A standard time before workers finally built employers' homes (10)
I believe the answer is:
apartments
'homes' is the definition.
'a standard time before workers finally built employers'' is the wordplay.
'standard' becomes 'par' (I've seen this before).
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'workers' becomes 'men' (man is a kind of worker).
'finally' suggests the final letters.
The final letters of 'built employers' are 'ts'.
'a'+'par'+'t'+'men'+'ts'='APARTMENTS'
(Other definitions for apartments that I've seen before include "Housing" , "Flats" , "Private suite of rooms" , "accommodation?" .)