From phased return from maternity leave or phased retirement – to flexible schedules and telework. What Are My Choices?

Workplace flexibility is still a relatively new phenomenon, and a lot of the language to describe it is still developing. In many cases, different people and groups use different words to describe the same concepts. Some invent words or phrases to describe new variations on flexibility. This glossary may be helpful as you begin to learn and talk about flexibility, yourself.

Annualized hours: A form of compressed work schedule or reduced hours, in which employees (either full or part-time) work a certain number of hours per year rather than per week. Employees can take advantage of their seasonal interests, by taking certain parts of the year off.

Buying additional time off: The ability of employees to purchase vacation time beyond what they would normally have earned. The benefit: being able to take a real vacation!

Career lattice: Replacement for the traditional “corporate ladder” enables employees to move in several directions rather than just upward. This gives employees a chance to explore new areas of the company and add more diversified tools to their toolbox.

Compressed work schedule/Compressed work week: Formal or informal policy enabling employees to work full-time in fewer than five days a week. Scheduling can take different forms (i.e. four 10-hour days per week, three 12-hour days per week and “9-80's,” or , 80 hours over nine days, taking the 10th day off. Summer hours (shorter Fridays during the summer with more hours on other days) are another form of compressed work weeks.

Family and Medical Leave: Organizations with more than 50 employees are required, by law, to grant up to 12 weeks unpaid leave per year to most employees for a variety of reasons: childbirth, adoption and medical care of family members or themselves. The leave can be taken incrementally or all at once, and employers can require employees to use available vacation time as part of the leave. Some employers choose to grant these leaves with pay.

Flexible advancement: A situation in where the standards for achieving advancement—for example, making partner or becoming tenured—are not connected to the amount of time it takes to meet these standards.

Flextime/Flexitime/Flexible working hours: Formal, or informal, policy or practice enabling employees to change their start and end working times. Flextime can require a semi-permanent commitment to one set of hours or be adjustable daily. Formal flextime policies usually include core hours” in the middle of the day when all full-time employees are expected to be at work. Flextime can also be scheduled by the month or by the year.

Formal flexibility: A situation in which flexibility is negotiated in advance and used on a regular basis. This can mean working four days in the office and then working from home on the fifth day or other combinations that work for the long commuter, new parent, etc.

Informal flexibility: A situation in which employees can change their hours or location on an as-needed basis (although they usually need to notify their manager). Employees can generally make last-minute schedule changes as their situation demands. For example, requesting to work from home on days when inclement weather makes commuting difficult.

Job-sharing: A situation in which two employees share a single full-time job, with salary and benefits pro-rated. This is a popular option for new mothers who wish to spend time at home, but also want to remain in the workforce.

Leaves: Any authorized times away from work. Leaves may be fully paid, partially paid, or unpaid and may or may not include full benefits coverage. One of the most common leaves is taking time off to become a parent.

Mid-day flex/Lunch hour flex: A form of flextime in which employees start their day earlier or end it later in order to take a longer-than-usual break in the middle of the day. This is a great option for employees to workout over their lunch breaks.

Non-linear career paths: Career paths that allow employees to take long periods of time out from work without hurting their chances for advancement.

Part-time/Reduced hours: A work schedule that encompasses fewer hours than the standard full-time schedule, typically with pro-rated salary, benefits and career advancement. Employees working reduced hours should have workloads to match and working less than full-time should not affect an employee's status or opportunities for advancement.

Personal Time Off (PTO) bank: A bank of time that employees can use for vacation, personal or sick time, without specifying why they need the time off. The PTO bank provides more privacy and eliminates the guilt of having to make excuses for your absence.

Phased retirement: An arrangement that enables employees to gradually reduce their hours over a set period of years before they fully retire, without affecting their retirement benefits. This means more time to improve your golf game and enjoy the benefits of a reduced workload!

Phased return from leave: Arrangement in which full-time employees return from a leave of absence (for example, a parental leave) and work a reduced schedule for a certain period of time.

Remote/Virtual Work: Generally refers to working off-site at a long-distance location. This might include employees who live year-round at another location, or those who live part of each month or part of each year at another location.

Sabbatical: Extended leave from work, granted after a certain period of years, which can generally be used by the employee for any pursuit he or she chooses. Sabbaticals may range from a few months to a year, are generally paid (with benefits) and by definition imply a guaranteed job upon returning. For example, taking time off to fulfill a lifelong dream, like climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, or volunteering in a third-world country.

Shift swapping: The ability for shift-workers to trade shifts with each other as needed.

Summer hours: A form of compressed work week enabling employees to work longer hours Monday-Thursdays and fewer hours on Fridays during the summer months. Get your beach umbrellas ready!

Telecommuting/Telework/Flexplace: Formal or informal practice enabling employees to work at a site other than the company's main office. While many telecommuters work from home, telecommuting can also refer to working from a company-provided satellite office, a client's office, a travel location, etc. Telecommuting can be on a regular schedule or an as-needed basis.

Work-at-home: Telecommuting by working from home on a regular or as-needed basis.