Employees tend to view an Alternative Work Schedule as a highly desirable benefit. A flextime program permits employees to set or modify their arrival and departure times. Flextime policies usually state that the flexibility in scheduling must not conflict with workflow. Most flextime programs establish a core period of time in which all employees must be present. Employees then can adjust their start and end times around this core period.
Supervisors usually retain a significant degree of control over the actual scheduling limits.
This could mean that some departments in your company may have the options of flextime, while others do not. Under a staggered work hour program, work units or groups of employees select, or are assigned, different starting and ending times for their work day. These working hours are usually staggered at 15 to 30 minute intervals. A staggered work hour program can focus on the work unit, or it can be based on spreading employee arrival and departure times company wide. If the goal of the program is to relieve localized traffic congestion, a major schedule shift change may be necessary.