What is "flextime"

flexitime \flex"i*time`\, flextime \flex"time`\ flex time \flex" time`\, n. [short for flexible time.] A system of scheduling working hours in places of employment, which allows employees to arrive at and leave work at times of their own choice, providing that they work the required number of hours and usually requiring that they be present during certain hours, called core time.

Note: Certain workers prefer to arrive early and leave early, and others prefer to arrive late and leave late. Flex time is a way to accommodate such preferences, presumably improving employee morale, and also helps reduce traffic congestion during commmuting times.

also short for flexitime, 1972, translating German Gleitzeit "sliding time." See flex + time (n.).

n. (alternative spelling of flexitime English)

Flextime (also spelled flexitime [British English], flexi-time) is a flexible hours schedule that allows workers to alter workday start and finish times. In contrast to traditional work arrangements that require employees to work a standard 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. day, flextime typically involves a "core" period of the day during which employees are required to be at work (e.g., between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.), and a "bandwidth" period within which all required hours must worked (e.g., between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.). The working day outside of the "core" period is "flexible time," in which employees can choose when they work, subject to achieving total daily, weekly or monthly hours within the "bandwidth" period set by employers, and subject to the necessary work being done . The total working time required of employees on flextime schedules is the same as that required under traditional work schedules. A flextime policy allows staff to determine when they will work, while a flexplace policy allows staff to determine where they will work. Advantages include allowing employees to coordinate their work hours with public transport schedules, with the schedules of their children, and with daily traffic patterns to avoid high congestion times such as rush hour. Some claim that flexible working will change the nature of the way we work.