Being Flexible Provides Perks

Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer, reports on perks on the job for those who are flexible.

Employees at the Seattle office of the U.S. Government Accountability Office know that they have to put in 80 hours of work every two weeks. But they can configure those hours pretty much how they'd like, with the exception of the one day a week their managers require all employees to be at the office at the same time.

Plus, they can work from home for some of the week, or they can work compressed weeks so that they can take every fifth or tenth day off and still log their 80 hours.

Those policies are why that GAO office is among the recipients of the Alfred P. Sloan awards for excellence in workplace flexibility given by the Families and Work Institute (FWI) every year.

Three-quarters of big organizations now offer flexible-work benefits, according to Hewitt Associates. Watson Wyatt in its survey of mid- and large-sized companies found that flexible work schedules was the most commonly offered benefit, followed by telecommuting and compressed work weeks.

But just because an HR policy exists doesn't mean that your employer has your back if you're afraid to take advantage of it.