WORK-LIFE BALANCE 

AND THE ECONOMICS OF 

WORKPLACE 

FLEXIBILITY

 

The Council of Economic Advisers

June 2014
2

Executive Summary

American society has changed dramatically over the past half century. Women have entered 

the labor force in growing numbers and families have increasingly relied on more than one 

earner to make ends meet. And yet, children still need to be taken to the doctor and elderly 

parents still need care. Because these changes have caused many workers to face conflicts 

between their work and their personal lives, they also create a need and desire for more 

flexibility in the workplace. 

Flexible workplace arrangements refer to a broad set of firm practices that touch on when 

one works, where one works, or how much one works (including time off after childbirth or 

other life events). They include a variety of arrangements such as job sharing, phased 

retirement of older workers, telecommuting, and schedule shifting or flexible schedules.

Workplace flexibility can be short-term, such as allowing workers to shift their workday to end

an hour earlier than usual to take a parent to a doctor’s appointment. They can also be longterm, like allowing a reduced schedule of four and a half days per week so that a father can 

participate in therapy for his autistic son.

The Council of Economic Advisers first published “Work-Life Balance and the Economics of 

Workplace Flexibility” in March 2010. This report updates that report with insights from the 

most recent research on the economics of flexible workplace policies and practices. The first 

section reports some of the changes in the U.S. workforce that have increased the need for 

flexibility in the workplace.

• Women comprise nearly one-half of the labor force, and in more than 60 percent of 

households with children, all adults are working.

• Almost two-thirds of people providing unpaid eldercare have jobs, with about half of 

caregivers working full-time in addition to their caregiving duties. 

The second section examines the current state of flexible work arrangements and reports that 

many employers have adapted to the changing realities of American workers.

• Overall, more than three-fourths of employers report allowing at least some workers to 

periodically change their starting and quitting times, however only around a quarter of 

employers say that they allow most of their employees to do so. Overall, 56 percent of 

full-time workers report having flexible work hours, and only 47 percent of part-time 

workers do. 

• Fewer workers have the flexibility to change their location: 22 percent of workers 

report having access to flexibility in where they work. 

• Less-skilled workers have less workplace flexibility with their scheduled hours or 

location than do more highly-skilled workers.

• Most employers offer at least some workers the ability to return to work gradually after 

a major life event such as the birth or adoption of a child, although job sharing appears 

less widespread.
3

The report concludes with a discussion of the economic benefits of workplace flexibility 

arrangements.

• Almost one-third of firms cite costs or limited funds as obstacles to implementing 

workplace flexibility arrangements. However, the benefits of adopting such 

management practices can outweigh the costs by reducing absenteeism, lowering 

turnover, improving the health of workers, and increasing productivity.

• In a larger study of over 700 firms in the United States, United Kingdom, France and 

Germany, researchers found a significant positive relationship between work-life 

balance practices and total factor productivity. The authors argue that this correlation 

could be driven by a third factor—good management. Well-managed firms both have 

higher productivity and tend to embrace flexible workplace practices.

• Because many employers may not have full information about the costs and benefits 

of workplace flexibility practices and because some of the benefits may extend beyond 

the individual employer and its workers, wider adoption of such policies and practices 

may well benefit more firms and workers, and the U.S. economy as a whole.
4

Introduction

American society has changed dramatically over the past half century. Women comprise 

nearly one-half of the labor force and all adults are working in more than 60 percent of 

households with children. And yet, children still need to be taken to the doctor and elderly 

parents still need care. These and other changes have caused many workers to face conflicts 

between their work and personal lives. These changes also inspire the need and desire on 

the part of workers for more flexibility in the workplace. Flexibility can be in terms of when one 

works, where one works, or how much one works (including time off after childbirth or other 

life events). “Workplace flexibility” generally refers to arrangements—such as job sharing, 

phased retirement of older workers, flexible hours, and telecommuting policies—that allow 

workers to continue making productive contributions to the workforce while also attending to 

family and other responsibilities.

This report presents an economic perspective on flexible workplace policies and practices. 

The first section looks more closely at some of the changes in the U.S. workforce that 

underlie the need for increased flexibility in work arrangements. More and more families have 

all parents working, and caregiving needs will continue to increase as the Baby Boomers 

enter retirement. These trends raise the value of flexibility in the workplace as it helps 

workers balance work and family responsibilities.

The second section examines the current state of flexible work arrangements. It finds that 

although the majority of employers report allowing at least some employees flexibility in their 

work schedules, there is variation across the workforce. Notably, less-skilled workers report 

the least workplace flexibility. A majority of employers are also willing to accommodate a 

gradual return to work after a major life event, such as the birth or adoption of a child. In 

contrast, it is less common for workers to be able to shift where they work (by, for example, 

working from home) and only about one-third of firms report allowing some of their 

employees to job share.

The report concludes with a discussion of the economic benefits of such practices and 

policies. One can think of accommodating flexibility in the workplace as a component of a 

worker’s total compensation package, along with other benefits such as health insurance and 

retirement benefits. If employees value flexible arrangements more than the costs to the 

employer of providing them, flexibility can be a cost-effective tool for attracting and retaining 

workers. The costs to firms of adopting such management practices can also be outweighed 

by reduced absenteeism, lower turnover, healthier workers, and increased productivity. 

Because many employers may not have accurate information about the costs and benefits of 

workplace flexibility practices and because some of the benefits may extend beyond the 

individual employer and its workers, wider adoption of such policies and practices may well 

offer benefits to more firms and workers, and for the U.S. economy as a whole.
5

The Evolving Needs of American Workers

The structure of American society has changed significantly over the last half century. In 

1968, 52 percent of children were raised in households where the father worked full-time, the 

mother was not in the labor force, and the parents were married; by 2013, only 20 percent of 

children lived in such households. The result: children are increasingly raised in households 

in which all parents work in the labor market (for single-parent households, this means that 

the one parent works; for two-parent households, both parents work). This trend also holds 

among families with a child younger than 12 months.

1

The changing environment in which children are raised reflects in part a shift in the nature of 

the workforce. In 1950, women constituted about 30 percent of the labor force; today, they 

comprise nearly half. The share of parents in full-time working families (defined as families 

with children where all parents work full-time) increased to 82 percent in 2012, up almost 

one-third since 1976.

2

At the same time, life expectancy has increased over the past century, and people born 

around 1940 have a life expectancy over 10 years longer than those of the previous 

generation (born in 1910), producing added responsibilities for the care of older family 

members as well. The percentage of households with both children under 18 and adults over 

the age of 64 has been rising for the past 30 years. This trend will likely continue as the Baby 

Boomers enter retirement and more workers are included in the “sandwich generation” -

those caring for both elderly relatives and young children at the same time. 

Evidence suggests that, on average, workers may not need to reduce the number of hours 

they work to balance these new family responsibilities and other activities. Technological 

 1 These changes have caused both men and women to report that work interferes with family (King 2005). For 

example, in 2010, 46 percent of working men and women reported that their job demands interfered with their 

family life sometimes or often, up from 41 percent in 2002. 

2 CEA calculations based on the Current Population Survey.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Percent of Parents in Households in Which 

All Parents Work Full Time

Percent

Note: Includes single parents and dual-earner housholds.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics and CEA Analysis.

Youngest Child 

Under 12 Months

Children of Any Age
6

gains have helped to decrease the intensity of some previously time-consuming tasks at 

home, such as cooking and cleaning, which is estimated to have more than offset the 

increase in working and commuting time for women.3 Relative to the 1965, on average 

Americans spend less time on housework and more time on childcare.4 Both mothers and 

fathers of all education levels spend more time today engaged in childcare then parents did 

several decades ago, and these increases in childcare have been especially pronounced 

among college-educated parents.

5

In part, the need for flexibility derives from the fact that the gap between the time spent on 

market and non-market work for men versus women has narrowed. As shown below, 

compared with 1965, in 2012 women spent more time on paid work and significantly less time 

on housework work such as food preparation, kitchen cleanup, and washing clothes. For 

men, the patterns were reversed; between 1965 and 2012, men spent slightly fewer hours on 

market work and more hours engaged in child care and housework.6 Today, among families 

with a working mother, fathers are now the primary caregiver for one in five preschool-age 

children.7 In the last 25 years, the number of families with a stay-at-home dad and a working 

mom doubled.8

While women continue to do more home work and less paid work, with men and women 

increasingly performing similar amounts of non-market and market work, often one or both of 

them need the ability to attend to family responsibilities such as taking children and parents to 

doctors’ appointments. It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, that both mothers and fathers in 

 3 For example, evidence from the Residential Energy Consumption Survey shows that the percentage of 

households with dishwashers increased from 35 percent in 1978 to 50 percent in 1997. See Greenwood, 

Seshadri, and Yorukoglu (2005) for review of the evidence of the effect of technology on female labor force 

participation. 

4 Aguiar and Hurst (2007).

5 Ramey and Ramey (2010).

6 See Table II in Aguiar and Hurst (2007).

7 Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2011.

8 Census Table MC1 from 2013 Current Population Survey.

Paid Work (8.4)

Paid Work (42.0)

Paid Work (21.7)

Paid Work (38.5)

Housework (31.9)

Housework (4.4)

Housework (17.6)

Housework (8.8) Child Care (10.2)

Child Care (2.5)

Child Care (11.8)

Child Care (7.1)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Mothers Fathers Mothers Fathers

Note: Parentsdefined as adults ages 18-64 with children under 18. 

Source: Bianchi et al. (2006); American Time Use Survey. 

Hours Per Week Spent on Activity

Parents' Average Weekly Time Use

1965 2012
7

dual-earning couples increasingly report work-family conflict. In 2008, 60 percent of fathers

and 47 percent of mothers in dual-earner couples reported work-family conflict compared to 

35 percent and 41 percent in 1977, respectively.

9

The Prevalence of Workplace Flexibility in the United States

American workers increasingly need to balance employment with other responsibilities, but to 

what extent does the workplace accommodate these needs? While drawing on many 

sources, this section primarily relies on two nationally representative surveys to better 

understand the prevalence of different types of workplace flexibility in the United States. The 

first survey, the National Study of Employers, provides the perspective of employers, and is

one of the most comprehensive and detailed sources of firm-level data on programs and 

policies related to work-life balance.10 As an employer’s perspective on workplace flexibility 

may differ from that of its employees, the discussion also includes analysis of a supplement 

to the 2011 Annual Time Use Survey (ATUS), a household survey that included a module 

asking respondents specifically about work scheduling and leave policies. These ATUS data 

can be linked to the Current Population Survey, enabling an in-depth analysis of worker 

characteristics. This analysis provides the perspective of the average American worker on the 

extent to which their job provides flexibility and are the most recent available at the national 

level. Wherever possible, this report presents findings from the National Study of Employers 

from comparable periods to the ATUS data, as well as trends from the employer’s 

perspective. 

The discussion focuses on flexibility in the scheduling of hours, the place of work, and the 

numbers of hours worked, as well as those that cut across these categories.11 It also 

considers the special circumstances of small businesses and firms in the manufacturing 

sector.

 9 Galinsky et al (2011) and Family and Work Institute (2002). 

10 The 2014 sample includes 1,051 employers with 50 or more employees. These data are helpful both because 

of the relatively large sample size and because most other data sources, such as the Current Population 

Survey, do not contain detailed information on the prevalence of many of these practices. 11 Workplace Flexibility (2010a).
8

Flexibility by Worker Characteristics 

The 2011 ATUS enquired about specific types of workplace flexibility workers can access. If 

respondents indicated they could vary their work schedule or location instead of taking (either 

paid or unpaid) leave or if they could vary their work schedule or location despite not having 

access to leave, they were asked if they could vary their schedule by hours worked, days 

worked, or location worked. Respondents could indicate access to multiple forms of 

workplace flexibility. Table 1 shows differences in reported workplace flexibility by worker 

characteristics and type of flexibility. Overall, men and women have relatively similar access 

to workplace flexibility. Non-Hispanic white and Asian workers are more likely to report 

access to flexible policies than are black and Hispanic workers. While much of the difference

in access to flexible days and work location is driven by differences in average educational 

attainment across race and ethnic groups, after accounting for differences in education, black 

and Hispanic workers report lower access to flexible hours than white and Asian workers.

BOX 1: WHY IS THERE SUCH A LARGE DIFFERENCE IN REPORTED

PREVALENCE BETWEEN THE TWO SURVEYS?

One important reason for the difference between the two surveys is that in the employer-based 

surveys, employers report that they provide flexibility for “some” or “most” workers but do not 

otherwise indicate the prevalence. If many employers only provide a benefit to a minority of their 

workers, the percent of workers with a benefit will be smaller than the percent of firms offering the 

same benefit. In addition, there may be a difference between an organization’s policies and their 

implementation. The National Study of Employers attempted to address this issue by asking if the 

organization “allows employees to...” or “provides the following benefits or programs...” rather than if 

it has “written policies.” However, if workers are unaware that their managers would be willing to 

implement such practices, are unaware of such policies, or fear negative consequences from 

exercising such options, they will report less availability of such arrangements than will their 

employers. 

Second, the National Study of Employers is a survey of employers in which the respondent is an 

organization rather than an individual. As a result, the data describe the formal benefits provided by a 

typical employer or how they are interpreted at the organizational level, rather than how they are 

experienced by a typical employee. Given that, by definition, larger employers represent more 

workers than do smaller firms, statistics about the average employer may not be representative of the 

experiences of the average worker. Finally, the data on workers are from 2011 while those from the 
9

The ATUS data also reveal substantial cross-industry differences in the flexibility of 

scheduling. As shown below, less than one-third of full-time workers in construction and 

transportation and utility industries reported having the flexibility to change their working 

hours in 2011, compared to about 65 percent of workers in the information services industry. 

These differences may reflect the potential difficulties that construction and transportation

companies have in adopting policies and practices that result in a more flexible workplace, a 

point further discussed at the end of this section. 

Policy Type Flexibility in the 

Scheduling of Hours

Flexibility in Days 

Worked

Flexibility in the 

Place of Work

Any 

Flexibility

Total 49% 40% 22% 56% 

Male 49% 38% 23% 56%

Female 48% 42% 21% 56%

White, non-Hispanic 51% 41% 24% 58%

Black, non-Hispanic 43% 38% 18% 50%

Asian, non-Hispanic 54% 44% 31% 60%

Hispanic 39% 34% 15% 48%

Less than high school 38% 41% 13% 50%

High school 40% 34% 13% 50%

Some college 51% 44% 18% 59%

Bachelor’s degree or higher 55% 41% 35% 60%

Full-time workers 56% 59% 19% 66%

Part-time workers 47% 35% 23% 53%

Table 1

Access to Workplace Flexibility by Demographic, Educational, and Worker Characteristics

Source: American Time Use Survey, 2011; CEA Analysis.

Demographic Characteristics

Educational Attainment (Workers 25 and Older)

All Workers

Note: Sample excludes self- employed workers. Full- time workers usually worked 35 or more hours each week at their principal job (or 

usually worked 35 hours at all jobs if hours at their principal job varied). Part- time workers usually worked less than 35 hours each week.

0 20 40 60 80

Information

Professional and Business Services

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting

Leisure and Hospitality

Public Administration

Other Services

Wholesale and Retail Trade

Financial Activities

Manufacturing

Mining

Educational and Health Services

Transportation and Utilities

Construction

Source: American Time Use Survey, 2011.

Percent of Workers with Flexibility in Hours by Industry

Percent
10

Table 1 also indicates that workers with higher levels of education are also more likely to 

report access to flexible workplace arrangements, and are particularly more likely to report 

access to either flexible hours or flexible location. Economists have focused on two 

explanations for this pattern. First, as discussed in the next section, flexibility is a form of 

compensation. Just as more educated workers enjoy higher earnings and are more likely to 

have benefits such as employer-sponsored health care, they are also compensated with 

more flexibility. As a result, inequality in total compensation exceeds inequality in wages. In 

addition, one study suggests that the nature and context of low-wage jobs—such as the need 

for around-the-clock coverage—may make giving flexibility to some low-wage workers more 

costly.12 To explore this issue more fully, the scatter plot below shows the relationship 

between the percent of full-time workers in an occupation that have flexible schedules and 

the percent that do not have a high school degree. Occupations such as management, 

business, and finance that have a high degree of flexibility also have a low percentage of 

workers with less than a high school degree; workers in occupations with a low degree of 

flexibility, such as construction, also tend to have a high percent of workers with less than a 

high school degree.

Flexibility in the Scheduling of Hours

One of the most important sources of flexibility is the ability of workers to have some control 

over when they work. Examples include flexibility in when a worker arrives at or leaves work, 

the scheduling of breaks and overtime, and compressed workweeks (such as when one 

works more hours four days a week and a partial day one day a week). As shown below, data 

from the National Study of Employers suggest that 81 percent of employers allowed at least 

some workers to periodically change their starting and quitting times, within some range of 

hours in 2013, a slight increase from 2008 and a larger increase from 2005.

13 However, only 

27 percent of employers allowed most or all employees to do so, indicating that this is a 

 12 Corporate Voices for Working Families (2006). 13 In 2008, 79 percent of firms reported allowing at least some workers this type of flexibility. That fraction was 

68 percent in 2005.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Workplace Flexibility by Occupationand Education

Percent of Workers with Access to Flexible Workplace Policies

Source: American Time Use Survey, 2011.

Farming, Fishing, and 

Forestry

Sales and Related Occupations

Construction and 

Extraction

Transportation and 

Material Moving

Service Occupations

Production Occupations

Installation, 

Maintenance, 

and Repair

Management, Business, and Finance

Professional and Related Occupations

Office and Administrative Support

Percent of Workers with Less than a High School Degree
11

benefit for a select few employees. Less than half of employers (41 percent) allowed at least 

some workers to change starting and quitting times on a daily basis and only ten percent said 

that they allowed most or all of their workers to do so.

Data from the American Time Use Survey show that in 2011, only 49 percent of all workers, 

and 47 percent of full-time workers reported they had flexible work hours that allowed them to 

vary or make changes in the time they began and ended work, as shown in Table 1. 

Flexibility in hours worked was more common for part-time workers (56 percent). Box 1 

discusses the differences in reported prevalence of flexible work arrangements between the 

American Time Use Survey and the National Study of Employers.14

Flexibility in the Place of Work 

Many jobs require an individual to be physically present at the worksite. For example, 

teachers, sales clerks, and assembly-line workers cannot fulfill many of their obligations from 

an off-site location. Managers and members of teams may need face-to-face contact. For 

other workers, however, a substantial fraction of their work could, in principle, be conducted 

from home or a satellite office. Data from the ATUS show that flexibility in work location is 

less common than flexibility in either work days or hours, and confirm that there is substantial 

variation across industries and occupations. For example, about 5 percent of workers in 

farming, fishing, and forestry occupations report access to location flexibility, compared to 

almost 40 percent in management, business, and financial occupations. At least some of the 

duties of these latter jobs can be conducted via telecommuting, whereas production and 

agricultural workers are more likely to be needed on-site. One study estimated that in 2000 

more than half of all jobs were amenable to telecommuting, at least on a part-time basis,15

and undoubtedly that fraction has increased since then as a result of the spread of highspeed internet and mobile technology.16

 14 American Time Use Survey, 2011; Bond, Galinsky, and Sakai (2008). 15 Potter (2003). 16 Smith (2002).

81

41 43

27

10 10

0

20

40

60

80

100

Periodically change

starting and quitting times

within some range of hours

Change starting and quitting

times on a daily basis

Compress workweek by

working longer hours on

fewer days for at least part

of the year

Some Employees

Most or All Employees

Note: Survey includes firms with over 50 employees.

Source: 2014 National Study of Employers.

Percent of Firms Offering Flexibility in the Scheduling of Hours

Percent
12

The National Study of Employers provides an opportunity to understand the extent to which 

employers have adopted policies and practices that allow for flexibility in where employees 

work. The difference between the share of firms that provided this dimension of flexibility to 

“some” workers versus “most or all” workers in 2014 is striking. For example, as shown 

below, 38 percent of employers reported allowing some workers to work at home on a regular 

basis; only 3 percent of employers allowed most or all of their employees to do so. At the 

same time, it was more common for employers to report allowing employees to work from 

home occasionally.17

In 2011, about 12 percent of workers who had access to flexible work arrangements changed 

either their schedule or location in the previous week. Of those who utilized workplace 

flexibility, about 22 percent changed their location. College-educated workers who used 

flexibility more likely than less-educated workers to change their location (30 percent), and 

men were more likely to change their location than were women (27 percent, compared to 17 

percent). And about 10 percent of workers who used flexible arrangements combined 

location flexibility with scheduling flexibility.

Flexibility in Number of Hours of Work

A third way employers provide workplace flexibility is in the number of hours an employee 

works. Flexibility of this sort can be further divided into practices that reduce the number of 

hours worked in a given week and those that allow employees to take leaves of absence 

(paid or unpaid).

In 2014, 29 percent of employers reported allowing some workers to share jobs, and 36 

percent reported allowing at least some individuals to move from full-time to part-time and 

 17 Bond, Galinksy, and Sakai (2008).

67

38

8 3

0

20

40

60

80

100

Work some regular

paid hours at home

occasionally

Work some regular paid

hours at home on a regular

basis

Some Employees

Most or All Employees

Note: Survey includes firms with over 50 employees.

Source: 2014 National Study of Employers. 

Percent of Firms Offering Flexibility in the Place of Work

Percent
13

back again while remaining at the same position or level.18 A much smaller percent of firms 

allowed most or all employees to take advantage of these forms of flexibility. 

Allowing employees to take a leave of absence after an important life event also provides 

flexibility in the amount of work. Partially as a result of the Federal Family and Medical Leave 

Act (FMLA) of 1993, this form of flexibility is now widespread although it does not cover all 

workers.19 Recognizing these coverage limitations, the Administration has proposed new 

rulemaking that extends FMLA protections to all eligible workers in same-sex marriages, 

regardless of where they currently live. .

20 In 2013, 87 percent of all workers in the private 

sector had access to unpaid family leave in 2013, up slightly from 82 percent in 2006. 

Further, as shown in the chart below, in 2014 74 percent of employers allowed some workers 

to gradually increase their hours after the birth or adoption of a child, but only 47 percent 

allowed some or most employees to do so (10 percentage points lower than the share in 

2008). A majority of employers also allowed at least some workers to take extended career 

breaks.

 18 The share of employers allowing this specific type of flexibility has fallen from 53 percent in 2005 to 41 

percent in 2008 and 2012 to 36 percent today.

19 The FMLA requires both Federal and private employers with more than 50 workers to provide up to 12 weeks 

of unpaid leave per employee each year. This leave must include access to health benefits. The employers 

must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutive) and 1,250 hours within 

the past year. The FMLA can be used for the birth and care for a newborn or adopted child, care for an 

immediate family member with a serious health condition, medical leave for the employee herself, or in 

circumstances relating to an immediate family member’s being called onto active duty as a member of the 

National Guard or Reserves. Evidence suggests that the FMLA increased leave coverage and usage but did not 

appear to have a significant negative effect on the wages and employment of women. See Waldfogel (1999). 

Note however, that the Act does not apply to workers at smaller firms, part-time workers, or employees that 

recently joined a firm. A 2013 report prepared for the Department of Labor on the FMLA reported that 60 percent 

of workers are covered by the law. 

20 The proposed rule would change the FMLA regulatory definition of "spouse" so that an eligible employee in a 

legal same-sex marriage will be able to take FMLA leave for his or her spouse or family member regardless of 

the state in which the employee resides, allowing for consistent federal family leave rights across all states. 

http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/nprm-spouse/

36

29

74

54

6 1

47

18

0

20

40

60

80

100

Move from full-time to

part-time work and back

again while remaining in

the same position or level

Share jobs Return to work gradually

after childbirth or adoption

Phase into retirement by

working reduced hours

over a period of time prior

to full retirement

Some Employees

Most or All Employees

Note: Survey includes firms with over 50 employees.

Source: 2014 National Study of Employers. 

Percent of Firms Offering Flexibility in Number of Hours of Work

Percent
14

Paid leave is an important source of workplace flexibility, especially for workers who lack 

financial resources. Paid parental leave policies can help parents maintain a connection to 

the labor force and balance their work and family obligations. At the same time, paid leave 

can benefit employers by improving employee recruitment, retention, and motivation.21

Despite the importance of paid leave for workers struggling to balance work and family 

demands, access to paid leave is not universal. The 2014 National Study of Employers 

suggests that slightly more than one-third of employers (37 percent) allowed most employees 

a few days off to care for mildly ill children without losing pay or having to use vacation days. 

In 2008, however, nearly half of employers said that they offered such flexibility. Slightly more 

than half (58 percent) of employers reported in 2014 giving female employees paid maternity 

leave. In most cases, the pay was less than an employee’s typical pay and only 14 percent 

offered spouses/partners paid time off after the birth of their child. 

However, the National Compensation Survey finds a much lower percentage of employees 

have access to paid family leave policies, this survey of employers indicates that only 11 

percent of private sector workers have access to a paid family leave policy. There may be 

many factors driving differences between the two studies, such as formal versus informal 

policies and the percent of employees that are covered at each business.

22

Compared to the employer surveys, employees report lower access to paid leave. The ATUS 

findings suggest that 39 percent of workers report access to paid family leave for the birth of 

a child. Mothers reported only slightly more access to paid family leave than fathers. Overall, 

38 percent of working men reported access to paid paternity leave while 40 percent of 

working women reported access to paid maternity leave. The higher level of access reported 

by employees in the ATUS may reflect employees including access to informal leave policies, 

such as informal agreements with managers or a worker’s ability to use other forms of leave 

for family-related reasons. 23 As detailed in Box 1, additional discrepancies may arise 

between the National Study of Employers and employee data, since the former survey only 

indicates whether “some” or “most” workers have access to leave. In addition, if workers are 

unaware that their managers would be willing to implement such practices or are unaware of 

such policies, they will report less availability of such arrangements than will their employers.

All surveys indicate, however, that a significant fraction of workers lacks access to leave, paid 

or unpaid.

Finally, as reflected in the previous chart, flexibility in the number of hours of work can ease 

the transition to retirement for older workers. In 2014 more than one-half of employers 

allowed at least some workers to phase into retirement by working reduced hours, and 18

percent of the firms allowed most or all of their employees to do so. Other survey data also 

find that this form of flexibility is common. According to a 2008 survey of more than 140 mid-

 21 For more details see the Council of Economic Adviser report “The Economics of Paid and Unpaid Leave” 

(2014) 22 The National Compensation Survey weights the data to be representative of workers, while the National Study 

of Employers is at the employer level and data is not on exactly how many employees are covered by such 

policies.

23 CEA “The Economics of Paid and Unpaid Leave” (2014).
15

sized and large employers by Hewitt Associates, 47 percent of firms offered some sort of 

phased retirement arrangement in 2007, although only 5 percent have formalized phasedretirement programs.24 These types of arrangements are most common in the health 

care/social assistance, education, and manufacturing sectors and at larger firms.25

Not only do employers report offering these types of arrangements, but workers report using 

the benefits. According to the Health and Retirement Study, in 2004 nearly half of surveyed 

retirees had engaged in some sort of phased-retirement arrangement prior to fully retiring and 

approximately one-in-eight workers between the ages of 63 and 73 engaged in some sort of 

phased retirement work arrangement.26 Most workers who participate in phased-retirement 

arrangements are below age 60.

27

Other Forms of Workplace Flexibility

Perhaps the ultimate form of workplace flexibility is the evaluation of employees based on 

what they produce rather than the number of hours they work. This management practice, 

called “results-only work environment” (or ROWE), allows for flexibility along multiple 

dimensions because it permits workers to choose when, where, and for how long they work,

as long as they are sufficiently productive. Clearly, this level of flexibility is not practical for all 

circumstances; for example, one large employer adopted these practices for headquarters 

employees but not for retail store employees. Moreover, in many cases, the output of workers 

is difficult to measure directly. That said, a manager in one county government that has 

experimented with these practices concluded that “the county wins, the staff person wins, and 

it’s a better balance.”28

Small Businesses and Manufacturing

The discussion above makes clear that there is substantial heterogeneity across firms in 

terms of flexible workplace policies and practices. Two types of firms where many argue 

flexible policies are particularly difficult to implement (and thus likely to be less prevalent), are 

small businesses and manufacturing firms. 

Small Businesses. Some argue that while flexible scheduling may work in large firms, each 

member of a small business’s team can be critical to business operations, making it too 

costly to implement such practices. At the same time, one challenge with flexible work 

schedules can be difficulty ensuring that workers are productive while they work from home.

Because managers and employees may interact more frequently at small firms, it may be 

easier for these firms to implement such practices and still be able to monitor a worker’s 

productivity. Data from the National Study of Employers finds that small firms (50–99 

employees) provide more flexibility to their employees than do large firms (1,000 and more 

employees) across seven dimensions of flexibility. 

 24 Hewitt Associates (2008). 25 Workplace Flexibility 2010 (nd.b). 26 Workplace Flexibility 2010 (nd.b). 27 One study found that more than half of so-called “phasers” in 2004 were younger than 60 years old. (Sloan 

Work and Family Research Network (2009)). 28 Kerrigan (2010).
16

We emphasize that this survey did not include employers with fewer than 50 workers. Other 

data suggest that for the smallest employers, leave policy is usually handled on a case-bycase basis.29 Certain sectors, such as pharmacy, have found ways to allow workers to have 

more flexible schedules by making better use of technology and innovative business 

practices.30

Manufacturing. As shown above, manufacturing workers were significantly less likely to 

have flexible work arrangements than workers in most other private sector industries. This 

difference may be due to technological difficulties that limit the amount of flexibility 

manufacturing firms can give their workers. For firms that rely on formal shifts, employees 

may not be able to leave at non-standard times without disrupting their colleagues. In 

addition, the on-site physical nature of many manufacturing jobs may make telecommuting 

impossible.

Despite these challenges, there are strategies that some manufacturing companies have 

used to increase workplace flexibility. For example, some manufacturing firms encourage 

workers to be trained not only in their own tasks but also in the tasks of workers “upstream” 

and “downstream” from them. Increasing the breadth of training can help ensure that workers 

understand how their inputs were created and how their output will be used, and may 

contribute to increased productivity. This modern manufacturing practice has the benefit of 

ensuring that workers can more effectively fill in or otherwise compensate for one another in 

case a worker cannot be present at a particular time. 

 29 Specifically, a survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation in 

2004 includes information from more than 750 firms with fewer than 250 employees. National Federation of 

Independent Business (2004). This study found that the vast majority of employers (82 percent) handled 

requests for time off due to family or medical leave on a case-by-case basis. Small businesses also typically did 

not have formal policies governing short absences for doctor’s appointments or parent-teacher conferences; 81 

percent of firms also handled such requests on a case-by-case basis. Note however, because of the difficulty of 

accurately surveying very small firms, the results may not be nationally representative.

30 Goldin and Katz (2011).

33

14 14 11

4

53

20 19

5 5 4 2

37

12

0

20

40

60

80

100

Periodically

change

starting and

quitting times

within some

range of hours

Change starting

and quitting

times on a daily

basis

Compress

workweek by

working longer

hours on

fewer days for at

least part

of the year

Work some

regular

paid hours at

home

occasionally

Work some

regular paid

hours at home

on a regular

basis

Return to work

gradually

after childbirth

or adoption

Phase into

retirement by

working reduced

hours

over a period of

time prior

to full

retirement

Small Employers (50-99 Employees)

Large Employers (1,000 or More Employees)

Note: Survey includes firms with over 50 employees.

Source: 2014 National Study of Employers.

Percent of Firms with Workplace Flexibility Benefits by Firm Size Percent
17

The Economics of Workplace Flexibility

Employers that have adopted flexible workplace practices cite many economic benefits such 

as reduced worker absenteeism and turnover, improvements in their ability to attract and 

retain workers, and other positive changes that translate into increased worker productivity.31

But, workplace flexibility has costs as well. For example, the associated fixed costs of 

recruiting, training, and monitoring an employee can raise the cost of hiring a worker parttime rather than full-time. In addition, some projects that have short deadlines and that cannot 

be easily divided make it costly to not have an employee working full-time. In fact, almost one 

third of firms cite costs or limited funds as obstacles to implementing workplace flexibility 

arrangements.32

This section discusses the growing research literature assessing the impact of flexible 

workplace practices on workers and employers before laying out an economic rationale for 

why wider adoption of such practices could be good for the American economy.

The Empirical Evidence on the Economic Impacts of Flexible Workplace Practices

Worker compensation has many components, such as wages, health and retirement benefits, 

sick leave, and vacation time. And employers have discretion over which benefits to provide 

their employees, resulting in differing compensation “packages.” There is evidence that 

workers take into account the entire compensation package—and not only wages—when 

considering job offers. For example, it has been well established that workers must be paid 

higher wages to accept jobs without health insurance, partly to help pay for their health 

expenses.33 Similarly, workers who have little workplace flexibility require higher wages to 

help pay for services such as emergency child care and elder care.34 Given that workers 

consider the entire compensation package, if the value to employees of flexible arrangements 

exceeds the costs of providing them to the employer, flexibility is a cost-effective tool for 

attracting and retaining workers.

Unfortunately, quantifying the costs and benefits of these arrangements is challenging. It is 

clear that employees place high value on flexibility. Nearly half of working parents say they 

have chosen to pass up a job they felt would conflict with family obligations.

35 In another 

survey of two hundred human resource managers, two-thirds cited family-supportive policies 

and flexible hours as the single most important factor in attracting and retaining employees.36

And while we do not have direct estimates on the cost of providing flexible workplace 

arrangements, costs associated with other workplace outcomes can provide some insights 

into the likely net benefit for employers in the form of reduced turnover, lower costs for 

recruitment, reduced absenteeism, and more productive workers.

 31 A Better Balance (2008); Corporate Voices for Working Families (2005). 32 Bond, Galinsky, and Sakai (2008). 33 Council of Economic Advisers (2010). 34 Baughman, DiNardi, and Holtz-Eakin (2003). 35 Nielsen (2014). Harris Poll of 4,096 U.S. adults (aged 18+), conducted online May 27-30, 2014.

36 Williams (2001).
18

Flexible Work Arrangements Reduce Turnover and Help Recruitment

Recruitment and retention are so important to employers because the costs associated with 

turnover—both direct and indirect—can be high. When an employee leaves a firm, frequently 

he or she must be replaced. Recruiting can include costs such as advertising for the position, 

time interviewing, agency and search firm fees, referral bonuses, hiring a company recruiter, 

and relocation assistance. In addition, when a worker separates from a firm, he or she takes 

with him or her firm-specific knowledge (such as how to manage a computer program that is 

used only by that firm).37 Such losses are likely to be especially costly for firms that 

extensively train their workers with such “firm-specific” skills.38 In addition, managers report 

that a competitive compensation package (which could include flexible work schedules) is 

especially important for retaining particularly productive workers who are at risk of receiving 

competing offers of employment from other firms.39

Combined, these costs can be considerable. For example, one study found that hiring costs 

account for more than $2,500 per hire in large firms, or approximately 3 percent of total 

annual labor costs for a full-time equivalent worker.40 Another study argues “visible” costs 

such as advertising and orientation costs account for only 10-15 percent of total turnover 

costs of making a hire.41 Including additional costs, one study estimates that employee 

replacement costs range from 10-30% of annual salary for low and moderate income 

positions up to 100-200% of annual salary for some higher-income professionals.42

With such considerable costs to recruiting new workers, employers have an incentive to find 

ways to recruit those likely to remain with the firm for some time and to find cost-effective 

ways to retain them. For such reasons, flexible work practices can potentially pay for 

themselves if they help a company reduce turnover or increase recruitment. A recent 

nationally representative survey sheds light on the impact that flexibility can have on 

recruitment. About one-third of workers say they have passed up a job because it conflicted 

with family obligations, including 49 percent of working parents with children under 18.43

Women in particular, who are playing an ever larger role in the labor market, as noted above, 

are increasingly choosing careers that offer flexibility over the year, week, and day, such as 

dentistry, veterinary medicine, and pharmacy.44 But the desire for flexibility around the family 

does not stop with mothers. A 2014 survey of high-skilled working fathers found that 95 

percent cited flexible work policies that allowed them to actively engage with their children as 

an important job characteristic.

45

 37 Becker (1964); Mincer (1974); Lazear (2003). 38 It is not surprising, therefore, that researchers have documented that firms that provide on-the-job training (for 

firm-specific skills) for their employees aim for lower rates of voluntary turnovers (Pencavel, 1972). 39 Salop and Salop (1976); Weiss (1980). 40 The study included more than 300 large organizations. Data referred to the 2007 calendar year. The average 

size of the company in the report has annual revenue of $5.7 billion and roughly 17,000 employees. See 

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. (2009). 

41 See Baughman, DiNardi, and Holtz-Eakin (2003). 42 Boushey Glynn (2012). 43 Nielsen (2014). Harris Poll of 4,096 U.S. adults (aged 18+), conducted online May 27-30, 2014.

44 Goldin (2006). 45 Harrington et al (2014).
19

There are several ways that flexible work arrangements can help reduce turnover. Workers 

with more flexible arrangements report higher levels of job satisfaction, more loyalty and 

commitment to their employers, and “high likelihood[s]” of remaining with their employers for 

the following year.46 Likewise, a 2011 Gallup Poll finds that having access to flexible work 

arrangements was highly correlated with greater worker engagement and higher well-being.47

Flexible work arrangements can also decrease turnover by encouraging individuals to remain 

working at a firm even after a major life event such as the birth of a child.48 In fact, 89 percent 

of high-skilled working fathers report the availability of paternity leave as an important 

consideration in seeking a new job if they planned to have another child.49 

The research on the impact of flexible workplace practices on turnover is small, but is largely 

in line with how workers weigh these practices.50 Case studies of firms such as State Street, 

highlighted in the following box, provide qualitative insights into perceived benefits. In 

addition, larger studies of the effect of policies that allow new parents to take paid time away 

from work on the employment and wages of workers find that such arrangements encourage 

new parents to stay in the labor force.51 In a survey of 120 randomly-selected employers in 

New York, economists found that those that offered flexible sick leave and child care 

assistance had significantly lower rates of turnover.52 Other studies report that firms with 

more flexible telecommuting practices had lower turnover.53

Flexible Work Schedules Reduce Absenteeism

Worker absenteeism can be costly to a firm by creating uncertainty over the workforce size 

and composition that a manager can expect on any given day. In companies where multiple 

workers perform similar tasks, workers can help compensate for one of their missing 

colleagues. In smaller firms or firms where each worker’s job is different and critical to a 

company’s mission, however, unplanned absences may be especially costly if each member 

of a team is important for the firm’s output. One study estimated that employee stress due to 

concerns about balancing obligations with children and work leads to higher rates of 

absenteeism, with absenteeism costs to businesses ranging from $496 to $1,984 per 

employee per year.54

Although some absences are inevitable, existing evidence suggests that smart workplace 

arrangements can reduce them. For example, the few studies that followed workers as they 

switched between firms that offered a flexible work schedule (such as work-at-home options) 

to those that did not have found that workers tended to miss work more in the new firms.55

 46 See Gerhardt (2001) for references for studies that link satisfaction with retention. 47 Harter and Agrawal (2013). 48 Baum (2003). 49 Harrington et al. (2014). 50 The literature on the impact on recruitment is even smaller since one needs to know about those individuals 

who were not hired.

51 Ruhm (1998). 52 Baughman, DiNardi, and Holtz-Eakin (2003). 53 See Yasbek (2004) and Computer Economics (2008). 54 Corporate Voices for Working Families (2004). 55 Dionne and Dostie (2007). For other evidence, see Yasbek (2004); Comfort, Johnson, and Wallace (2003); 

Akyeampong (2001).
20

Perhaps the most compelling study of the impact of flexible work scheduling on absenteeism 

comes from within a single large public utility that temporarily adopted a flexible work 

schedule in one of its sub-units while retaining standard scheduling for other sub-units.56 As 

shown in the accompanying chart, prior to the program, the average rates of absenteeism 

were roughly similar between the sub-unit that was offered a flexible work schedule and 

those that were not. In the year after the program was adopted, the sub-unit with a flexible 

schedule reported a more than 20 percent reduction in absences, with the absenteeism rate 

in the other sub-units essentially unchanged. Moreover, when the company reverted back to 

standard scheduling for all of the sub-units considered after a one-year trial, the rates of 

absenteeism of the two groups of sub-units became, once again, similar. 

As a rough estimate, these results, if they generalize to other firms, suggest that wholesale 

adoption of flexible workplace schedules could save about $15 billion a year.57

 56 Dalton and Mesch (1990). For this company, flexible work scheduling meant allowing workers to distribute 

their working hours during the day without changing the total numbers worked in a day. 57 Nicholson et al. (2005) estimate that the annual cost of workforce absences due to illness was $74 billion. If 

workplace flexibility reduces absences by 20 percent and if all of this reduction translates into lower costs for 

employers, the implied savings due to flexibility are almost $15 billion a year. Note, however, that this estimate 

includes only absences due to illness, so the total cost due to all absences is likely to be higher. At the same 

time, there are several reasons why the estimate of cost savings may be too large. Most importantly, the results 

from the intervention that reduced absences by 20 percent may not generalize to other firms. In addition, the 

estimates of the annual cost of absences due to illness calculated by Nicholson et al. (2005) may overstate the 

true cost.

10.1

7.8

10.3

9.7

9.9 9.8

6

7

8

9

10

11

Before the Program During the Program After the Program

Offered a Flexible Work Schedule Not Offered a Flexible Work Schedule

Average Absence Rates With and Without Flexible Work Scheduling

Absence Rate

Source: Dalton and Mesch (1990); CEA Analysis.
21

Flexible Work Schedules Improve Health

A growing literature links job stress to poor health (such as chronic hypertension and heart 

disease).58 And researchers are increasingly linking poor worker health to poor economic 

outcomes, such as lower productivity and slower economic growth.59 As a result, it is not 

surprising that recent studies establish a positive relationship between flexible workplace 

arrangements and worker health.60

The most compelling evidence comes from a workplace intervention conducted at 12 

Midwestern grocery stores. The researchers at Michigan State University and Portland State 

University found that workers supervised by family-supportive managers reported improved 

physical and mental health.61 A second study conducted by researchers at the University of 

Minnesota found that a workplace intervention to allow employees greater control over their 

work time resulted in employees being less likely to say that they felt obliged to come to work 

when they were sick, or to not see a doctor even though they felt they should. The 

intervention also resulted in improved sleep quality, increased energy, and reduced 

psychological stress among employees.62

 58 See Mann (2006) for a literature review. As noted by Mann, this literature is not well-settled. More research 

could help determine the importance any relationship between job stress and health.

59 See, for example, Davis et al (2005); Council of Economic Advisers (2009b); Bloom and Canning (2005). 

Research has also explored the link between good health on the one hand and more productive employees and 

lower turn-over on the other. For example, data from the National Study of the Changing Workforce show that 

35 percent of employees who say their overall health is “excellent” are highly engaged on the job, compared to 

23 percent of those who say they are in “poor” overall health. Similarly, 68 percent of employees who say they 

are in “excellent” health report that they are “not at all likely” to leave their job, compared to just 45 percent of 

employees who say they are in “poor” health (Aumann and Galinsky, 2008). Again, this research suggests that 

workplace flexibility policies that improve employee health can provide substantial economic benefits for the 

employer.

60 See, for example, Grzywacz, Casey, and Jones (2007); A Better Balance (2008). 61 Work, Family, & Health Network (2008a). 62 Work, Family & Health Network (2008c). Another study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health 

which looked at the relationship between a range of workplace policies and informal practices and health 

outcomes in four extended-care facilities in Massachusetts found that employees exposed to managers with low 

creativity and lack of openness to work-family issues were more likely to have cardiovascular disease risk 

factors (Work, Family, & Health Network, 2008b). Finally, a study conducted by researchers at Pennsylvania 

State University found that on days when hotel workers reported an interpersonal stressor at work, children 

reported spending one less hour than usual with their parent (Work, Family & Health Network, 2008d).

BOX 2: FLEXIBILITY HELPS STATE STREET REDUCE TURNOVER AND ABSENTEEISM

State Street has formalized its flexible work arrangements with its Flex Work Program. This program 

includes altering start and finish times for the work day, working under a compressed schedule, 

reducing standard work hours, working remotely and job sharing. As of 2012, nearly 70 percent of 

surveyed employees used some sort of flexibility in their work schedule. State Street has also found 

a strong business case for its workplace flexibility initiatives. Less turnover and absenteeism, easier 

international collaboration between employees, lower commuting costs for employees and 

increased workload capacity are just a few of the benefits that have materialized since State Street 

implemented their Flex Work Program.
22

Flexible Work Schedules Improve Productivity 

An important question is whether flexible work-life arrangements increase worker productivity. 

Several studies document a positive relationship between workplace flexibility and worker 

productivity.63 The two case studies in boxes, below, explore this relationship.64 One 

documents the productivity increases experienced by JetBlue after restructuring its 

scheduling policies for some workers. The other describes how a telecommuting program 

increased the productivity and generated large cost savings for Cisco Systems. A mechanism 

through which more flexible workplace practices may enhance productivity is by allowing 

firms to recruit and retain the best workforce.65 In a larger study of over 700 firms in the 

United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany, researchers found a significant 

positive relationship between work-life balance practices and total factor productivity.66 The 

authors argue that this correlation could be driven by a third factor—good management. Wellmanaged firms both have higher productivity and tend to embrace flexible workplace 

practices. Importantly, the study finds no evidence that workplace flexibility harms 

productivity. Finally, one of the most rigorous studies on telecommuting is a randomized 

evaluation examining call center employees at a Chinese travel agency. Half of the firm’s 

workers were assigned to work from home four days a week, with the other day in the office, 

while the other half spent all five days in the office. Workers working from home were 13% 

more productive than those in the office. When workers were allowed to choose the optimal 

place to work based on their preferences and circumstances--whether from home or the 

office--productivity increased 22%.67

 63 Anecdotal evidence also points to this conclusion. For example, an employee at Texas Instruments, a 

company that has given its employees more flexibility, said that “workplace flexibility has enabled [her] to 

improve focus and performance.”

64 Georgetown University Law Center (2010). Sloan Work and Family Research Network (2005a). 65 For example, Konrad and Mangel (2000) note that, among professionals, work-life conflicts tend to arise when 

employees reach their peak productive years in their 30s and 40s. Thus, the workers who most need work-life 

balance policies could also be the most productive. 66 Bloom, Krestchmer and Van Reenen (2006). This same study contains a reference to a large number of 

papers that document a positive correlation between flexibility and outcomes like productivity. 

67 Bloom, Liang, Roberts, and Ying (2013).

BOX 3: REIMAGINING THE STRUCTURE OF WORK AT JETBLUE

Since the airline’s founding in 2000, JetBlue has followed a flexible, work-from-home model for 

nearly all of its 2,000+ customer service representatives (the folks you talk to when dialing 1-800-

jetblue). After initial training, JetBlue crewmembers work from home and regularly attend monthly 

and quarterly training sessions and team meetings at their local Support Center (Salt Lake City or in 

Orlando). JetBlue cites the business case for improving workplace flexibility for its crewmembers, 

stating that when they can “better attend to their home life,” it leads to happier and more productive 

crewmembers and lower overhead, which leads to lower ticket prices for their customers and higher 

profits and profit-sharing for its crewmembers. 
23

The Economic Case for Wider Adoption of Flexible Workplace Practices and 

Policies

The evidence cited above strongly suggests that workers gain from workplace flexibility. They 

are happier, healthier, and more likely to remain with a firm that grants such flexibility. And as 

workers today live and work longer than previous generations, the need for flexible workplace 

policies to care for elderly relatives and relatives with disabilities including grown children, 

spouses, siblings, and returning veterans will continue to grow. Approximately 40 million 

Americans (16 percent of the population aged 15 and older) provide unpaid care to an elderly 

relative or friend each year.

68 Moreover, the majority (63 percent) of elder caregivers are 

employed, with about half of caregivers working full-time, and one-fifth also caring for young 

children.69 

An innovative paper attempting to study the impact on firm profits tracked the 

announcements of new work-life balance policies (such as dependent care or flexible work 

arrangements) by Fortune 500 companies in The Wall Street Journal. It found that on 

average, firms’ stock prices rose 0.36 percent on the days following announcements of worklife balance initiatives.70 Such evidence indicates that flexible practices boost investors’ 

perceptions of the value of a firm, which may derive from their beliefs about the impact of the 

policies on worker productivity.

And yet, many firms have not adopted such practices. As documented earlier, less than onethird of full-time workers report having access to flexible work hours. If these practices 

generate such large economic benefits for both workers and firms, why don’t more workers 

have access to them?

One explanation is that it takes time for managers to learn and incorporate new techniques 

and policies even when they are profit maximizing. Firms that are better at adapting are more 

likely to adopt all sorts of new profit-maximizing strategies, one potential explanation for why 

more profitable and better managed firms are more likely to have work-family friendly 

policies. A second explanation is that management is struggling to understand how to 

effectively implement such policies. That’s one reason why firms sharing best practices 

around workplace flexibility may speed the adoption of such policies. 

There is a growing literature that suggests not all firms adopt the most efficient practices, 

especially in less competitive industries. For example, in the manufacturing sector where 

productivity is more easily quantified (and even in the context of professional football), 

managers of firms sometimes appear to fail to make the best choices.71 Economists argue 

that one factor that may contribute to the incomplete adoption of the best management 

 68 In 2011, the American Time Use Survey began asking questions about time spent caring for older individuals. 

The data reported are for 2011 and 2012.

69 Bureau of Labor Statistics (2013). 70 Arthur (2003). 71 Romer (2006); Bloom and Van Reenen (2010). See also Levitt (2006); Cho and Rust (2010), Bloom, 

Kretschmer, and Van Reenen (2006); and Yasbek (2004).
24

practices is lack of information.72 Due to the changing nature of the labor force, it is likely that 

the best practices from years ago do not provide enough flexibility for today’s workforce.73

Just as U.S. automotive firms took years to embrace lean manufacturing despite the 

practice’s documented improvements in productivity,74 firms today may be failing to adopt 

flexible arrangements. In this case, encouraging supervisors at firms to reevaluate their 

management practices in light of the evolving demands of workers can make both the firm 

and the workers better off. One way to help is for companies to establish “right to request” 

policies which lay out the circumstances and procedures by which workers can ask their 

supervisors to consider altering their work arrangements to meet their needs for flexibility.

It is also likely that the relative costs and benefits of these practices differ across and within 

firms. For example, employers in the financial services industry may find it possible to allow 

employees to work occasionally from home, while food service companies would likely find 

such practices infeasible. Economic theory suggests that the firms with the greatest (net) 

gains to adopting flexible practices should be among the first to embrace them. Existing 

studies of the effect of flexible arrangements come from firms that have already adopted 

these practices. Therefore, the evidence presented above may overstate the economic 

benefits that firms that have not yet adopted flexible arrangements would enjoy.

Even in this case, there is still an economic rationale for why additional firms and the U.S. 

economy could benefit from wider adoption of flexible workplace practices. Promoting worklife balance is that flexible practices may help society in ways that are not taken into account 

by either an employer or employee (what economists call “social benefits”). For several 

reasons it is possible that these social benefits are larger than the private ones. For example, 

some economic models have emphasized that firms may be reluctant to offer benefits 

packages that are particularly attractive to workers for whom the benefits are most costly to 

provide. The classic example is generous health insurance packages which may attract the 

sickest workers. If a similar dynamic operates with flexible workplace arrangements, then too 

few employers may offer such arrangements and those that do will pay a higher cost.75 If 

more firms offer flexible workplace arrangements, the cost for all will decline, allowing more 

workers to benefit from the increased flexibility.

In addition, on average, adopting flexible practices likely encourages labor force participation 

among those workers that would otherwise find it too “costly” to work or invest in workplace 

skills.76 These practices are also essential for long run growth as they allow for better bonding 

 72 Bloom and Van Reenen (2010). 73 Griliches (1957), Cohen and Levinthal (1990), and Levitt and March (1988), among many others, also develop 

models where a firm’s adoption of a new technology is not immediate. See also Nelson and Winter (1982). 74 Bloom and Van Reenen (2010). 75 Summers (1989) explains this as an example of asymmetric information. Suppose that providing the benefit is 

costly and that a firm does not have accurate information about an individual’s probability of using the benefit. 

When a firm offers a benefit it attracts the workers who value it most. If the benefit is most costly to provide to 

these workers, the cost to the firm of offering the benefit will increase. The cost would be lower if all firms offered 

the same benefit. (Levine (1991) provides a related argument). Evidence on the magnitude of this effect in the 

context of flexible work arrangements is limited (see Yasbek (2004) for some evidence), but in other contexts 

there is clear evidence that asymmetric information is economically important (Cutler and Reber, 1998).

76 Goldin (2006) has documented links between changes in women’s expectations about future careers and 

increases in women’s human capital investment. Similarly, the adoption of flexible practices may cause women 
25

between parents and children which has been shown to lead to better outcomes for the kids 

as adults. For instance, researchers have shown that children of women who receive paid 

maternity leave can earn on average 5 percent higher wages at age 30.77 Similarly, taxpayers 

and society as a whole benefit from having productive individuals in the workforce because 

they are more likely to make contributions in the form of taxes (and conversely are less likely 

to use the social safety net). As another social benefit, allowing workers to work during 

atypical hours can reduce the commuting time for other workers that may not be taken into 

account by a profit-maximizing manager.78 One study found that in 2005, peak-period drivers 

spent 38 extra hours a year in traffic as a result of highway congestion, up from 14 hours in 

1982.79 Moreover, over a third of drivers report that traffic congestion is a serious problem in 

their community.

80

Given the changing nature of the U.S. workforce, the tendency for some firms to fail to update 

their workplace practices, and the potential for benefits to society as a whole, many firms may 

find embracing more flexible work helps their workers, their bottom line, and the country as a 

whole.

Right to Request Provisions Can Help Workers Access Flexible Working 

Arrangements

In some cases, workers may be hesitant to enquire about their employer’s flexible scheduling 

policies because they fear this request will reflect poorly upon them or cause them to lose 

their job. One fifth of American adults, and more than one-third of working parents and 

caregivers, report that they believe they have been denied a promotion, raise, or new job 

because they need a flexible work schedule.81 Right to request laws attempt to reduce this 

discrimination. Under right to request laws, employers cannot retaliate against an employee 

who requests a flexible work arrangement.

 

to invest more in preparation for their careers. Klerman and Leibowitz (1999) explore the short-run effects of 

work place flexibility on the labor force patterns of new mothers.

77 Carneiro et al. (2011). 78 Walters (1961). 79 Lomax and Schrank (2007). 80 Deshpande and Elmendorf (2008). 81 Nielsen (2014).

Locality Date Effective Covered Workers Flexibility Uses Employer Responsibilities

San Francisco 

(City and 

County)

February 14, 2014

Workers who have worked for 

their current employer for at 

least 6 months and who work at 

least 8 hours per week on a 

regular basis. Employers with 

less than 20 employees are 

exempt.

Caring for a child under the age 

of 18, a relative with a serious 

health condition, and/or a 

parent older than 65.

Employers must meet with the 

employee and respond to the 

request within 21 days of the 

meeting. Any denial must be in 

writing and describe the 

business reason for the denial.

Vermont January 1, 2014

All public and private sector 

workers.

Workers can request flexible 

work arrangements or 

predictable schedules for any 

reason.

Employers must consider 

requests at least twice a year. 

Employers may deny if the 

request poses costs to the 

business.

Table 2

State and Local Right to Request Laws
26

Some local and state governments in the United States have already implemented right to 

request laws. In 2013, San Francisco passed the Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance, 

which allows workers to request flexible or predictable working arrangement to help meet 

their responsibilities caring for children, elderly parents, or relatives with serious health 

conditions.82 Vermont also passed similar legislation that allows workers to request workplace 

flexibility for any reason.83 These laws place no obligation on the employer to accept the 

request; they only require employers to consider the requests, provide an explanation if the 

request is denied, and not retaliate against workers for making such requests. Employers are 

able to deny requests that would negatively affect business performance or impose high 

business costs.84 As these policies were implemented recently, there is not yet empirical data 

on how businesses and employees have responded.

Other countries, including the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, have also adopted right to 

request laws. Most requests are submitted by mothers with caregiving responsibilities, and in 

its early years of implementation, employers fully or partially accepted more than 80 percent 

of these requests for flexibility.85 Perhaps unsurprisingly, the fraction of employers offering 

workplace flexibility increased after the implementation of these laws. In the UK, for example, 

more than 90 percent of employers have flexible work arrangements in the workplace; only 

50 percent of employers reported such arrangements in 1999.86

In the UK, employers have realized business benefits from flexible work arrangements, 

including improved employee relations, better recruitment/retention, lower absenteeism and 

increased productivity, and the law was recently expanded to cover all workers, regardless of 

parent or caregiver status.87 The connection seems clear – right to request laws make it 

easier and more likely - for employees to ask for and obtain flexible work arrangements. 

Flexible work arrangements can also lead to working environments better matched to 

employees’ needs and a more productive workforce for employers.

Following the experiences of state and local governments, as well as those of other 

countries, the Administration recognizes that the benefits of workplace flexibility programs

can only be realized if workers feel comfortable asking for them. With that understanding, the 

President has signed a Presidential Memorandum encouraging every single agency in the 

federal government to expand flexible workplace policies as much as possible. The 

memorandum also makes it clear that federal workers have the right to request a flexible 

work arrangement without fear of retaliation. As a result, federal agencies will periodically 

make their employees aware of the workplace flexibilities available to them and remind them 

that they may request any of those flexibilities without fear of retaliation from their 

supervisors. Moreover, supervisors must consider these requests carefully, confer with 

requesting employees about them, and render decisions on them in a timely fashion. Since 

workers may be unaware of their options with respect to workplace flexibility or the 

circumstances under which they are permitted to use them, this step will enable federal 

 82 City and County of San Francisco (2013). 83Vermont State Legislature (2013). 84 Ludden (2014). 85 NACEW (2013) and Georgetown University Federal Legislation Clinic (2006). 86 NACEW (2013). 87 NACEW (2013) and Gov.UK (2014). 
27

employees to better balance their personal and professional obligations by providing clarity 

about those issues. The President has also directed all federal agencies to make workplace 

flexibilities and work-life programs available to the maximum extent practicable.

By instructing agencies to extend their flexibility policies and encouraging workers to request 

schedules that fit their needs, this memorandum builds on previous efforts to promote 

workplace flexibility in the Federal government. President Clinton issued memoranda 

encouraging telecommuting and satellite work locations, as well as a memorandum 

instructing Federal agencies to establish alternative work schedule programs, which can 

include compressed work schedules (where employees work fewer days, but additional hours 

each day) and flexible work schedules (where employees can adjust their start and end times 

within a given window). More recently, increased telecommunication capacities have enabled 

Federal employees to work remotely through adverse weather situations. The ability for 

workers to change their work location has resulted in significant cost savings. For example, 

during the winter of 2009-2010, telecommuting capabilities saved over $30 million per day the 

Federal government was closed due to heavy snow, for a total savings of more than $150 

million.

Conclusion

The non-work responsibilities of the typical American worker have changed dramatically over 

the past 50 years, largely as a result of the entrance of women to the workforce in large 

numbers. While four decades ago women spent much more time performing nonmarket 

work—taking care of children and older family members, and keeping an organized and 

efficient home—and men primarily performed market work, more recently the household 

division of labor has blurred. As a result, the fraction of households where all of the parents 

work full-time has nearly doubled, and the percentage of full-time workers who are parents in 

full-time working families has increased substantially. And because their parents are living 

longer, an increasing number of workers also find that they must make time for eldercare as 

well. As a result, many workers report difficulty juggling their work and family responsibilities.

Many employers have already adapted to the changing realities of American workers.

Overall, about four out of five employers report allowing at least some workers to periodically 

change their starting and quitting times; however less than a quarter allow most of their 

employees to do so and only about half of full-time workers report having flexible work hours, 

slightly more than the share of part-time workers. The flexibility to regularly work from home 

is even less common. Finally, most employers offer at least some workers the ability to return 

to work gradually after a major life event such as a childbirth or adoption, although job 

sharing appears less widespread.

As in all business decisions, critical factors in adoption are the costs and benefits of a 

program. Indeed, almost one-third of firms cite costs or limited funds as obstacles to 

implementing workplace flexibility arrangements. At the same time, these practices can 

reduce turnover and improve recruitment, increasing the productivity of an employer’s 

workforce. These practices are also associated with improved employee health and 

decreased absenteeism, a major cost for employers. Although the literature has identified 
28

potential benefits along a variety of dimensions, the costs and benefits of adopting flexible 

arrangements differ across firms and industries and employers of different sizes.

Nonetheless, there are several reasons to suspect that wider adoption of work-life practices 

may benefit employers and workers. First, some employers may not have adopted these 

policies simply because they overestimate the difficulty and cost of doing so and are unaware 

of potential benefits. In addition, should more firms adopt such practices the benefits to 

society, in the form of reduced traffic, improved employment outcomes, and more efficient 

allocation of workers to employers, may be greater than the gains to individual firms and 

workers. The best available evidence suggests that encouraging more firms to consider 

adopting flexible practices can potentially boost productivity, improve morale, and benefit the 

U.S. economy. Especially at this time as the U.S. rebuilds after the Great Recession, it is 

critical for the 21st century U.S. workplace to be organized for the 21st century workforce.
29

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