ore alternative work schedules in organisational design, and how they impact the organisation.
             An alternative work schedule can be defined as a working week that does not contain the traditional five-day working week, with each of these days consisting of eight hours, but rather it is an opportunity for employers to change the way in which work hours are allocated, by offering a range of flexible working arrangements. This new program is very low risk, has a relatively low cost, and has the potential for higher returns.
             This range of flexible working arrangements, as mentioned above, has as many as eight different categories' according to Ilene Wolcott (1996, p14). These include; flexitime, extending the span of ordinary hours, averaging hours over extended time periods, compressing the work week, banking or accruing rostered days off and extra hours, job-sharing, permanent part-time work, and working from home or telecommuting. They also state that a major reason for employees to want to adopt the new program is that they realise that their employers are trying to assist them into balancing their work and family commitments. To recognise this adaptation, workplace agreements now incorporate this range of flexible work and leave arrangements (Cited in Wolcott, 1996).
             The categories can be expanded and better defined to gain a better understanding of what they each have to offer.
             Flexitime offers varying start and finish times within a core work period and has two requirements: All employees must be present during the core day, and although employees may choose their own arrival and departure times, they must work the required hours (traditionally 8) each day.
             Extending the span of ordinary hours means that the total number of hours for the working week is defined but the starting and finishing times will be different.
             Averaging the hours over extended periods of time such as working to a fortnightly instead of a week...