Make Use of Flexi-Work Arrangements- White
Published:Wednesday | January 27, 2016 | 10:06 AM
Donovan White, vice-president at C&W Business has urged more companies to make use of flexi-work arrangements.
White, who was the guest speaker at the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica President's Forum last week, said flexi-work arrangements can increase productivity and employee output.
"I think it would be significant to our productivity in Jamaica if more companies were to employ the strategy of flexi-hours. I think it would allow for better transient movement...it would allow organisations to plan better around manpower," he said.
Legislators last year passed into law the Employment (Flexible Work Arrangements) Act paving the way for the introduction of flexible working time.
According to White, "If you think about some of the industries we have, they could do a better service to the public if something like flexi-work became par for the course."
The Act specifies that overtime becomes applicable after the stipulated 40-hour workweek.
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In addition, the flexitime arrangement increases the maximum number of hours in a work day from eight or 10 hours to a maximum of 12 hours.
The Act also indicates that all seven days of the week are possible working days, a provision that had ignited intense debate among church leaders, who argued strongly for the preservation of special days for worship.
White believes that a flexi-work arrangement is important to maintaining work-life balance as it reduces stress among employees.
"Research shows that the cost of stress-related issues runs in the region of about $407 billion, from absenteeism, medical bills, recruiting and training," he said.