Alternative work schedules allow working people to earn a paycheck while having the flexibility to take care of the needs of children and older relatives. Changes in the workforce and in the kinds of hours people work are making alternative work schedules increasingly important for working families trying to balance jobs and family responsibilities.

• Almost half of U.S. workers (47 percent) are responsible for the care of children and/or elderly or disabled adults.

• In 1991, 60 percent of women with children younger than six and more than three-fourths of women with school-age children worked outside the home. In 1992, 54 percent of women with children younger than one were in the workforce.

• In almost all surveys on work and family issues, working families say they need more flexibility in their work schedules. Sixty-six percent of working parents say they don't have enough time with their children.

Strategy 1: Flextime. Flextime agreements allow employees to start and end work during some range of hours. All employees may be required to be present during a core period, usually during the middle of the shift.

Flextime Contract Examples
CWA negotiated flexible scheduling with BellSouth Telecommunications. Under the agreement each employee must be at work during 'core hours,' which cover 60 percent of the normal workday. However, each employee may vary beginning and ending times within basic scheduling guidelines. (Communications Workers of America and BellSouth Tele-communications)

IBEW Local 1245 won a flextime policy that would allow workers flexibility in their daily start and end times, as long as they arrive no earlier than 6:30 a.m. and leave work no later than6 p.m. All workers must be at work an average of seven and a half hours per day and must be at work during core hours, defined as 9 to I I a.m. and 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. (international Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 and Pacific Gas & Electric Hayward Administrative Services)

Strategy 2: Part-time work with benefits. Part-time work can give working people flexibility to take care of family needs while still earning a paycheck. However, a part-time schedule may become unaffordable if it does not come with health care and other benefits. Unions have bargained to provide part-time employees With benefits while working part-time.

Part-Time Work With Benefits Contract Example
IBEW Local 1245 and PG&E agreed that any regular part-time employee (any regular employee scheduled for less than 40 hours a week) is entitled to benefits including group life insurance, long-term disability coverage, retirement benefits, a prorated vacation allowance, prorated sick leave, paid holidays and medical, dental and vision coverage. (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 and Pacific Gas & Electric)

Strategy 3: Telecommuting. Telecommuting is working from a site other than the central worksite, usually at home. Unions traditionally have opposed telecommuting because work done at home is difficult to regulate and could easily become "sweatshop" labor. Another union objection is that workers who telecommute can become isolated from each other and are difficult to organize. However, telecommuting can offer workers a great deal of flexibility and many union members favor it.

Telecommuting Contract Examples
SEIU Local 660 negotiated telecommuting standards for county employees under which workers telecommute voluntarily, while spending some days each week at the office. Employees working at home receive all benefits including overtime and are eligible for workers' compensation for job-related accidents. (Service Employees International UnionLocal 660 and Los Angeles County)

IBEW Locals 827 and 1944 bargained with Bell Systems for a telecommuting arrangement allowing clerical staff to work from home. Bell Systems pays for telephone lines and other necessary equipment. Under the contract, the employer also compensates employees for 30minutes of time monthly to attend union meetings and provides voice mail to allow the union to communicate with telecommuting members. (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Locals 827 and 1944 and Bell Systems)

Strategy 4: Job sharing. Under a job-share agreement, two part-time employees share one full-time job. The two employees divide the full-time salary between them according to hours worked. Benefits and seniority often are prorated according to hours worked, although in some job-share situations both may receive full benefits and/or seniority. Union contracts can protect employees' right to enter into a job-share arrangement and can establish standards for job sharing.

Job Sharing Contract Example
AFSCME Local 2505 bargained with the State of Oregon to allow any eligible employee to request approval to participate in job sharing. Employees sharing a job accrue vacation, sick leave and holiday pay on a prorated basis. The two employees sharing a job are also entitled to share health insurance benefits for one full-time position on a prorated basis. (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2505 and Executive Department of the State of Oregon)

Strategy 5: Compressed work week. Compressed work schedules allow full-time workers to work all their hours in fewer than five days per week. Common examples of this are schedules allowing workers to work four 10-hourdays for an extra day off per week, or eight nine-hour days and one eight-hour day for an extra day off every two weeks.

Compressed Work Week Contract Example
Teamsters Local 830 and the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company negotiated a 'flexible work week." The agreement allows a specified number of employees each to be scheduled for a three-day week (three consecutive 13.33 hour days), a four-day week (four consecutive1 0-hour days), ora traditional five-day week (five consecutive eight-hour days). (international Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 830 and Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company)

Strategy 6: Making overtime voluntary. For many working families, being forced to stay at work past the regularly scheduled end time can be very stressful, particularly for working parents who do not have backup arrangements for childcare. Provisions in union contracts making overtime voluntary protect employees from this loss of power over their daily schedules.

Voluntary Overtime Contract Example
The Newspaper Guild Local 35 and the Bureau of National Affairs agreed that compulsory overtime should be avoided whenever feasible. Members who request that they be excused from working overtime do not have to unless no other appropriate employee is available.(Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild Local 35 and Bureau of National Affairs)

Strategy 7: Shift swaps. A shift swap provision in a union contract allows workers to exchange shifts or workdays voluntarily to accommodate family needs, such as attending school events or medical appointments.

Shift Swap Contract Example
The Pulp and Paper Workers Union and the Longview Fibre Company agreed that employees may voluntarily trade shifts within the same day or days off within the same week with prior consent of their supervisor(s). (Association of Western Pulp & Paper Workers and Longview Fibre Company, Longview Mill)

Strategy 8: Shorter work week. Unions have bargained for shorter workweeks for their members with full compensation. Some unions also have used shorter work week provisions with less compensation as an alternative to layoffs.

Shorter Work Week With Full Compensation Contract Example
OPEIU Local 3 negotiated a 32-hour work week without loss of pay, consisting of four to four and one-half days, depending on the worksite. (Office and Professional Employees Inter-national Union Local 3 and San Francisco, Marin, and Sonoma Trade Union Health and Welfare and Pension Fund Offices)

Shorter Work Week to Avoid Layoffs Contract Example
CEPU and Bell Canada negotiated a four-day work week that allows staff members to work four nine-hour days per week as an alternative to impending layoffs. Employees lose only two hours of pay per week. (Communications, Energy and Paperworkers' Union and Bell Canada)

Strategy 9: Voluntary reduced time. Voluntary reduced time allows an employee to reduce the number of hours she or he works in a week in order to have extra time to take care of personal or family needs.

Voluntary Reduced Time Contract Example
SEIU Local 715 won a voluntary reduced time policy under which members may request a reduction in their work hours of I percent, 2 percent, 5 percent, IO percent, or 20 percent. This reduction in hours may last for up to six months. While working reduced hours, employees keep their regular full-time status forthe purpose of benefits and seniority. (Service Employees International Union Local 71 5 and Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, California)

For More Information

The Labor Project for Working Families IIR, 2521 Channing Way #5555 Berkeley, CA 94720510-643-6814 website: http://socrates.berkeley.edu/-iir/workfam/home.html

The AFL-CIO Working Women's Department 815 16th Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 637-5064 website: http://www.aflcio.org

This fact sheet was prepared by the Labor Project for Working Families and theAFL-CIO Working Women's Department.