flexible work options

iwin's research on flexible work options focuses on the meaning, operationalization and implementation of workplace flexibility. iwin also studies how workplace flexibility contributes to positive outcomes for employers and employees among a modern, diverse workforce.

recent projects :
University of Kentucky Flexibility Studies
Flexible Solutions for Low-Wage Hourly Workers
University of Kentucky Flexibility Supervisor Study
Workplace Structure & Hourly Low-Wage Workers Quality Jobs: Flexibility for Working Families
Making Workplaces Work
Workplace Flexibility for Hourly Low-Wage Workers

university of kentucky flexibility studies

Principal Investigator: Meredith Wells-Lepley, Ph.D., iwin
Co-Principal Investigator: Robynn Pease, Ph.D.., UK Work-Life
Co-Principal Investigator: Jennifer Swanberg, Ph.D., iwin

The University of Kentucky utilizes flexible work arrangements (FWAs) as a management tool to help employees manage work and non-work responsibilities and to meet UK's strategic goals. iwin is conducting three studies with UK's Office of Work-Life that examine the prevalence and types of FWAs being implemented at UK, demographic characteristics of supervisors more likely to offer flexibility, the effects of flexibility training on supervisor attitudes as well as the preferred types of FWAs and positive impacts.

For more information, please contact Dr. Meredith Wells-Lepley.

flexible workplace solutions for low-wage hourly workers: a framework for a national conversation

Authors: Jennifer E. Swanberg, Ph.D., iwin; Elizabeth Watson, Former Legislative Counsel, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Executive Director, Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy

This policy report co-authored by iwin and WF2010 provides a thorough examination of the scheduling challenges faced by many of today's workers and provides a set of practical solutions for employers and policymakers.

For more information, please contact Dr. Jennifer Swanberg.

university of kentucky workplace flexibility supervisor study

Principal Investigator: Jennifer E. Swanberg, Ph.D., iwin
Co-Principal Investigator: Mac Werner, MSW, iwin
Co-Investigator: Japheth Jaoko

The University of Kentucky (UK) utilizes flexible work arrangements (FWAs) as a management tool to both help employees manage work and non-work responsibilities and to meet UK's strategic goals. To understand how and why FWAs are used at UK, the Institute for Workplace Innovation (iwin) and UK Work-Life invited 1,398 supervisors, managers and directors from across campus to participate in a cross-sectional survey about the perceptions, challenges, prevalence and types of FWAs being implemented at UK.

  read the report

For more information, please contact Dr. Jennifer Swanberg.

workplace structure and its impact on hourly workers and their families

Presenter: Jennifer Swanberg, Ph.D., iwin
Co-presenter: Mamta Ohja, MSW, iwin

Many professional workers take for granted the ability to alter their schedule when they are sick; or to care for a sick child, but a large part of the labor force (low-wage, hourly workers) don't have sick leave or vacation days and don't have flexible practices that allow for predictable or as-needed schedule modifications. iwin reviewed the literature on low wage, hourly workers, and their access to flexible work options. After establishing a definition for what consistutes both low wage hourly work, and what constitutes flexibility, iwin analyzed the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce to assess what flexible work options were available to low-wage hourly workers.

quality jobs in the new millennium: incorporating flexible work options as a strategy to assist working families

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Swanberg, Ph.D.
Co-Principal Investigator: Leigh Ann Simmons, Ph.D., University of Kentucky

This study seeks to explore the model of job quality in relation to the employees' self perceived physical health status. The article concludes that when demographic and other job quality variables are controlled, flexible work options, coworker support, and employment insecurity are major predictors of the employees' self-reported health status.

This project was supported with a grant from the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research through the Department of Health and Human Service, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. For more information, please contact Dr. Jennifer Swanberg at jswanberg@uky.edu.

making workplaces work: employer best practices in kentucky

Jennifer E. Swanberg, Ph.D. , iwin
Diane N. Loeffler, Ph.D., iwin
Mac Werner, MSW, iwin

link to press release
link to summary of report
link to full report

workplace flexibility for hourly lower-wage employees: a strategic business practice within one national retail firm

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Swanberg, Ph.D., iwin
Co-Principal Investigator: Jacqueline James, Ph.D., Boston College

Using analysis and qualitative interview, this study looks at the flexibility in work options offered to lower-wage hourly positions. The positive and negative consequences the business encounters in offering flexible work options are also explored.

This project was funded by the Ford Foundation and the Center on Aging & Work /Workplace Flexibility at Boston College. For more information about this project, please contact Dr. Jennifer Swanberg at jswanberg@uky.edu.