KINGSTON, Jamaica – Flexible work arrangements, or flexi-week, refers to a variable work schedule that affords employees and employers the opportunity to organise the traditional 40-hour workweek as it best suits their needs.

The Employment (Flexible Work Arrangements) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, which was passed in 2014, paved the way for the introduction of this system.

Divisional Director for Industrial Relations and Allied Services, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Gillian Corrodus, said the legislation provides for a compressed workweek.

“Some of us, we just want to just get through the 40 hours and go on to something else, and it allows for that. Persons are allowed to work a maximum of 12 hours per day at single time pay and then they will be clearing that 40 hours in less days than the standard five days,” she noted.

“Additionally, another way that [the] flexi workweek happens is where a person says, ‘you know something, I want to work the way I want to work’… they want to just do part-time work, so the Act allows for that,” the divisional director added.

She was speaking recently on the JIS Television Programme ‘Get the Facts’.

Corrodus pointed out that globally, organisations want to be operating 24 hours daily, as they are catering to clientele who want those entities to be open all the time.

“The Employment (Flexible Work Arrangements) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act really responds to that global trend. You also have the flexible arrangements where persons are on staggered shifts, so that the organisation is literally open 24 hours,” she stated.

“You also have flexible arrangements where… when you want to work, you can take a contract with the company, and you just do that work and then you’re gone again. Some people call it consultancies, but it is all called flexible work arrangements,” Corrodus further informed.

Benefits of a flexible work week for workers include increased employment opportunities; more time for family and personal interests, in some instances; and less traffic congestion during the normal peak hours.

Corrodus said employees get the chance to choose the option of flexi-week if it is offered to them.

“There are some persons who are studying, and they want to just have some time that they can carve out for study… . [The flexi-work option] allows them to do that. There are some other persons that, for work-life balance, they do not want to do the five days per week. They have children at home or just want to do the healthy stuff, you know, they want to de-stress certain days. It’s perfect for those situations,” she explained.

Benefits for the employer include increased productivity; reduction in labour costs as, in some instances, weekends would be treated as normal working days payable at regular rates; and greater availability of service to customers due to varied opening hours and more business days.

“In terms of the employer… if you do not want to have a full-time set of workers because based on your business model, you do not need a full-time cadre of workers, you need certain skill sets [at] certain times… [and] if workers want to work in that flexible arrangement, you can just hire that talent when you need it on contract,” Corrodus stated.

For statutory benefits, such as vacation leave, a worker earns one day’s vacation leave for every 22 days worked.

“So clearly, if you are working less days, you would earn your vacation leave at a slower pace, [but] it doesn’t cut down your allotment. What we recognise with flexible work arrangements is that the workers and employers [can] come to an agreement so that there is no loss. So… they give a more generous arrangement sometimes than the law says,” Corrodus indicated.

Regarding sick leave, the divisional director said the Holidays with Pay Act deals with this situation.

She noted that for the first 110 days, if a worker becomes sick, they get the leave, but not with pay.

“In a flexible work arrangement, it is the same thing. It is after the worker has cleared the first 110 days of work, that they will start earning the right to be paid if they are sick,” Corrodus explained.

Meanwhile, the divisional director informed that employers are not required by law to offer flexible work arrangements. Rather, it is an option that businesses may exercise.

“We find these days that more businesses want to do this because they are catering to the changing world of work. If a company wants to do it, it will be based on the business model that you [want] to do – the preference. If it is that you are in an industry [where] your competitors are doing that, it gives you the opportunity to be open more hours… to have [the] talent when you need them,” Corrodus said.

“On the converse, if an employer already has it [and] as a worker you join the organisation, then I do not think you have much of a choice, because then you have to recognise that this is the way they operate. You would have to probably discuss what is the schedule that is preferred, because the contract of employment is both offer and acceptance,” she added.

Corrodus stated, however, that an employer cannot force an employee into a flexible work arrangement.

“If it is that they [never had] that arrangement at the time the person joined… at the time of employment, then the employer cannot force that worker. The worker would have to agree… there has to be a mutual agreement. I also recommend to employers and workers to ensure that any changes are properly documented,” she added.

With Jamaica experiencing a historic low unemployment rate, the divisional director stated that several organisations have vacancies posted, adding that flexible work arrangements could provide the opportunity to get the additional staff needed.

“It also gives the opportunity for workers to work in a way that is more comfortable, so that they can achieve their own personal goals, as well as have the flexibility of having a work-life balance,” she stated.

Corrodus added that the key to flexible work arrangements, however, is that all laws must be observed.

-JIS