Employers are showing more flexibility with their workers, a new report reveals, with more firms offering time during the day to attend to family and personal matters and flex time.

The news comes out of the 2012 National Study of Employers by the workforce think tank Families and Work Institute, released jointly April 30 with the Society for Human Resource Management.

The study's researchers found what they called surprising increases in the numbers of employers who allowed workers to alter when they started and ended their work days, to work from home and to determine their paid and unpaid overtime hours.

Consider the findings:

• 77 percent of employers allow at least some employees to use flex time and periodically change their start and quit times – up from 66 percent in 2005.

• 87 percent allow employees to take time during the work day to tend to family or personal affairs without a dock in pay. In 2005, 77 percent of employers allowed it.

• 63 percent of employers allow employees to occasionally work from home – nearly double that of 2005, when 34 percent of employers allowed staffers to work from home.

Perhaps it's not much of a surprise. Employers working with ever-smaller staffs are beginning to take the long view, finding more ways to accommodate and retain employees.

"It's clear that, in order to remain competitive, employers must find ways to offer flexible work options if they want to attract and retain top talent," said Henry Jackson, president and chief executive officer of the Society for Human Resource Management.

As a result, employees' schedules are more malleable, researchers said, allowing employees to work longer days or shape their work hours to take care of personal responsibilities and still produce at the office, said Ellen Galinsky, Families and Work Institute president and one of the study's authors.

"Although some may have expected employers to cut back on flexibility entirely during this economic downturn, we are seeing employers leverage flexibility as they look toward the future," Galinsky said.

Read the complete report at www.whenworkworks.org or www.familiesandwork.org

Job fair at Red Lion

A free job fair Thursday in Sacramento will feature a number of public- and private-sector employers. The event, sponsored by National Career Fairs, will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Red Lion at Arden Village, 1401 Arden Way, in Sacramento. Employers including the Social Security Administration, Farmers Insurance and the Sacramento Public Library are scheduled to take part.

For more information, see: www.nationalcareerfairs.com

Career management

University of Phoenix's Sacramento Valley campus is holding a free career management workshop for job seekers Saturday.

Job seekers will gain advice on how to write effective résumés, develop successful interviewing techniques and learn how to best create and market their personal brand.

Attendees are asked to bring copies of their résumés and cover letters.

The University of Phoenix campus is 2860 Gateway Oaks Drive, in Sacramento.

Space is limited. Register online at http://maycareerworkshopseorg.event

What employers want

Hear what employers are seeking in job candidates at a Wednesday workshop at Franklin Sacramento Works Career Center.

A workshop and open discussion are part of the 1:30 p.m. presentation.

The career center is at 7000 Franklin Blvd., Suite 540.

For information and to register call Sacramento Works at (916) 263-3743 or register at www.jobs.sacramentoworks.org

Ask the job expert

Do you have career or job-hunting questions?

Ask Terri Carpenter, one of our "Ask the Experts" writers who can answer your questions online.

As a veteran career counselor at the Sacramento Employment Training Agency, she has plenty of expertise in résumé writing, job skills training and career counseling.

To post your question or see her advice, go to: www.sacbee.com/ask

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

• Read more articles by Darrell Smith