Executive Summary
Work is evolving at a dizzying speed in the United States. In the past decade, more work has started shifting to service- and information-based industries, inexpensive hand-held communication devices are pervasive, and the face of the workforce has changed dramatically. Today, the workforce is more diverse than ever, and it will include more hourly or “nonexempt” employees as the United States continues moving toward a service- and information-dominated economy.
But this evolution is not occurring without systemic challenges and disruptions. First, the way work happens in the United States seems to be changing more quickly and fundamentally than is the system of employment laws that was built to support it many decades ago. Thus, a key question has become, “How can employers, operating under a system of old laws, succeed in this new, rapidly changing work environment?”
The goal of this research was to develop a better understanding of how a new, smarter management model might be developed for dealing with the challenges of this work environment. Specifically, the study focused on the ability and limitations of nonexempt workers to participate in a work design that goes by many different names:
- Telecommuting
- Distributed work
- Alternative work
- Flexible work
Regardless of the name assigned, in all cases these terms refer to people who are enabled to work outside traditional office facilities, sometimes permanently, and sometimes just a day or two per week.
In the past, this type of work design has been available primarily to professional, salaried (“exempt”) workers only. However, recent trends (including results from the present study) suggest that a growing number of firms are including nonexempt employees in this work design.
Fuel prices, the proliferation of connectivity devices and employee demand for work-life balance have combined to drive the concept of “flexible work” to the top of today’s business agenda. In the survey brief “Telework Trendlines 2009,” WorldatWork reported that the number of U.S. employees who worked remotely at least one day per month increased 39% in two years from approximately 12.4 million in 2006 to 17.2 million in 2008. It is evident that flexible work arrangements are a key component of offering employees more control and freedom in their work patterns and lives.
There has been a significant body of best practices, policies and procedures developed for salaried employees in flexible work situations in recent years. However, very little work has been done regarding these types of work arrangements for nonexempt employees.
More than likely, this is because nonexempt employees operate within a more restrictive and prescriptive set of rules of regulations — and, therefore, liabilities and exposures — for employers that choose to provide alternative work designs and flexible management options. Indeed, nonexempt employees historically have been managed based on time accounting, and there are specific legal and regulatory requirements embedded in that management system.
Drawing on survey data and the results of depth interviews with practitioners and thought leaders in the field, this report outlines concepts, lessons learned and best practices for enabling nonexempt employees to work in a flexible manner, and addresses some of the employment law implications for managing this set of employees in the 21st century American workplace.
Drawing on survey data and the results of depth interviews with practitioners and thought leaders in the field, this report outlines concepts, lessons learned and best practices for enabling nonexempt employees to work in a flexible manner, and addresses some of the employment law implications for managing this set of employees in the 21st century American workplace.
