Flexible Schedules Flexible schedules and shift work: replacing the ‘9-to-5’ workday? Flexible work hours have gained in prominence, as more than a quarter of all workers can now vary their schedules; however, there has been little change in the proportion who work a shift other than a regular daytime shift Thomas M. Beers raditionally, much of the American labor vey (CPS).2 This article uses that supplement to force has worked in a structured environ- examine both the incidence and trends in flexible Tment, with the work schedule following a work hours and alternative shift work and, also, set pattern—what many people have termed the the relationship between the jobs in which people “9-to-5” workday. Recent studies show that em- work and the prevalence of these digressions ployers are beginning to recognize that many from the more traditional “9-to-5” workday. workers prefer schedules that allow greater flexibility in choosing the times they begin and Flexible work schedules end their workday. Consequently, increasing numbers and proportions of full-time workers In 1997, more than 25 million workers, or 27.6 in the United States are able to opt for flexible percent of all full-time wage and salary work- work hours, allowing workers to vary the ac- ers varied their work hours to some degree. tual times they arrive and leave the work place. Note that flexible schedule arrangements for For some workers, however, the nature of their many workers are probably informal, as indi- jobs requires that they work a schedule other cated by data from the Bureau of Labor Statis- than a regular day shift, what may be termed tics Employee Benefits Survey (EBS), in which an “alternative shift.”1 Examples of such alter- employers provide information about em- native shift workers are police officers, emer- ployee access to various types of work-related gency room physicians, and assembly-line benefits. The latest EBS data, from 1994–97, show workers at a factory. that less than 6 percent of employees have for- In contrast to the increasing proportion of mal flexible work schedule arrangements.3 workers with flexible work schedules, the inci- CPS data show that the proportion of work- dence of shift work has not changed since the ers on flexible work schedules—either formal mid-1980s. If not for the sizable job gains in or informal—has more than doubled since service occupations, the overall proportion of 1985, when such data were first collected.4 Thomas M. Beers workers on shift work would have edged down The increase in flexible work schedules since is an economist in recent years. then has been widespread across demographic in the Division of Labor Force Statistics, Recent data on flexible work hours and shift groups. The following tabulation shows the Bureau work are from information collected in the May percent of workers, by age and race and His- of Labor Statistics. 1997 supplement to the Current Population Sur- panic origin, who work flexible schedules: Monthly Labor Review June 2000 33 Flexible Schedules .......................................... 1985 1991 1997 this category is one that fails to lend itself to the practice of flexible schedules. Total, 16 years and older.... 12.4 15.1 27.6 Because flexible schedules appear to be closely associ- Men ............................... 13.1 15.5 28.7 ated with particular occupations, it is worth investigating Women .......................... 11.3 14.5 26.2 whether the recent increases in the proportion of workers Hispanic origin .............. 8.9 10.6 18.4 with flexible work schedules reflect an increase in employ- Race and Hispanic origin: ment in occupations with high occurrences of flexible work White ............................. 12.8 15.5 28.7 schedules or an increase in the availability of flexible work Black .............................. 9.1 12.1 20.1 hours across occupations. A shift-share analysis was ap- Hispanic origin ............... 8.9 10.6 18.4 plied to determine the portion of the increase that was due to changes in occupational employment and the portion that Although there has been relatively little difference in the pro- was due simply to an increased incidence of flexible work portions of men and women with flexible schedules during hours. Less than 3 percentage points of the total increase the 1985–97 period, whites have been more likely than blacks were a result of shifts in occupational employment. This or Hispanics to have flexible work schedules. (See table 1.) suggests, therefore, that the majority of the increase was spurred by the increased incidence of flexible work sched- Occupations. To some degree, these differences reflect the ules within occupations; indeed, this phenomenon occurred varying occupational distributions of each of the worker in nearly every occupational category. groups. Generally, jobs with higher frequencies of flexible hours are those in which work can be conducted efficiently, Race. In order to estimate how much of the difference in the regardless of the workers’ start and end times. For instance, rate of flexible work schedules between blacks and whites is flexible work hours are most common among workers in ex- accounted for by differences in occupations, a standardiza- ecutive, administrative, and managerial occupations, and for tion was performed. This process showed that if blacks had those in sales occupations—42.4 percent and 41.0 percent, the same occupational distribution as whites (at the most respectively. (See table 2.) The incidence of flexible work detailed level of occupational classification), then the rate of hours is lower for groups of workers in occupations in which black workers on flexible work schedules would have been the nature of the work dictates that it begin and end at set 20.5 percent, instead of 20.1 percent; the difference between times, for example, nurses, teachers, police, firefighters, and the rates for whites and blacks would have been 7.9 percent- certain manufacturing operations. age points instead of 8.6 percentage points. A similar analy- As stated, the unique occupational distributions of the sis was performed in which the white rates of flexible work by various demographic groups affect the overall proportion of occupation were applied to the black occupational distribu- workers on flexible work schedules within these respective tion. Results show that, in each job category, if blacks were groups. For example, as can be seen above, flexible work as likely as whites to be able to vary hours, then the overall hours are considerably more prevalent among whites than black rate would rise to 24.4 percent, or 4.3 percentage points either blacks or Hispanics. At first glance, this is not surpris- higher. This would have reduced the overall difference be- ing because whites are most likely to be in managerial and tween blacks and whites to 4.3 percentage points. While professional specialty occupations, in which flexible hours even at the detailed level there may be differences in jobs are most common. Furthermore, blacks and Hispanics are held by blacks and whites, these findings suggest that fac- highly represented in the category of operators, fabricators, tors other than occupational employment contribute to the and laborers. Because of the nature of the work, historically, disparity in access to flexible schedules. A brief description of flexible work arrangements There are several types of formal flexible work arrange- wish to work each day or each week. Credit or compensa- ments. One type is a “gliding schedule” that requires a tory time arrangements allow employees who accumu- specified number of hours of work each day but allows late overtime hours to apply those hours to future time employees to vary the time of their arrival and departure, off from work, rather than receiving the overtime rate for usually around an established set of mandatory “core those hours. The presence of one or more of these ar- hours.” Other types of flexible work arrangements include rangements in the workplace does not necessarily ex- variable-day and variable-week schedules that usually clude the others; many can be used in conjunction with require a specified number of hours per pay period. These other flexible work arrangements. (For more information, types of work schedules frequently are grouped under see Atefah Sadri McCampbell, “Benefits Achieved the umbrella term “flexitime.” Under these plans, employ- Through Alternative Work Schedules,” Human Resource ees are permitted to choose the number of hours they Planning, 1996, Vol. 19.3.) 34 Monthly Labor Review June 2000 Table 1. Flexible schedules of full-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics, May 1997 All workers Men Women Characteristic With flexible schedules With flexible schedules With flexible schedules Total Total Total Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Age Total 16 years and older ............ 90,549 25,031 27.6 52,073 14,952 28.7 38,476 10,079 26.2 16 to 19 years .......................... 1,640 339 20.7 1,050 177 16.9 590 161 27.4 20 years and older ................... 88,909 24,692 27.8 51,023 14,774 29.0 37,886 9,918 26.2 20 to 24 years ....................... 8,462 1,923 22.7 4,968 1,111 22.4 3,494 812 23.2 25 to 34 years ....................... 25,208 7,161 28.4 14,721 4,231 28.7 10,486 2,931 27.9 35 to 44 years ....................... 26,755 7,781 29.1 15,434 4,730 30.6 11,321 3,051 26.9 45 to 54 years ....................... 19,596 5,355 27.3 10,806 3,118 28.9 8,790 2,237 25.4 55 to 64 years ....................... 7,778 2,129 27.4 4,431 1,334 30.1 3,347 796 23.8 65 years and older ...............