Flexible work glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms you’ll meet in flexible job ads, policies and negotiations.
9/80 schedule
Eighty hours worked over nine days in a two-week period, giving every other Friday (or another day) off.
100-80-100
A four-day week model: 100% of pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for 100% of agreed output.
Anchor day
A day when a whole team is expected in the office together.
Async-first
A way of working where written, non-real-time communication is the default and meetings are the exception.
Compressed hours
Working full-time hours over fewer, longer days.
Core hours
The hours when everyone must be available, with flexible time around them.
Coworking space
A shared workspace rented by the day or month.
Digital nomad
Someone who works remotely while travelling between locations.
Employer of record (EOR)
A company that legally employs someone on another company’s behalf, often in another country.
Flexitime
Choosing your start and finish times around core hours.
Four-day week
A working week of four days, usually with reduced hours and unchanged pay.
Fractional work
Senior professionals working part-time for several companies, such as a fractional CFO.
Hot-desking
Office desks that aren’t assigned to anyone and are used first-come, first-served or by booking.
Hybrid work
Splitting work between an office and another location, usually home.
Job-sharing
Two people sharing one full-time role, its responsibilities and its pay.
Location eligibility
The countries, states or time zones a remote employee is allowed to work from.
Part-time
A contract with fewer hours than the full-time standard, with pro-rata pay and benefits.
Proximity bias
The tendency to favour people who are physically near you, which can disadvantage remote workers.
Remote-first
A company where remote work is the default and processes are built for distributed teams.
Return to office (RTO)
Employer policies requiring more in-office days.
Staggered hours
Different start and finish times for different employees.
Workcation
A trip combining remote work with leisure.