Flexible Working Hours

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Project background

1.1.1 Clarification for flexible working hours

An important factor in the quality of life has always been the individual's ability to balance work and personal life. Flexible working hours have been practiced by multinational companies for decades. The number of companies introducing flexible working hours (flextime) systems has been increasing in recent years.

But still, Malaysian people not totally expose yet with this time working system. None of these are common in Malaysia but public sector has implemented it already and they called it as 'stratified working hours'. Most of the workers outside Malaysia, they really concern about their right. While some European countries such as the Sweden, Netherlands and the United Kingdom have successfully managed to shift to flexible working hours. By introducing flexible working arrangements can bring many advantages for the employer, employees and customer.

1.1.2 The significant of flexible working hours

* Flextime helps create a happier and more satisfying workplace.

* Employees can work at home all or part time and in the office part time.

* Helping employees to balance their life between work and personal life.

* Allow employees to work in optimum level.

* Decreased absenteeism and turnover.

* Increased productivity and worker satisfaction.

* Reducing stress among the employees.

1.1.3 Purpose of the project

The main purpose of this survey is to find out the impact of applicable flexible working hours toward employees by identifying the advantages of flexible working hours towards the employees. Since everybody have different point of view. By listing the advantages of flextime, we try to get their perceptions towards flexible working hours. From their experience we try acknowledge the relevant to all organization in Malaysia adopting this business culture.

1.2.1 Problem statement

Flexible working hours is not being offered by all organization. This survey was conducted to study how flexible working hours can give an advantage to the employer, employees and customer. Besides, to study how flexible working hours can help employees to performed well without affecting their social life and balancing between work and personal life.

1.3 Project objectives

The overall objectives of the project are to identifying what are the benefits flexible working hours if it been practically practices by the organization. Since in Malaysian, we are not really totally expose with the flexible working hours compare with developed country such as United Kingdom. In addition, by identifying some of the benefits that exist, we also want to obtain feedback from the workers perspective in Malaysian about the flexible working hours if it were offered by their organization. Moreover, to know whether flexible working hours are relevant to be practice in Malaysia we must get the feedback from the employees who involved with this working system. So, there information will be more reliable and accurate to measured.

1.4 Definition of terms

Working time is the period of time that an individual spends to contribute their skills in term to complete the task given. At the time an individual spends they will receive money as exchange paid by the companies. In Malaysia, normal working hours started from morning 8 o'clock until evening 5 o'clock for those who are working in public sector. While, in private sector time started from morning 9 o'clock until evening 6 o'clock. As written in employment act standard working hours is 8 hours per day.

Flexible working hours also known as are flexi-time. Flextime can be defined as an arrangement that allows employees to negotiate with his employer when hours will be worked within agreed limits and conditions. In simple words it is mean a system of working hours where the starting and stopping time are decided by the individual workers within a number of limitation set by the employer.

The concept of flextime itself is not designed to increase or reduce the total number of regular working hours. Whereby, flexible working hours is a system that gives employees some choice and option over the actual times they work their contracted hours. It provides an opportunity for employees to work hours consistent with their other commitment such as managing personal life as child care.

There are several key terms used in a flextime system such as bandwidth, core hours, flexibands and settlement periods. In a flexible working hours system, the employer must decide the organizational daily opening hours within which time the workers can make their choices as to when they wish to start and finish work. These daily opening hours are known as the bandwidth.

Core hours refer to the times at which all workers must be present for the purpose of having meetings, sorting out problems and so on. The length of core time will depend upon the needs of the business. Certainly, the shorter the core hours the more the employees will have freedom to choose their working hours.

Hours before and after core time within the bandwidth are called the flexibands. It is in these periods that the workers exercise their choice of working hours. As can already be seen, flextime does not mean total freedom for the worker to choose his working hours as he pleases. He is constrained by the need to work within the bandwidth and the requirement that he will be present during core hours.

While settlement period is the total number of hours the employees must work in a particular period of time. The employer has the right to decide on a settlement period which may be daily, weekly, or monthly.

1.5 Chart

The chart below show how the hour being distributed started from time of workers is arrival until the departure times. Based on figure 1, basically it shows the changes in the working system in workplace after organization introducing flextime.

Figure 1: Changes in the Working System Before and After Introducing Flextime

Flexitime allows employees to choose, within set limits,