Flexible Work Options

Flexible Work Options are a valued tool for supporting employee efforts to balance the demands of work and personal life. In the spring of 1998, Penn’s leadership asked Human Resources to convene a task force to consider opportunities for introducing Flexible Work Options to the Penn community. The materials found at this web site were developed through the work of the task force utilizing best practice research, focus group feedback (over 80 faculty and staff participated) and consultation with other interested parties on campus.

In the column at the top left of this page, or through the list below, you can link to materials that answer the following questions:

What are flexible work options?
- Click here for descriptions of typical Flexible Work Options.
How to set up a successful flexible work arrangement?
- Click here to see an Introductory Guide providing an overview of flexible work arrangements and how to design them for success.

Training Manual

How to prepare a proposal or formalize an agreement for a flexible work arrangement?
- Click here for Sample Forms for developing a Proposal, setting up a Flexible Work Option Agreement and defining details of a FlexPlace arrangement.
How to deal with the special challenges of flexible work arrangements?
- Click here to see answers to frequently asked questions.

Need help?
Human Resources Quality of Worklife Office is available to help you with any aspect of setting up a flexible work arrangement. Contact Marilyn Kraut, Manager of Quality of Worklife Programs, at or 215-898-0380 with questions.

Please note: These guidelines are not intended to serve as policy. The University reserves the right to change, amend or terminate any or all of these guidelines at any time for any reason. The information on this website is based on policies and practices at the University. If there is a conflict between the information presented here and the information contained in Benefit plan documents and/or University policies, the plan documents and University policies always govern and are the controlling legal documents. Full policy descriptions are in the Human Resources Policy Manual (www.hr.upenn.edu) or in the Benefit plan documents available for inspection in the Benefits Office.

WHAT ARE FLEXIBLE WORK OPTIONS

Flexible work options offer creative approaches for completing work while promoting balance between work and personal commitments. These approaches involve use of non-traditional work hours, locations, and/or job structures, flexible work arrangements, time worked does not equate to achieved outcomes. Outcomes are based on the staff member's achievement of results and use of competencies critical to achieving those results. Except in the case of conversion from full-time to a less-than-full time schedule, such as for a part-time assignment or job share, the total numbers of hours worked and expected productivity remain the same.

Typical flexible work options are:

Flextime: The most requested, easiest to manage and the most affordable FWO, flextime offers flexibility in arrival, departure and/or lunch times, typically with a designated core-time mid-day during which all staff are present.

Flexplace: This arrangement allows for a portion of the job to be performed off-site, on a regular, recurring basis. The majority of work time is spent at the office and the off-site work typically is done at home. It may be the most complicated flexible work option to arrange since it generally requires electronic equipment and technological support.

Note: Flexplace does not connote the professional or management practice of working at home after-hours to work on reports or presentations or to catch up on reading. For University purposes, Flexplace also does not represent an off-site work arrangement implemented by the organization to meet organizational goals and requiring use of electronic equipment and technology to complete the work assignment. This is referred to as Telecommuting assignment. Most or all of the work is performed at the off-site location.

Compressed Work Schedules: A traditional 35-40 hour work week is condensed into fewer than five days of work. This option is more easily applied to non-exempt (weekly paid) staff for whom maximum work hours are identified, but it is not ruled out for monthly paid staff who may work more than 40 hours during the work week. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires weekly paid staff to be paid overtime if they work over 40 hours in a work week.

Part-time work is a regular arrangement for between 17.5 and 28 hours a week. This is different from a temporary work assignment where an employee is expected to have a temporary, non-recurring relationship to the workplace and does not receive paid time off.

Job sharing allows two staff members to share the responsibilities of one full-time position, typically with a prorated salary and paid time off. This is not the same as a part-time job. Each staff member shares a specific proportion of a full-time position. Creative and innovative schedules can be designed to meet the needs of the job sharers and the office. Note: If one position is scheduled for less than 17.5 hours a week, it becomes temporary and cannot retain regular part-time status.