Researchers have found a no-cost option for companies looking to keep employees happy and at the same time boost productivity: Give them more say in where and when they spend their working hours.

A study released last month by Brigham Young University found that employees allowed to work at home, plus keep flexible hours, were often able to work the equivalent of one to two extra days per week before feeling the stress of conflicts with personal and family life.

Analyzing data from roughly 24,000 IBM employees in 75 countries, BYU researchers found that employees given the option of telecommuting plus setting their own hours were able to clock 57 hours per week before reporting work-life conflicts. In contrast, the breaking point for those on a regular schedule was 38 hours.

Researchers noted that telecommuting was only beneficial for reducing work-life stresses when accompanied by flextime. They found benefits for both men and women at every life stage, but particularly for parents with young children.

An employee with flex time might get up early and work from home for a few hours, then make a family breakfast and take the children to school. In the evening, the employee might spend time with family during the dinner hour, then work several hours from home once the kids are in bed.

Besides flexible schedules, other common flexibility programs include part-time work, job sharing and a compressed work week.

"The fact that workplace flexibility may reduce work-family conflict, and requires little or no expense to the company, makes a strong business case for its adoption," researchers wrote in their report titled "Finding an Extra Day or Two."

Lead study author E. Jeffrey Hill, a professor in BYU's school of family life, noted that a flexible working environment can be a hard sell with top management.

Before joining BYU, Mr. Hill was a pioneering telecommuter at IBM, working for the company's Armonk, N.Y., headquarters while living in Arizona and then Utah. The company later made a big telecommuting push, saving millions on office space, he said.

"Managers were initially skeptical about the wisdom of working at home and said things like, 'If we can't see them, how can we know they are working?' " Mr. Hill said. Now, he said, more than 80 percent of IBM managers agree that productivity increases in a flexible workplace.

The benefits of telecommuting and flex time may be even more important for the business and employee during a weak economy, since most options save money or are cost-neutral, Mr. Hill said.

A flexible workplace also is a way to boost morale, which may be suffering because of cutbacks, he said.

The psychological benefits of working at home and flexible hours also may be linked to reducing the time and stress associated with the daily commute to and from work,which consumes an average of 45 to 50 minutes per day in the United States, the study said. Even the ability to commute during off-peak hours can be a benefit.

Researchers concluded that telecommuting, when coupled with a flexible schedule, "reduces work-life conflict and increases his or her capacity to work, creating a win-win situation."

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