SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee
Benefits in the Workplace—Flexible Work
Arrangements
December 18, 2013
Introduction
• This is part two of a series of SHRM survey findings examining employee benefits in the workplace.
• The following topics are included in the six-part series titled State of Employee Benefits in the
Workplace:
»
»
»
»
»
»
Part 1: Wellness initiatives
Part 2: Flexible work arrangements
Part 3: Health care
Part 4: Leveraging benefits to retain employees
Part 5: Leveraging benefits to recruit employees
Part 6: Communicating benefits
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Definition
• For the purpose of this survey, flexible work arrangements or flex work may include full- or part-time
telecommuting, flexible scheduling, compressed workweek, etc.
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Key Findings
• Do organizations offer flexible work arrangements to their employees? Nearly three-fifths
(57%) of organizations offer these benefits. Among those organizations, almost one-half (45%)
indicated that the majority of their employees are allowed to use flex work. This figure has
increased 11 percentage points since 2012.
• In 2012, did employee participation in flexible work arrangements increase? Yes,
approximately one-third (33%) reported employee participation increased since 2011, 61%
indicated employee participation remained the same, and only 6% reported that participation in
these benefit decreased.
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What do these findings mean to the HR profession?
• The numbers are rising for flexible work arrangements—the percentage of employers that
participate in this benefit increased from 2012, and more organizations offer flex work to a broader
scope of their payroll. This trend is in line with workers’ increased desire to manage their own time
and better balance their work with their responsibilities out of the office. Separate SHRM studies
have shown that many workers rate “the balance of work/life issues” as an integral factor in job
satisfaction, and flexible work arrangements can offer a cost-effective means of delivering that
balance. Other research by the Families and Work Institute revealed that an increasing number of
men have expressed a need for flexible work to better balance their jobs and family
responsibilities—proof that demand for such arrangements spans a broad segment of the
workforce.
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Does your organization provide employees with the option to use flexible
work arrangements?
57%
Yes
53%
2013 (n = 382)
43%
2012 (n = 414)
No
47%
Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
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Are the majority (more than half) of employees at your organization
allowed to use flexible work arrangements?
45%
Yes
34%
2013 (n = 207)
2012 (n = 210)
55%
No
66%
Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided flexible work arrangements were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure”
were excluded from this analysis.
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How did employee participation in your organization’s flexible work
change last year compared with the year before?
33%
Increased
36%
61%
Remained the
same
58%
2013 (n = 179)
2012 (n = 192)
6%
Decreased
6%
Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided flexible work arrangements were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure”
were excluded from this analysis.
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Does your organization monitor employee participation rates in its
flexible work arrangements?
47%
Yes
38%
2013 (n = 187)
2012 (n = 198)
53%
No
62%
Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided flexible work arrangements were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure”
were excluded from this analysis.
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Organization Demographics
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Demographics: Organization Staff Size
1 to 99
employees
33%
100 to 499
employees
32%
500 to 2,499
employees
17%
2,500 to
24,999
employees
25,000 or
more
employees
12%
6%
n = 363
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Demographics: Organization Sector
Privately owned
for-profit
51%
Nonprofit
organization
24%
Publicly owned forprofit
12%
Government sector
11%
Other
2%
n = 377
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Demographics: Organization Industry
Percentage
Professional, scientific and technical services
Health care and social assistance
Manufacturing
Government agencies
Finance and insurance
Educational services
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar
organizations
Accommodation and food services
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation
services
Construction
Mining
Transportation and warehousing
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Information
Retail trade
Real estate and rental and leasing
Repair and maintenance
Utilities
Whole trade
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
and laundry
Note:Personal
n = 375. Percentages
do not services
equal 100% due to multiple response options.
Other
21%
17%
15%
12%
10%
9%
5%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
3%
3%
3%
2%
2%
2%
2%
1%
1%
7%
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Demographics: Other
Does your organization have
U.S.-based operations (business
units) only, or does it operate
multinationally?
U.S.-based operations only
80%
Multinational operations
20%
n = 381
What is the HR department/function
for which you responded throughout
this survey?
Corporate (company-wide)
73%
Business unit/division
16%
Facility/location
11%
n = 244
Is your organization a single-unit
organization or a multi-unit organization?
Single-unit organization: An
organization in which the location
and the organization are one and the
same.
Multi-unit organization: An
that has more than one
n organization
= 381
location.
39%
61%
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies
and practices determined by the multi-unit
headquarters, by each work location or by
both?
Multi-unit headquarters determines
59%
HR policies and practices.
Each work location determines HR
policies and practices.
A combination of both the work
location and the multi-unit
headquarters determines HR policies
and
practices.
n = 244
4%
37%
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SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee
Benefits in the Workplace—Flexible Work
Arrangements
Survey Methodology
• Response rate = 11%
• 441 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of
SHRM’s membership participated in this survey
• Margin of error +/- 5%
• Survey fielded May 3-22, 2013
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Additional SHRM Resources
• Workplace Flexibility Resource Page
• Work Life Fit Resource Page
• Alternative Work Schedules Resource Page
• Creating an Effective Flexible Work Environment
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About SHRM Research
For more survey/poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys
For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research
Services, visit www.shrm.org/customizedresearch
Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research
Project leaders:
Christina Lee, researcher, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research
Evren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research
Copy editor:
Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center
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About SHRM
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest
association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than
250,000 members in over 140 countries, the Society serves the needs of HR
professionals and advances the interests of the HR profession. Founded in
1948, SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States
and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates.
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