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130 Monthly Lab. Rev. 3 (2007)
A Time to Work: Recent Trends in Shift Work and Flexible Schedules

handle is hein.journals/month130 and id is 1269 raw text is: A time to work: recent trends in shift work and flexible schedules Numerous U S. workers have work schedules diyerent from the standard 9 a.m. -to-5_p. m., Monday-through-Friday, work shift; the demands of the industry are the chief determinant of the use of sh~ft work andflexih/e schedules he traditional work schedule for an American employee has long been 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday However, an examination of data from the Work Schedules and Work at Home survey, a special supplement to the Current Population Survey (C;Ps) con- ducted in May 2004, reveals that substan- tial proportions of workers' schedules do not fit this paradigm. For instance, nearly one-third of wage and salary workers have flexible schedules on their primary jobs, meaning that they can vary their beginning and ending hours; about one-fifth work a shift other than a regular daytime shift on their primary job; and a slightly smaller proportion works on Samrday, Sunday, or both. The use of alternate shifts and flex- ible work schedules is often determined by the demands of the industry, rather than by workers' preferences. However, schedule considerations and flexibility are influen- tial factors in the career-planning and la- bor market decisions of many workers. The Work Schedules and Work at Home survey obtained information on individuals' work schedules or shifts and on whether they did any job-related work at home. The data presented in this article pertain to work schedules and alternate shifts. Because of the high prevalence of both shift work and flexitime among part- time workers, the article analyzes total em- ployment, including that of both full- and part-time workers in most cases. (Where appropriate, data are analyzed separately for part-time workers; for further informa- tion about the survey, see the appendix.) Flexible work schedules In May 2004, 36.4 million wage and salary workers, or about 30 percent of all such workers, were able to vary their work hours to some degree. Tis percent- age was somewhat lower than that (30.7 percent) in May 2001, but about the same as in May 1997. Such flexibility provides workers with increased control over their time, enhancing their ability to balance competing demands at work and at home. In a competitive labor market, companies can choose to offer their workers the freedom afforded by flexible schedules in order to improve both morale and loy- alty to the company.' The proportion of Monthly Labor Review - December 2007 3 Terence M. McMenamin Terence M. McMenamin is an economist in the Division of Labor Force Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemploy- ment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics. E-mail. McMenamin. Terence@bls.gov

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