What Is Flextime and Why Should You Offer It?

What is flextime?

Flextime, also called flexible scheduling or flexible working hours, is an alternative work arrangement that lets employees vary their start and end times while still working a set number of hours and meeting all job requirements. Employers typically set guidelines, such as core hours or availability expectations, so teams can still collaborate while enjoying a measure of autonomy, balance and flexibility.

Common types of flextime include the following:

• Flexible start and end times: Employees can shift their daily schedules. They still work a full day (for example, eight hours) but may start earlier and finish earlier or start later and finish later. Many employers set core hours (for example, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) when everyone must be available for meetings and workplace collaboration.
• Compressed work schedule: Employees work a full week’s worth of hours in fewer than five days. A common example of a compressed work schedule is four 10-hour days (Monday through Thursday) with Fridays off.
• Seasonal schedule: Businesses adjust hours based on demand. Employees may work longer shifts during busy periods and scale back hours or take extended time off when demand slows. For example, some companies offer Summer Fridays, allowing employees to leave early or take Fridays off during the summer.
• Variable day schedule: Employees keep consistent hours on specific days but vary their schedule throughout the week. For example, someone might work 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
• Results-centered schedule: Often called a results-only work environment (ROWE), this is the most autonomous form of flextime. Managers focus on output and deadlines rather than hours worked. As long as employees meet expectations, when they work matters less than what they deliver.
• Remote or hybrid schedule: Flextime usually refers to when employees work, but many companies also offer flexibility around where they work. For example, a remote work plan lets employees work offsite full-time, while a hybrid policy mixes office and remote days.

What are the benefits of flextime for employees?

Flextime can make work fit better into employees’ lives, not the other way around. By giving people more control over their schedules, businesses can support better work-life balance, lower stress and greater job satisfaction. Here are some of the main benefits.

Better work-life balance

Flextime gives employees more control over their schedules, which makes it easier to balance work and personal responsibilities. This flexibility can reduce stress and help employees feel more in control of their time.

“At the heart of flextime is the ability for employees to be in control of their work and personal life,” explained Darrell Rosenstein, founder and managing partner of recruiting firm The Rosenstein Group.

Improved well-being

When employees can tailor their schedules to their needs, it’s easier for them to prioritize physical and mental health. Instead of forcing their lives into a rigid 9-5 workday, they can plan work around medical appointments, exercise or family responsibilities. Over time, this flexibility can support healthier routines and help prevent employee burnout.

Time for professional development

Flextime can make it easier for employees to invest in their careers, especially when training or classes fall outside standard work hours. Without rigid schedules, employees have more room to attend courses, certifications or other professional development opportunities.

“With a flexible schedule, employees can pursue professional development opportunities, such as attending college — something that can be difficult to do with a traditional nine-to-five schedule,” Rosenstein said. “Access to such opportunities is especially important to millennials, who consistently prefer professional development over a salary increase.”

What are the benefits of flextime for employers?

Giving employees more control over their schedules doesn’t just benefit staff; it can also support hiring, retention and overall business performance. Here’s how flextime can help employers meet key business goals.

Better talent acquisition and retention

Flextime is one of the most sought-after employee benefits among today’s workers, and offering it can help you recruit new employees and keep top talent.

“Offering flextime can open up a candidate pool for high-demand roles you otherwise would not have had access to because of time demands,” said Todd Brook, managing director at the employee engagement platform Engagement Multiplier. “It gives you a level of differentiation, and you can end up with incredible, high-performing and loyal employees.”

Many candidates now weigh flexibility alongside pay when evaluating job offers. By offering flextime, you signal that your company values results over face time, which can be especially appealing to self-motivated professionals. Flexibility can also help employees manage life stages such as parenting or caring for aging relatives, which can build loyalty and reduce employee turnover rates.

Rosenstein emphasized the importance of keeping employees happy when trying to boost retention. “It goes without saying that when employees are happy, they are more likely to stay with you for longer,” Rosenstein said. “Every employer understands the high cost of losing and hiring a valuable employee. Allowing them to initiate a work arrangement that works for them directly minimizes turnover and the disruption it causes.”

Increased productivity

When employees can align their schedules with their most productive hours, they can get more done with less effort. For example, some employees prefer starting early, while others work best later in the day. Flextime lets people work when they’re most focused, which can improve productivity and output.

“When they can plan their time in a way that aligns with their needs, employees are more likely to feel less stressed and burnt out, which leads to greater productivity,” Rosenstein said.

Together, these benefits can improve morale and performance across your team. Over time, a flexible culture can help employees feel more engaged with their work and more satisfied with their jobs, which benefits employers in both the short and long term.

What are the disadvantages of flextime?

Flexible schedules have real benefits, but they can also complicate management on a day-to-day basis. Before rolling out flextime, consider these potential downsides.

Scheduling and communication challenges

Managing a team with different schedules takes careful planning. Collaboration can be harder when team members are online at different times, and projects can slow down if managers don’t set core hours or clear communication expectations.

“Without a tight arrangement, allowing employees to choose their working hours can lead to operational disruption, such as inadequate staff at any given time,” Rosenstein cautioned. “If several employees are unavailable at certain times, projects might delay and customer service might take a blow, all of which have negative consequences for the company’s bottom line.”

If too many employees work opposite schedules or use flextime to work remotely, teams may miss out on face-to-face interaction, which can affect collaboration and workplace teamwork.

Preferential treatment

Not every role can have the same level of flexibility. For example, customer support and manufacturing teams usually need set coverage, so their schedules may be less changeable than marketing or IT. That difference can frustrate employees (and lower morale) if it isn’t addressed.

“If your policy only offers certain employees a flexible work schedule, others who are left out might feel resentful [and] less valued, and this could have negative implications for their productivity and long-term commitment to the company,” Rosenstein warned.

To reduce the risk of scheduling conflicts or perceived favoritism, employers should set clear, consistent guidelines for how flextime works across teams.

What roles are best suited for flextime schedules?

Flextime tends to work best in roles where performance is measured by results, not hours at a desk. Project-based and knowledge work roles, such as technology, media and professional services, are often the easiest to adapt to flexible schedules.

Roles that commonly work well with flextime include:

• Sales and client-facing roles: Account executives, business development reps and real estate agents often structure their schedules around client needs rather than fixed hours.
• Creative roles: Designers, writers, video editors and social media managers can often do their best focused work outside traditional business hours.
• Tech and development roles: Developers, DevOps engineers and QA teams frequently work asynchronously using ticketing systems and project management tools.
• Consulting and project-based roles: Consultants, analysts and other advisory professionals often manage deliverables on a project basis, making flexible hours easier to implement.
• Customer support roles: Support teams usually work in shifts, but agents and virtual assistants may still have flexibility in when they cover those shifts (think split shifts or scheduled coverage windows).
• Health care and frontline roles: Some positions, such as telehealth providers or home health aides, can offer limited schedule flexibility as long as coverage needs are met.
• Retail and hospitality roles: These roles typically require set coverage, but employees may still have flexibility through shift swapping or compressed schedules.

In general, flextime works best in roles that require trust, self-management and clear communication.

How do you implement flextime?

Implementing flextime takes planning, communication and clear expectations. After speaking with Brook and Rosenstein, we recommend a simple four-step approach to help you roll out flexible schedules while keeping operations running smoothly.

1. Choose what type of flextime to offer.

Start by assessing what your business can realistically support. For example, a retail business may not be able to offer fully flexible hours but could offer a compressed workweek or flexible start times. Talk with department heads and survey employees to understand which options, such as core hours, remote days or flexible schedules, would make the biggest difference.

Rosenstein recommends offering several flexible work options to see what works best for your team. You might test job sharing, telecommuting or compressed workweeks and refine your approach over time.

2. Determine your guidelines and nonnegotiables.

Set clear boundaries to keep your business running smoothly. This might include defining core availability hours when all staff must be reachable or setting mandatory in-office days for hybrid teams.

Brook recommends identifying any nonnegotiable times when team members need to be available, such as weekly meetings, major events (like an IT deployment) or peak periods (such as the holiday season). You should also decide how many employees from each team or department need to be available at any given time.

3. Include important details.

Draft a policy that clearly outlines how flextime works. Specify eligibility criteria (for example, whether employees qualify immediately or after a probationary period), how employees should request schedule changes and how you’ll track time.

Brook advised employers to set clear expectations around how, when and where communication should happen, as well as what to do if something isn’t working. It’s also important to establish performance metrics so you can track how productivity is affected. Outlining these details can improve organization, accountability and schedule predictability.

4. Make it official.

Review your policy with legal counsel to ensure it complies with labor laws on overtime, breaks and scheduling. Once you’ve fully vetted everything, add the policy to your employee handbook and have employees acknowledge the terms in writing or through your HR platform.

Make sure new hires learn about flextime during the onboarding process so expectations are clear from day one.

Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.