Contribution #2: "Flextime" Scheduling

One topic that seems interesting to me are the ideas involved with alternative work schedules. We briefly discussed in class the idea of “Flextime” scheduling. Basically, flextime allows for employees to choose when the start and end their day as long as there is a certain period during the day in which all employees are on the job (e.g. 10 a.m.-2p.m.). Speaking from personal experience, there are benefits and burdens to flextime scheduling.
I think one of the major benefits of flextime is a decrease in the stress of making it to work before a set time. Mornings are always unpredictable. Everything and anything could go wrong. Missed alarm clock, traffic, car doesn’t start, kids are sick, etc. happens routinely in people’s daily lives. Judgment from employers based on whether you show up at 8 a.m. or 8:02 a.m. adds considerable stress to one’s work day. I have seen this side of the story at both Culver’s and the Packers Pro Shop. At both places of employment, my schedule is strict and regimented. Worrying about being late adds a small amount of stress, no matter what anyone might try to tell you. Being able to have a stress free environment before and on the way to work helps relieve the stress and tension that actual work might bring, not compound it. That’s why it’d be nice to have a flex schedule where I know I can come in, do my work, and leave at a desired time later.
Unfortunately, I also think there are some cons to having a flextime schedule. For one, communication at work can become frustrating. If you never know when a co-worker is going to be in on a consistent basis, it makes it hard for you to communicate and solve problems related to business. I also think that flextime scheduling might make for lazy employees. Allowing them to pick and choose when they start and end gives them options, but sleeping in until 9 a.m. and showing up for work at 10 a.m. could lead to bad habits. Businesses are smart to try and combat this with the mandatory 10 to 2 work hours, but again, I think bad habits tend to lead to other things, possibly poor performance at work. Now those might be assumptions obviously because I have never had a “flextime” work schedule, but I’d like to think that for me, “flextime” would be used as a buffer for some things that could prevent me from being at work by 7:30 a.m. or 8 a.m.