Flex Work in Santa Barbara County
Work Remote, Compressed, and Flexible
Log telework and compressed work week days with SmartRide to earn rewards (SmartRide app available for Android and Apple devices). Employers seeking to boost work/life balance, parking availability, recruitment, and retention are creating policies for telework, compressed work week, and flex work availability. SBCAG has tips, policy examples, employee agreement forms, equipment checklists, and more to help your employer draft policy and deploy a meaningful program.
Remote Work
You may be eligible to telework if you mostly perform tasks that don’t require in-person labor and/or communication. Remote employees are self-motivated, proven, result-oriented performers with strong communication skills. You are likely to maintain this privilege by setting goals, objectives, and tasks with clear timelines. Here are 12 tips for teleworkers:
- Remove Distractions: keep social media, pets, TV, chores, and family in another room.
- Stay Active: set calendar reminders to stretch and exercise.
- Connect Often: turn on your webcam and chat with colleagues.
- Practice Kindness: it’s harder to read people, so be patient.
- Take Breaks: don’t work through lunch and breaks you take at the office.
- Over Communicate: increase points of contact to stand out.
- Make Work Transparent: your task progress and calendar activities should be accessible and obvious.
- Create a Team Wiki: unexpected things happen at home, so it’s important your team can replicate your workflows if you are unreachable.
- Keep the Routine: use your normal commuting time for exercise or reading.
- Celebrate: keep track of birthdays, work anniversaries, and team successes.
Compressed Work Weeks (CWW)
There are three CWW options:
- 9/80: employee works four 9-hour days each week and an 8-hour day every other week
- 4/10: employee works four 10-hour days each week.
- 3/12: employee works three 12-hour days each week (common for emergency personnel)
California law allows employers to write these into policy for both exempt and non-exempt employees. You must receive employer approval in writing. Overtime applies if you work more than 40 hours a week.
Flex Scheduling
This work/life balance strategy helps employees avoid peak-period vehicle traffic. For example, you may work from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. instead of the typical 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift. Employers should include flexible shift start and end times in policy, describing core hours, maximum daily hours, total weekly hours, and an approval process.
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