The Definitive Guide to Flexible Work Terminology

Flex Index

Before COVID, most corporate employees found themselves working full-time from an office. Rarely did the opportunity to work remotely, even for a fraction of the time, come up. Even more infrequent were fully remote companies with zero office space.
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‍Our relationship with work and the workplace has changed. During the pandemic, employers witnessed how adaptable their employees were, with at-home levels of productivity matching, if not exceeding, pre-COVID times. Employees, in turn, no longer viewed the office as the “end all be all” when it came to effective and efficient work.

This simple idea – that the office was no longer a default but a decision – was transformative. It brought a formerly niche concept to the mainstream: “flexible work.”

What is Flexible Work?

What is the definition of flexible work?

‍Flexible work is an arrangement where a worker is empowered to alter certain conditions of their work – most commonly work location, hours, or employment type – away from the traditional norm.

For example, in many industries and job functions, the traditional norm has been:

• 40-hour work week
• 9 am - 5 pm daily schedule
• Work takes place Monday - Friday
• Work takes place at the company’s office
• Workers are full-time employees of the company
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In a flexible work arrangement, a worker…

• Might work at the office only a portion of the time (or not at all)
• Might work a different daily schedule that might not be a single uninterrupted block of time
• Might work part-time
• Might not be a full-time employee or contractor of the company
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Put a different way, flexible work is the idea that how work gets done is no longer black and white, but somewhat nuanced and increasingly individualized. There is no universal “correct” approach to how work gets done. Instead, there is an understanding between employer and employee that the desired outcome of the work is achievable from various work arrangements.

An Explosion of Confusing Terminology

As the popularity of work location flexibility has grown, several different corporate models have emerged. Some companies have set policies on when they expect employees in the office. Some have left the choice up to employees. Others have moved away from office space entirely.

The explosion of confusing terminology only further complicates these different approaches. Words like “hybrid” and “remote” mean different things to different people. Even more confusing are employer attempts to brand their specific approaches to work location flexibility, which leaves managers, employees, job seekers, and the public with even less clarity on the company’s specific approach.

In the long run, ambiguity doesn’t just hurt job seekers but also employers using these terms. How can you attract the right talent if prospective employees don’t fully understand what’s expected of them once they join?

Standardizing How We Talk About Work Location

In this confusion, the Flex Index's purpose was born: to provide a single source of truth on workplace flexibility trends, terminology, and practices. 

Step one was research. 

We met with hundreds of people to learn about their work arrangements. Of those that had workplace location flexibility, four main “categories” began to emerge:

• Having a minimum number of in-office days
• Having specific in-office days, such as Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Coming in a percentage of the time 
• Having complete freedom to choose when or if they went in 
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Armed with these insights, we began to build our “flexible work” dictionary.
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Flexible & Remote Work Categories & Definitions

Listed below is our standardized set of terms to reflect the full spectrum of workplace location—from fully remote to fully in-office.

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Fully Flexible: Companies that give their employees a choice over whether to come into an office. Fully flexible companies have adopted a “Fully Remote” or “Employee’s Choice” model. 

‍Fully Remote: Companies that do not have a physical office space. All employees work remotely. 

‍Employee’s Choice: Employees can choose when or if they work from an office. 

‍Structured Hybrid: Companies that have specific expectations on when employees work from an office. The different Structured Hybrid models are Minimum Days, Specific Days, Minimum & Specific Days, and Minimum Percentage of Time. 

‍Minimum Days: Companies that set a minimum number of days employees must work from the office each week (ex: two days per week).

‍Specific Days: Companies that set specific days of the week employees must work from the office (ex: Tues and Thurs). 

‍Minimum & Specific Days: Companies that set a minimum and specific days per week employees must work from the office.

‍Minimum Percentage of Time: Companies that set a minimum percentage of time employees must work from the office (ex: 40%). 

‍Full Time In Office: Companies that require employees to work full-time from the office. 

The Future of Flexible Work

Our journey with flexible work is just beginning.

A crucial first step is standardizing the terms used to define office expectations, regardless of what those expectations are. Committing to this common terminology has a massive ripple effect. It provides job seekers with a true understanding of the opportunities before them. It creates clarity for HR leaders to communicate their policies effectively and attract top talent. And it provides journalists and researchers with a commonly understood language they can report on to educate a much wider audience.

To learn more about flexible work models and the most common patterns emerging across industries, geography, and company sizes, download our free report here.