OVERVIEW

A flexible work schedule is an alternative to the traditional "9-to-5", 40-hour work week, allowing employees to vary their arrival and/or departure times. Under some flexible schedule policies, employees must work a certain number of hours a pay period and be present during a daily "core time". The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not address such flexible work schedules; rather, they are generally a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee (or the employee's representative). The FLSA is administered and enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the Employment Standards Administration.

COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE MATERIALS

BASIC INFORMATION

• Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act - Answers many questions about the FLSA, including what the Act does and does not require.

E-TOOLS

• elaws FLSA Advisor - Provides information that addresses key wage and hour topics, including a frequently asked question about when an employee's scheduled hours of work can be changed.

APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS

• The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Establishes minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor standards for private sector and government workers.

RELATED TOPICS AND LINKS

• Job Sharing Subtopic - Provides information about an alternative scheduling arrangement called Job Sharing - when two (or more) workers share the duties of one full-time job, each working part time, or two or more workers who have unrelated part-time assignments share the same budget line.

DOL CONTACTS*

• Employment Standards Administration (ESA)
  Wage and Hour Division
  200 Constitution Avenue, NW
  Room S-3502
  Washington, DC 20210
  Contact WHD
  Tel: 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243)
  TTY: 1-877-889-5627
  Local Offices

• For questions on other DOL laws,
  please call DOL's Toll-Free Help Line at 1-866-4-USA-DOL. Live assistance is available in English and Spanish, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Additional service is available in more than 140 languages through a translation service.
  Tel: 1-866-4-USA-DOL
  TTY: 1-877-889-5627

*Pursuant to the U.S. Department of Labor's Confidentiality Protocol for Compliance Assistance Inquiries, information provided by a telephone caller will be kept confidential within the bounds of the law. Compliance assistance inquiries will not trigger an inspection, audit, investigation, etc.