In today’s post-pandemic work environment, flexibility remains a top priority among employees and businesses who are concerned about finding reasonable solutions. However, it’s important to remember that alternative schedules are really nothing new. Employers have successfully offered options such as ‘Summer Fridays’ for years. The key is to balance employee-friendly scheduling options with business needs.
Options for Alternative Work Schedules
Here are some of the alternative work scheduling plans or “compressed work schedules” that employers are using or experimenting with:
- 4/10 workweeks, also known as the “four-day workweek.” With this schedule, an employee would work 10 hours per day for four days (40 hours) then take the fifth day off.
- 9/80 workweeks. In general, this schedule adds up to 80 hours of work in nine days and gives employees a Friday off every other week.
- 3/12 workweeks. In professions that require round-the-clock staffing, such as nursing and first responders, working three 12-hour shifts in a week is common.
Legal and Practical Considerations for Compressed Workweeks
It’s important to know and comply with labor laws before implementing an alternative work schedule. There are restrictions on the number of hours an employee can work in a certain timeframe. Federal law prohibits non-salaried employees from working more than 40 hours in one week without overtime pay. In addition, some states have their own laws regarding overtime. Kentucky, for example, requires employees who work seven days in any workweek must be paid time and a half on the seventh day.
Depending upon your industry, offering an alternate work schedule may or may not be feasible from an operational standpoint. Your company may need to cover strict business hours, or you may be short-staffed. In industrial settings, a compressed schedule may be easier to manage with office workers than with manufacturing workers because of the need to keep machines running and to meet production demands.
Requiring longer-than-usual workdays as part of an alternate schedule could also create safety concerns in certain industries. OSHA notes that working longer than eight hours will generally result in reduced productivity and alertness and may create situations where workers have excessive or prolonged exposure to hazardous materials or heat.
If you’re thinking of implementing an alternative work schedule or compressed workweek for your business, MarathonHR can help you weigh the pros and cons from a human resources administration standpoint.
If you’re thinking of implementing an alternative work schedule or compressed workweek for your business, MarathonHR can help you weigh the pros and cons from a human resources administration standpoint.