Newsday (New York), August 2, 2005, Tuesday

Copyright 2005 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York)

August 2, 2005 Tuesday
ALL EDITIONS

SECTION: BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY; Pg. A37

HEADLINE: Is flex time in decline?;
Flexible scheduling still draws praise, but fewer U.S. workers now have it

BYLINE: BY CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN. STAFF WRITER

BODY:
When baby-sitting problems beset new mom Kelly Gregory four years ago, her employer, CPI Aerostructures in Edgewood, agreed to a flexible work schedule to help her cope.
Gregory, a bookkeeper, was able to shrink her five-day workweek to three days with expanded hours.
"The company was willing to work with me," said Gregory, 34, who has worked at CPI for seven years. "It meant a lot."
Though flexible scheduling is widely regarded as a premier recruiting and retention tool, the latest federal statistics show that use of this workplace perk declined nationally from 2001 through 2004.
While the report doesn't break out regional statistics, interviews with local businesses and employees suggest not a decline in flex time but a continuing love affair with it. Flexible schedules allow employees to vary the time they start or end their workday or the number of days they work in a week.
Nationally, the number of flex-time workers declined slightly, to 27.5 percent of the workforce last year, from 28.6 percent in 2001, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month. Flex time is used the most among workers in management, business and financial operations, with nearly 45 percent of that group varying their hours.
Tina Wells, the chief executive and founder of Buzz Marketing Group, a youth-marketing agency in Manhattan, believes flex time and creativity work in tandem. She allows the company's creative director, for example, to decide what time he hits the office in the morning because he often works into the wee hours to avoid distractions.
"In offering this type of freedom, I see this amazing product," said Wells, who has 10 employees.
That's exactly the point, said Peter Handal, president and chief executive of Dale Carnegie Training, which is based in Hauppauge. "For many, flex time can make you more productive and help generate a more positive attitude toward work," he said.
Flexible schedules also help to retain talented people. The flex-time option allowed CPI Aero, an aircraft-parts manufacturer, to keep Gregory on board. Gregory, whom president and chief executive Edward Fred called a great employee, "would have been out of work if she had to work 40 hours," Fred said. The flexible scheduling "provides a benefit to both of us."
With so many benefits associated with flex time, why the slight decline in the numbers?
Many traditional jobs, such as 9-to-5 customer service positions, don't lend themselves to flexible scheduling, said Bradford Bell, professor of human-resource management at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
"Offering it might not be realistic," he said.
In addition, he said, many workers may want a flexible schedule but hesitate to ask because their company's culture doesn't encourage it.
Handal said concerns over job security in the past few years may have dampened some employees' interest in flexible scheduling.
"If they are perceived as different from everybody else, they might fear for their jobs," he said.
Even companies that endorse flex scheduling may have pulled back because they're operating with leaner staffs, said Lorri Zelman, president of the Human Resources Association of New York in Manhattan.
"Companies just are not able to fully staff up yet to allow for creativity like flexible scheduling," she said.
On flex time
Percentage of U.S. workers with flexible scheduling.
1985 12.4%
1991 15%
1997 27.6%
2001 28.6%
2004 27.5%
Who got flex time last year
Men 28.1%
Women 26.7%
White 28.7%
Asian 27.4%
Black 19.7%
Hispanic 18.4%
SOURCE: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS