workday, while work at home arrangements allow them to accomplish some tasks outside of the workplace.

Key findings of the report include:

After rising rapidly between 1991 and 1997 (from 15.1 percent to 27.6 percent), the proportion of full-time wage and salary workers with flexible schedule arrangements ground nearly to a halt. Â

Among workers with young children, a similar pattern held: the proportion with flexibility more than doubled between 1991 and 1997, but then grew from 30.2 percent to just 31.1 percent between 1997 and 2001. Â Notably, this increase was concentrated among fathers of young children, 33.6 percent of whom had flexible schedules, compared to just 27.9 percent of mothers.

K-12 teachers are the least likely to have flexible work schedules (7.7 percent). Â Lawyers and judges are the most likely (64.1 percent). Â Machine operator, handler, and laborer jobs, as well as most service occupations, are less likely to have flexibility. Â Certain professional occupations, sales representatives, and managerial and public administration positions are more likely to have flexibility.

Of employees with flexible schedules, only 38 percent participate in formal flextime programs. Â Formal flextime programs appear targeted to select groups of employees, like engineers (26.4 percent of whom participate in formal programs).

Among all wage and salary workers, just 11.6 percent work from home at least once a week. Â While nearly 80 percent of workers cite finishing or catching up on work or the nature of their job as the main reason for working from home, only six percent work at home to coordinate their schedule with personal or family needs.

Wage and salary workers that complete some work at home work an average of 9.8 hours per week there. Â Three-quarters of employees that work at home do so without pay. Â

Adopting flexible work policies usually carries a low cost for companies, and in some cases even results in a net savings as these policies produce a more efficient system of work and cut down on employee turnover.

Click here for the full report.

Eileen Appelbaum is co-president of the CDWW and director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University, where she is also a professor of management and labor relations. Â She received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Â Dr. Appelbaum also edited Balancing Acts, published by the Economic Policy Institute in 2000.

Lonnie Golden is a research associate of the CDWW and an associate professor of economics at Pennsylvania State University. Â He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois. Â Dr. Golden also co-edited Working Time: International Trends, Theory and Policy Perspectives, published by Routledge in 2001.

The Center for Designing Work Wisely is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that studies organizational design and work processes. Â It can be found online at cdww.org.