What is flexi-work? 

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are consensual agreements between employers and employees regarding working hours to foster greater work-life balance while maintaining or improving productivity levels. FWAs are often categorized depending on their impact on the organization. There are those that enhance individual or organizational productivity, and thus directly restrain unit labour costs of production; and others that improve employee well-being  (Golden, 2011). While such arrangements may provide discretionary opportunities for employees to determine their working hours. Management must effectively monitor such arrangements to ensure that they are beneficial to both parties. FWAs must be mutually convenient to both the employees and the organization ideally implemented/enforced without coercion. To be effective there must be trust, responsibility and productivity, flexibility, planning and communication, and ability to manage based on deliverables rather than control and presence (Wynes, 2012). FWAs, inter lia should be implemented without discrimination for employees cultural, ethnic and/or religious orientation. It is not an entitlement earned overtime but a policy applied generally at the company level or among certain categories of workers. 

Types of Flexi-work Arrangements 

Job-sharing 

Two part-time employees voluntarily share one full time position with salary and benefits prorated. Compressed work schedule With this arrangement employees to work fewer than five days a week. The Employment (Flexible Work Arrangements) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act stipulates that am employee can work up to 12 hours per day. 

Voluntary reduced time 

Employees can voluntarily reduce their hours at work with a corresponding reduction in salary for a particular period. Flex place or telecommuting This arrangement allows employees to work from home on a full or part time basis 

Why Flexi-time for Jamaica? 

               From a human rights perspective, FWAs is a part of a global movement advocating the need for policies or labour legislations that will standardize work-life balance procedures. The United Nations (UN) has been a strong advocate of flexi-time for over 10 years by promoting their work-life balance campaign in various developed and developing territories across the world. 

The International Labour Organization(ILO) has also infused flexi work procedures within their decent work agenda. Jamaica is a signatory to both the UN and the ILO. Within the Caribbean, Jamaica is among countries that have ratified the most UN and ILO conventions making JA a ‘model’ country for the rest of the Caribbean. The tabling of the Employment (Flexible Work Arrangements) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act by Parliament positions Jamaica as the first territories in the Caribbean with a flexi-work legislation. 

In regards to the economic gains, flexi work forms part of the long term solution for the employment and financial challenge facing the country. Vision 2030 explicitly identifies the need for strategies to reduce unemployment and maintain fiscal stability in both the public and private sectors. Jamaica has been struggling with unemployment issues over the last 20 years resulting in heightened levels of poverty and a subsequent expansion in government spending on welfare programmes. 

It is often proclaimed that the productive capacity of the country is reduced substantially on Sundays resulting in significant cuts in revenue across industries. By implementing flexi work procedures it is expected that local companies will expand their services (especially late nights and weekends) leading to greater job creation and employment growth. Studies conducted in the United States and Canada have also proven that territories with flexi work procedures are more appealing to investors and multinational corporations (MNCs) from the international sphere. It must be recognised that “our competitors are the rest of the world and we are competing for investment and job creation” (Zacca, PSOJ). Jamaica is ranked 71 out of 189 countries assessed on the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Index in 2015 (World Bank Group, 2015). With flexi work it is expected that the country will attract foreign investment and become more competitive in the global market. Furthermore, a key conditionality of the recent IMF agreement is that the government must implement strategies to attract foreign investment in the medium and long term. 

Benefits of Flexitime to Employers 

Operational inefficiencies (rent, labour, material) are among the top ten reasons businesses fail (New York Times). For Jamaica it is estimated that electricity costs account for 25% percent of business expenses (Ereira and Lambkin, 2012). A projection from the Offices of Utilities outlines that Jamaica Public Service sales to commercial customers have grown to over US$ 700 million with projected increases for 2015. 

One estimate states that air conditioning units accounts 50 to 60 percent of commercial consumption or US$350- $420 million per annum (Jamaica Gleaner, 2014). The energy bill for the public sector was over JA$1 billion monthly in 2013 (Jamaica Gleaner, 2013). With the implementation of flexi time, it is presumed that telecommuting will foster a drastic reduction in energy costs for both the private and public sectors. Within the United States and United Kingdom FWAs are popular because they boost employee morale and increase labour productivity overtime (Golden 2011; Baltes et al. 1999) FWAs are also recognised for their ability to reduce absenteeism and tardiness ((Krausz et al., 2000): Yang and Zheng, 2011). It builds job satisfaction and stabilizes current labour costs, thus reducing labour costs associated with turnover and human capital investment. 

The current legislation gives local companies in both sectors greater support to improve their operation. Overall 7 legislations have been amended to accommodate the flexi work legislation (MOLSS, 2010). From these amendments we can assume that businesses will benefit in the following ways (i) longer opening hours weekly (ii) a reduction in overtime compensation (iii) inclusion of Sunday in the work week (iv) reduction in overhead cost and operational expenses. Essentially, the Act provides businesses with greater legislative freedom to expand their services. FWAs may not be relevant/applicable to all organizations. Businesses may opt to implement flexi work procedures if certain conditions (optional) are met. There are eight main criterias which we have identified: 

                                                             Table 1

      Based on the aforementioned criterias it is evident that most companies within the Goods Producing and Services Industry are viable candidates for flexi time arrangements. This assertion is based on the premise that companies within these industries tend to exist in highly competitive markets (regionally and internationally) which exposes them to foreign competition. It must be noted that more than half of the employed labour force is found in these industries. The productive capacity of both industries have shown great potential since 2010. It has been proven that formal implementation of flexible work arrangements in high performance industries is useful if employers want to reward productivity improvements (Kelly and Kalev, 2006) or build capacity and individual work performance (Hamermesh, 1999; Families and Work Institute, 2005; Golden, 2009). For companies especially those in the aforementioned industries, flexi-time is obviously suitable if the intent is to reward employees and boost productivity. 

Benefits to Workers 

Flexible work arrangements appeal to a wide cross section of workers in different occupations and at varying levels on the organizational hierarchy. The literature posits that FWAs are beneficial to workers because it encourages work-life balances giving them more time to fulfil personal duties/obligations (Riedmann et al., 2006). According to the ILO (2011) the main benefits are: (i) More personal and family time (ii) greater coordination of personal life (iii) Increased morale (iv) Reduce stress levels (control work pace and work load). We believe that workers who will be engaged in flexi time are those employed to companies whose operations generally span beyond the traditional 8 hours work day. Using categories established by the Statistical Institute (STATIN) of Jamaica we predict that workers employed to occupational groupings such as: Service Workers and Shops and Market Sales Workers, Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblies, Elementary Occupations are those which are most likely to engage in flexi time arrangements. 

 Formalizing flexible work arrangements will also benefit women who are in the prime reproductive years. Studies have shown that FWAs have strong productivity gains in companies that had a relatively high percentage of women and professional employees (Konrad and Mangel, 2000). The Honourable Sandra Falconer states that: “I think especially for women or young mothers who have children and who may not have the support to care for their children, I think a flexi work week for women in those situations is an ideal thing”  The proposed Flexi wortk legislation if enacted will be among the few legislations (apart from the Maternity Act, Equal Pay Act) that are sensitive to the needs of women. Statistics from the STATIN illustrate that women between ages 20-34 constitute a significant proportion of the labour force. 

                                                         Table 2 

Women between ages 20-34 are in their ‘prime’ reproductive years. FWAs would therefore provide them with greater leverage to coordinate their personal and professional duties/obligations. FWAs especially job sharing and compressed work week will be highly beneficial to youths and adults desiring to further their studies. For such persons there will be greater flexibility to matriculate into full-time and part-time programmes offered by various educational institutions across the country. This may result in an increase in the number of workers matriculating into higher education programmes. Employers should not expect roster conflicts or work disruptions within the organization. With the benefits afforded by job sharing and compressed 

work week, workers will be better able to coordinate their educational pursuits and job obligations in a consistent and harmonious manner. Employers therefore should not expect higher levels of absenteeism from employees furthering their studies. 

Are Trade Unions Ready for Flexi Work? 

The popularization of flexi work practices will require trade unions to develop novel methods of recruiting and engaging membership. For the most part trade unions have supported the passing of a flexi work legislation because of the perceived benefits to members. However there will be operational issues which must be anticipated in regards to technology, recruitment, collective bargaining and policy development. 

Technology 

If trade unions intend to provide effective representation for members that are on flexi-time they will have to adjust their modus operandi to meet the demands of such persons. With telecommuting trade unions will have to develop a presence in cyber space to communicate with this category of workers. We believe that the concept of a virtual union office must be embraced to provide support for such persons. Presently only a few established trade unions have their own websites. A 2008 survey conducted by the HLSTUEI revealed that only three trade unions under the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions had websites. With flexi-time, trade unions must improve the mode of communication and support channels given to members. 

Recruitment 

With flexi-work there is a possibility that trade unions will need to change their recruitment procedures. The fact is companies that have the option of implementing flexi-time may begin to employ workers on a part time or a short term contractual basis to further reduce labour costs. We can expect companies utilising job-sharing to employ workers on a temporary basis depending on the job requirements. Trade unions will therefore have to find innovative ways of recruiting such workers. Earlier we also explained that workers that will potentially engage flex-time are those employed in the Goods Producing and Services Industry. While trade unions have a strong presence in the Goods Producing Industry. There exists limited representation for workers in the Services Industry especially those employed to hotels, call centres and wholesales and shops. Trade Unions will therefore have to devise a strategy to recruit these group of workers 

Collective Bargaining and Policy Development 

There will be greater diversity in the structure of Collective Labour Agreements (CLAs) with the implementation of FWAs especially as it relates to working hours and compensation (more so overtime). FWAs with vary across companies within the various industries which may lead to greater complexities in standardizing CLA’s. Another concern is that Jamaican trade unions do not have a policy document outlining the movements approach or position on the matter. The HLSTUEI is available to provide technical support to trade unions and other social partners (government, private companies, NGOs) in developing policy documents and training courses that may assist with the transition process. 

References 

Baltes, B.; Briggs, T.; Wright, J.; Neuman, G. 1999. “Flexible and compressed workweek schedules: a meta-analysis of their effects on work-related criteria”, in Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 84, No. 4, pp. 496-513. 

Ereira, E and A. Lambkin. 2012. The Struggle for Survival for Caribean Cleantech SMEs. Retrieved from: http://blogs.worldbank.org/psd/the-struggle-for-survival-for-caribbean- cleantech-smes on September 5, 2015. 

Golden, Lonnie, 2011. The Effects of Working Time on Productivity and Firm Performance: 

A Research Synthesis Paper; Conditions of Work and Employment Series No: 33. 

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Kelly, E.; Kalev, A. 2006. “Managing flexible work arrangements in US organizations: 

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Konrad, A.M.; Mangel, R. 2000. “The impact of work-life programs on firm productivity”, in Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 21, pp. 1225–1237. 

Krausz, M.; Sagie, A.; Bidermann, Y. 2000. “Actual and Preferred Work Schedules and Scheduling Control as Determinants of Job-Related Attitudes”, in Journal of Vocational 

Behavior, Vol. 56 (part 1), pp. 1-11. 

Ministry of Labour and Social Security, 2010. Flexible Work Arrangements: An Examination of its Implementation in Jamaican Organization. Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Jamaica. 

Riedmann, A., Bielenski, H., Szczurowska, T., and Wagner, A. (2006) Working time and work-life balance in European companies: Establishment Survey on Working Time 2004- 2005. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin. 

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