title: Alternative work scheduling for professional social workers.
abstract: The authors present some practical evidence that the changing nature of today's work force requires innovative alternatives to traditional scheduling based on the 9 to 5, five-day workweek. They support alternative work scheduling (AWS) as an updated and promising approach. Described is their experience with a two-year AWS pilot project in the Social Work Service of an urban medical center, with their focus upon the processes of negotiating, programming, and implementing the concepts of "flex-time," "compressed workweek," and "job sharing." Informal assessment indicates strongly positive responses from the participating social workers, other members of the health care team, and the consumers of the services.
mesh_terms: D004651:Employment; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006748:Hospital Departments; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010559:Personnel Management / Q000379:methods*; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012948:Social Work Department, Hospital; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce