Seattle Housing Authority
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Flextime/compressed workweeks/telework
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Public agency
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Seattle, Washington
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Broader days mean more customer service
Flextime, compressed workweeks and telework not only are appreciated by Seattle Housing Authority's 650 employees, but the three work options meet important business needs for this quasi-government housing agency. “Alternative work options allow us to be more accessible to the public and our residents. It provides us with additional emergency capacity and a broader range of hours in which to accomplish seasonal work,” says SHA Executive Director Harry Thomas.
“This package meets our corporate needs and makes effective use of our workforce,” he adds.
Start times between 6-10:30 a.m.
Seattle Housing Authority has enjoyed flextime–flexible start and stop times clustered around core hours–since 1992. Work options are built into SHA's union contracts with the Teamsters, Professional Office Workers and others. About half of SHA's staff take advantage of flextime. Employees may set their own work schedules within core hours, with a supervisor's approval, allowing them to balance work and personal needs, and to help reduce peak-hour traffic congestion. Starting times for employees using the flextime option are between 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. at quarter-hour increments of their choice. Exempt employees may, with management approval and as a result of business necessity, work more than or less than eight hours in one day so long as the work week still adds up to 40 hours.
8-5 doesn't always fit
Flextime allows employees such as Darrell Hubbard, a buyer for SHA who starts at 7 a.m., control over their own schedules. “I'm a morning person, and I find I can get two hours worth of work done in that one hour before most other people arrive,” Hubbard says. Hubbard buys everything from office supplies to plumbing fixtures for SHA, which houses more than 22,000 residents. He finds it is more efficient to place orders in the early morning hours and to take care of processing orders in the afternoon.
Expanded coverage also allows SHA to be more agile in responding to emergencies related to its residents and housing units, because it has staff to call on for more hours of the day.
Flextime proved to be an efficiency for the Finance Department as some tasks need to be accomplished before 8 a.m. to make input from field personnel easier. When Director of Finance and Administration JoAnn Ritchie arrives at work, she immediately is able to begin reviewing reports and other products prepared by her executive assistant, who comes in earlier. “Different start times can make the flow of work between support staff and management more efficient,” Ritchie says.
Not everyone can have their first choice of start times, however, they usually can have their second choice. Through common sense monitoring of employee schedules, SHA reaps the benefit of 10+ hours of office and field coverage each work day.
Accountant Dasha Batayola commutes 60 miles round-trip from Federal Way to the Seattle office. She starts work at 6 or 6:30 a.m. to avoid peak-hour traffic. “I greet my daughter when she comes home from school at 3 p.m., and if I have a doctor's appointment, I don't have to use sick leave,” Batayola says.
Transportation Coordinator Cynthia Campfield credits the flextime policy for preserving her three-person carpool. When one of the members needed to change her hours for work reasons, Campfield and the other carpool member were able to switch as well.
Four 10-hour days during daylight savings
Compressed workweeks were implemented in 1993 to take advantage of daylight savings hours for housing maintenance and construction work that needs to be done during the summer season. Approximately 25% of SHA employees work four 10-hour days. To account for holidays, employees working compressed weeks record two hours of annual leave on their time sheet, in addition to the 8 hours of holiday time, to cover the full 10-hour day.
Telework means trust
A more recent addition to SHA's work options is telework. Fifteen employees work at home from one to four days a week on a regular basis and others on occasion. For example, Ritchie's part-time budget analyst works from home four days a week on a full-flex schedule. Management is delighted with the results. “Working at home implies trust, a higher level of responsibility and the ability to work independently,” Ritchie says. “Both the employee and the supervisor have to be flexible about what works and what doesn't work, but we've not experienced any problems working that out.”
A telework agreement outlines employees' responsibilities for their work and equipment. SHA ensures teleworkers are set up with computers, modems, telephone and fax so that communication does not suffer.
“Employees these days are looking for more than a good salary,” says Ritchie. “Providing options in their schedules and work arrangements recognizes that 8-5 at the office doesn't work for everyone or every job, and that employees have many responsibilities and pressures to balance in their lives.”
©1998 Washington State University Cooperative Energy Program. The Telework, Compressed Workweeks, Flextime case study is a publication of the Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program in collaboration with Commuter Challenge with additional support provided by the Washington State Department of Transportation. This publication contains material written and produced for public distribution. You may reprint this material, provided you do not use it to endorse a commercial product. Please reference by title and credit Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program and Commuter Challenge. Trade names have been used to simplify information; no endorsement is intended. Published Sept. 1998.