The post-pandemic labor landscape has renewed interest in workplace flexibility as a determinant of well-being and productivity. This study investigates the structural, occupational, and individual factors shaping work schedule autonomy among formal employees in Colombia. Using 21,960 observations from the Gran Encuesta Integrada de Hogares (GEIH) spanning January 2023 to February 2024, we estimate logistic, probit, and linear probability models complemented by average marginal effects, odds ratios, and extensive diagnostics including variance inflation factors, the Hosmer–Lemeshow test, ROC analysis (AUC = 0.734), and Pregibon's link test. Firm size, workplace location, and economic sector emerge as dominant predictors. Medium-sized firms increase the odds of autonomy by 63% (OR = 1.63, p < 0.001) relative to microenterprises. Workers in fixed premises have 2.83 times the odds of schedule control compared to office-based employees. We document a satisfaction paradox: job satisfaction is negatively associated with autonomy (OR = 0.80, p < 0.001), contradicting Self-Determination Theory predictions. Sectoral heterogeneity is striking—water and sanitation workers enjoy the highest autonomy, while service-sector employees face the most rigid schedules. These findings carry direct implications for labor policy design in emerging economies navigating post-pandemic flexibility transitions.
Maya et al. (Mon,) studied this question.