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Look up flexitime in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Flexitime (or flextime, flexi-time, originally derived from the German word Gleitzeit which literally means "sliding time") is a variable work schedule, in contrast to traditional^{[citation needed]} work arrangements requiring employees to work a standard 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. day. Its invention is usually credited to William Henning. Under flextime, there is typically a core period (of approximately 50% of total working time / working day) of the day, when employees are expected to be at work (for example, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.), while the rest of the working day is "flexitime", in which employees can choose when they work, subject to achieving total daily, weekly or monthly hours in the region of what the employer expects, and subject to the necessary work being done.

A flextime policy allows staff to determine when they will work, while a flexplace policy allows staff to determine where they will work. Its practical realization can mainly be attributed to the entrepreneur Wilhelm Haller who founded Hengstler Gleitzeit, and later "Interflex Datensysteme GmbH" in Southern Germany, where today a number of companies offer Flexitime (Gleitzeit) solutions which have grown out of his initiative.^{[citation needed]}

In the United Kingdom[link]

Haller founded a company in the UK in 1971 and registered the trademark "Flextime", the mark remains the property of that company's successor hfx Ltd. In spring 2003, 17.7% of men and 26.7% of women were employed with flexitime arrangements in the United Kingdom, (Office for National Statistics 2003).^[1] In the United Kingdom, flexitime working is commonplace in both the private and public sectors. The practice is often found in administrative and back office functions of commercial organisations and local councils.

In 2003, the UK Government introduced legislation ^[2] that gave parents of children under 6, or the parents of disabled children under 18, the right in law to request a flexible working arrangement from their employer. A survey in 2005 by the National Office of Statistics^[3] showed that 71% of female workers and 60% of male workers were aware of the rights created under the 2003 legislation. Between 2003 and 2005 more than 14% of all workers had requested a change to flexible working. From 6 April 2007 the law will extend the right to request flexible working to carers of adults.

Shift workers are generally excluded from flexitime schemes as are senior managers.^{[citation needed]} Other groups of workers for whom flexitime arrangements are rare include those who serve the public during specific opening times.

The advantages of Flexitime for the individual; include a better work-life balance, less commutes, less fatigue, more days off, lower sickness. The benefits for the company include; better motivated workers, more efficient and effective operation, less fatigued workers, so less errors, they get people working overtime hours without paying overtime rates, fewer facilities required, and lower sickness.

For employers, flexitime can aid the recruitment and retention of staff. It has been a particularly popular option in 2009 for employers trying to reduce staff costs without having to make redundancies during the recession. It can also help provide staff cover outside normal working hours and reduce the need for overtime. Additionally flexitime can also improve the provision of equal opportunities to staff unable to work standard hours.

Flexitime can give employees greater freedom to organise their working lives to suit personal needs. In addition, travelling can be cheaper and easier if it is out of peak time.

In the United States[link]

In the United States, flexitime workers, like salaried workers, are exempted from overtime regulations, and are given broad leeway in setting their own work schedule. Unlike exempted salaried workers, employers are still required to pay overtime to a flexitime worker if they work more than 40 hours per week; some employers avoid this policy by dismissing^{[citation needed]} their employees shortly before their scheduled working hours have been completed. In addition, the employer will usually require that a flexitime employee works a minimum number of hours each week.

In recent years, the term "flextime" has acquired a more controversial definition when used to describe proposals to overhaul the nation's overtime regulations. Under one such proposal by the Bush administration made public on August 5, 2004, employers would not be required to pay non-exempt employees overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week so long as the employee works no more than 80 hours over a two week period. For example, a worker could be required to work 70 hours one week and receive no overtime compensation as long as they work 10 hours or less the following week. Such arrangements are opposed by trade unions such as the AFL-CIO.

In certain industries and disciplines, such as information technology, flexitime permits workers to vary their schedule. For example, they may opt to work four 10-hour days per week, taking Monday or Friday off. Another flexitime schedule is to work nine-hour days Monday through Thursday, an eight-hour day on Friday, taking every other Friday off. Workers may arrange to coordinate their days off so that their responsibilities are adequately covered.

Other workers may opt simply to come in early, such as 5 or 6 a.m., and leave in the mid-afternoon, or come in late and therefore leave late. One benefit of such a schedule is that commuting times occur outside of the congested rush hour traffic within a given geographic region. Flexitime arrangements also help parents: one parent works 10 a.m - 6 p.m. and is in charge of the children before school / daycare, while the other parent works 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. and is in charge of the children after school / daycare. This allows parents time to commute.^[4] Flexitime is also beneficial to workers pursuing an education.

In the U.S., flexitime generally applies only to white collar workers. It is an ongoing part of the work-life balance discussions in many companies.

In Australia[link]

Flexitime in Australia is usually referred to accumulated overtime hours that an employee can build up and exchange for the equivalent amount of time off. (Example: Jane works 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. Over the past month, Jane has worked 8 hours overtime meaning she is eligible for a paid day off.)

If employees accumulate too many flex hours, they are required to perform a "flex burndown", as they are burning down the flex. Similarly, taking a flex day off is known as "flexing".

It is implemented formally in the Australian Federal Public Service and is available for staff in most state and territory government departments. With current changes to industrial relations laws (2006), from State to Federal level there are no new published guidelines (online) for flexitime.

Flexitime has also been implemented in the Victorian Public Service.

The word "flex" has entered the lexicon of many Australians and, in some workplaces, possessing a high flex balance is a point of honour, with many employees placing bets on who can accumulate the most number of flex hours by a particular date.^{[citation needed]} This has led to many employees staying behind at work until very late, despite being completely idle, to build up their flex.^{[citation needed]}

Recording flexitime working[link]

There are many different methods used for recording working time ranging from sophisticated software (computer programs) to handwritten time sheets. Most of these methods are associated with the payment of wages in return for hours worked. As a result they often do not address a fundamental difference of most flexible working systems - namely the intention of flexible working to allow an employee to "trade hours" with their employer in return for a fixed wage (Hayward, Bruce; Fong, Barry; Thornton, Alex (December, 2007), "The Third Work-Life Balance Employer Survey: Main Findings" (PDF), UK Govt. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file38388.pdf ). There are also similar tracking tools for time and productivity more suited to small and medium business (SMBs), such as TimeOP.

See also[link]

• Overtime
• Fair Labor Standards Act (United States)
• Office for National Statistics (UK)
• Equal Opportunity Employment
• Labour (economics)
• Labour market flexibility
• Time clock
• Work-life balance

References[link]

External links[link]

• Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (2006) ‘Flexible working hours’
• The Value of Flexitime
• Reconciling labour flexibility with social cohesion — Facing the challenge

Ewart Everton Brown (born 31 March 1968), better known by his stage name of Mad Cobra or simply Cobra is a Jamaican reggae musician.^[1][2]

Biography[link]

He was born in Kingston, Jamaica, raised in the parish of St. Mary and relocated back to the place of his birth during his teenage years.^[1] He began performing under his stage name, taken from a character in the G.I. Joe comic books, while still in his teens.^[2] He honed his talents on several local sound systems before entring the studio.^[2] His first single, 1989's "Respect Woman", was produced by his uncle, Tuff Gong engineer Delroy "Spiderman" Thompson.^[1][3] His next single, "Na Go Work", featured Tricia McKay, giving him his first hit,^[2] and bringing him to the attention of producers Captain Sinbad and Carl Nelson. Together they released a string of hit dancehall singles, including "Shoot to Kill", "Merciless Bad Boy", and "Ze Taurus", which featured tough, gangsta rap-style lyrics in keeping with the current trends of that time.^[2]

In 1990, Cobra began working with producer Donovan Germain and songwriter Dave Kelly on the Penthouse Records label.^[1] This partnership spawned a series of major hits in Jamaica, including "Yush", "Gundelero", "Bad Boy Talk", and "Feeling Lonely" (with Beres Hammond). He released his first full-length album in 1991, entitled Bad Boy Talk,^[2] and over the next year worked with several different producers on yet more hit tracks ("O.P.P" with King Jammy, "Tek Him" with Bobby Digital, "Be Patient" with Sly & Robbie). In 1991 and 1992, Mad Cobra broke into the UK Reggae charts with five number one hits,^[2] bringing with it a backlash over concerns about the anti-gay sentiments of tracks such as "Crucifixion".^[1]

In the wake of his British success, Mad Cobra signed a deal in America with Columbia Records.^[1] His next LP was entitled Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry, and featured "Flex", a single which interpolated elements of The Temptations' "Just My Imagination".^[1] It was a smash hit, topping the US Rap Singles chart, hitting #7 on the R&B chart, and peaking at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of the single propelled the album to #125 on the Billboard Top 200, but the follow-up, "Legacy", failed to chart, and for the next several years Cobra's hitmaking remained primarily in Jamaica with songs such as 1993's "Mek Noise" and "Matti Haffie Move". Around this time, Cobra became involved in rivalries with fellow reggae artists Ninjaman and Buju Banton. He also made a guest appearance on rap group Run-D.M.C.'s "What's Next" on their album Down with the King.

In 1994, Cobra returned with Venom, again recording with King Jammy. Jamaican hit singles from the 1994-1995 period included "Length and Bend", "Fat and Buff", and "Selassie I Rules", now adopting "conscious" lyrics.^[2] In 1996, Columbia Records released Milkman in the US market. The album peaked at #12 on Billboard's Top Reggae Albums chart and featured a minor hit, "Big Long John", which charted briefly on the US Dance and R&B Singles charts. In 1998, a track with Mr. Vegas entitled "Guns High" charted in some countries in Europe, and a number of re-releases of his Jamaican material were issued on VP. Further albums were issued in 2001 (Cobra) and 2004 (Words of Warning). Most recently, Cobra was heard on "Cobrastyle", a single from Teddybears' 2006 album, Soft Machine.

On the night of 11 May 2010, Mad Cobra was shot three times in the upper body near his home in Braeton, only a day after another dancehall artist, Oneil Edwards of the group Voice Mail, was also shot in Duhaney Park. He was carried to the Spanish Town Hospital for treatment.^[4] It was later ascertained that the vehicle Mad Cobra was traveling in had shone its light on a group of men and this had angered them. When Mad Cobra came out to appease the men, he was shot.^[5] He was released from hospital later that week. On the following Monday night, his house was shot up by unknown assailants but no one was injured during the incident.^[6]

Discography[link]

• Ex-clusive (Charm, 1991)
• Bad Boy Talk (Penthouse Records, 1991)
• Spotlight (Top Rank, 1992)
• Bad Boy Talk (Penthouse, 1992)
• Merciless Bad Boy (Sinbad, 1992)
• Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry (Columbia Records, 1992)
• Goldmine (RAS Records, 1993)
• Mister Pleasure (VP Records, 1994)
• Venom (Greensleeves Records, 1994)
• Step Aside (VP, 1994)
• Your Wish (Culture Press, 1994)
• Exclusive Decision (VP Records, 1996)
• Sexperience (Critique Records, 1996)
• Playaz in Paradise (New Quest, 1996)
• Milkman (Capitol Records, 1996)
• OK Ride On (EMI, 1999)
• Cobra (Artists Only Records, 2001)
• Exclusive (Charm, 2003)
• Words of Warning (Heartbeat Records, 2004)

References[link]