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Benefits April 24, 2002
Flexible Schedules Still Popular
April 24, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The popularity of
flexible work schedules exploded in the last decade as the
percentage of flextime workers doubled to nearly 30% in 2001,
according to the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS).
Reported by Fred Schneyer
The latest figure also represents a slight hike from a similar BLS study in 1997 when 27.6% of workers reported a flexible schedule.
The BLS survey also found that, in 2001:
- men were slightly more likely to enjoy flextime with 30% of men and 27% of women with flexible hours,
- some 14.5% of full-time and salaried workers have a shift other than a standard daytime setup, slightly lower than was reported in May 1991,
- there were wide variations in the use of flextime from industry to industry, and
- three out of ten white workers enjoyed flex schedules, compared to 21% of blacks, and 19.8% of Hispanics
Managers, Sales Reps
Some 45% of executives and managers worked flexible hours. Among sales representative, 40.7% had a flexible schedule, while only 18.3% of precision production, craft, and repair workers had flextime.
In the public sector, flexible schedules were more
common among federal workers at 34.4% and state workers at
29.7% compared to local government employees at 14%.
Although more than one in four workers generally can vary
their schedules, only about one in ten are enrolled in a
formal, employer-sponsored flextime program, according to
the BLS.
Full-time wage and salary workers in managerial and professional specialty occupations were the most likely to have a formal flextime program at 15.6%.
Finally, the study reflects the typical work start and end times. About two-thirds of all full-time wage and salary workers began work between 6:30am and 9:29am, with the greatest concentration during the one-hour period around 8am.