Firms Say No to Flex Time and Vacation Privileges

As architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms continue to tighten their belts, flex and vacation time are the next items on the chopping block. Only 12 percent of firms plan to offer summer hours this year, according to the latest By the Numbers survey, a monthly poll featured in The Zweig HR Letter. Summer hours are typically defined as allowing employees to put in extra hours on Monday through Thursday, and take either a half-day off every Friday or a full day off every other Friday during the summer months. Additionally, just 7 percent say they’ll allow employees to take an unlimited amount of unearned vacation hours “on credit” to the firm.