Hybrid work, flexible working hours and career progression: the perspective of women employees during the COVID-19 pandemic

We need to make sure telecommuting does not exacerbate gender disparity

The article examines transformation of the legal regulation of flexible working hours, home-based work and teleworking in Ukraine in the context of the experience of foreign countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is investigated that under quarantine conditions the application of these forms of labour organization has increased and their legislative regulation in Ukraine and foreign countries has improved. Currently, in Ukraine flexible working hours are applied not only to employees who work under an employment contract, but also to government employees. The legal regulation of home-based work and teleworking has undergone some transformations from their initial identification to the subsequent differentiation. Legislative consolidation of teleworking has led to the establishment of a new institution, namely the right to disconnect (the period of free time of the employee who works remotely). Comparative characteristics of flexible working hours, home-based work and teleworking according to the laws of Ukraine are identified. It has been found that the legalization of non-traditional forms of labour organization including flexible working hours, home-based work and teleworking under quarantine conditions has allowed maintaining the stability of labour relations, ensuring social distance of workers and reducing the morbidity level during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: Flexible working hours can impact employee productivity. Therefore, the current research aimed to present a model for flexible working hours in public organizations, emphasizing increasing the productivity level of knowledge workers. Methodology: The present study was applied in objective and mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) in execution. The qualitative study population included all academic and organizational experts familiar with the research domain, with a sample size of 25 determined based on theoretical saturation principle and selected through purposive sampling. The quantitative study population comprised all staff members of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, with a sample size of 205 determined by Cochran's formula and selected through simple random sampling. Data for qualitative and quantitative sections were collected respectively using interviews and researcher-made questionnaires and analyzed with thematic analysis and exploratory factor analysis methods in Maxqda and Smart-PLS software, respectively. Findings: Qualitative findings revealed that flexible working hours encompassed 15 sub-themes in 3 main themes: floating work hours, floating work location, and collaborative work; and employee productivity comprised 20 sub-themes in 3 main themes: self-management, self-control, and self-organization. Quantitative findings indicated that all themes of flexible working hours and employee productivity had a factor loading and extracted variance mean higher than 0.50 and Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability higher than 0.80. Other findings showed that the themes of floating work hours, floating work location, and collaborative work had a direct and significant effect on flexible working hours, and the themes of self-management, self-control, and self-organization had a direct and significant effect on employee productivity, and flexible working hours had a direct and significant effect on employee productivity (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that flexible working hours play an effective role in enhancing the level of employee productivity. Therefore, to improve employee productivity, the themes of floating work hours, floating work location, and collaborative work can be utilized.

The effect of flexible working hours on employee satisfaction and performance was investigated in a field experiment conducted in a federal agency among 64 clerical employees who were randomly assigned to either flexible or fixed working hours for 6 months. The results indicated that flexitime caused a significant increase in satisfaction but had negligible effects on performance, whether assessed by ratings or output. Future research should aim to uncover reasons for positive effect of flexitime on employee feelings about their jobs. As part of a general trend to reexamine patterns of working hours, an increasing number of work organizations have introduced flexible working hours for their employees. The essential feature of such schemes is that the starting and quitting times are flexible for employee, but that he or she must be there during a core working (Glickman & Brown, 1974, p. 34). Typically, organizations that adopt flexible working hours define a core time period during which all employees are expected to work and then allow a range of time before and after this period during which employees can decide on their own arrival and departure times. Despite its widespread adoption by many organizations, however, actual effect of flexible working hours on employee morale and productivity has yet to be demonstrated. With notable exception of studies by Golembiewski, Hilles, and Kagno (1974) and by Schein, Maurer, and Novak (1977), most of information regarding effects of flexible working hours has not been based on controlled studies but instead on managerial judgments, single case studies, and surveys of employee opinion (cf. Baum & Young, 1974). In their longitudinal study based on preattitudinal and postattitudinal measures, Golembiewski et al. found employee reactions to installation of flexible working hours to be generally positive. In their study among insurance clerks in five different working units, Schein et al. found a significant increase in productivity following initiation of flexitime in two of units but no change in other three units. As researchers of both these studies admit, however, no clearcut conclusions regarding actual effect of flexible working hours can be made from their

The aim of this study was to explore the ideas and expectations of medical students toward their career choices and the speciality of psychiatry. A total of 323 students of the Hannover Medical School filled in a questionnaire about their career choices, preferred medical specialization, factors of influence on career choices and attitude towards psychiatry. The three most important factors of influence appeared to be: (1) work–life balance, (2) flexible working hours, (3) career prospects. Although expectations towards the professional life of psychiatrists were quite positive among the students, there was only a small number of students (n = 53 of 318 respondents, 17%) interested in specializing in psychiatry. Important reasons for choosing psychiatry included personal experience with somatic or mental health issues and practical experience in psychiatry. Most of the students experienced clinical exposure to psychiatry but at a much later period in the curriculum. For a career choice of psychiatry as a speciality it seems to be important to start psychiatric education in medical school early. The positive aspects of the professional life in psychiatry, such as flexible working hours, career prospects and good work–life balance should be more emphasized.

The ”work hours” are the key terms and conditions of employment in the labor contract (Labor Standards Act Article 17-1(2)), and they are closely related to the “wages” paid to the worker as remuneration for work. The main task of the Labor Act is to regulate the work hours to protect the health rights of workers and guarantee the work-life balance of the workers. The history of Labor Act is also called the history of shortening the work hours. This is because the work hours are the key regulatory matters in the Labor Act. It is also a crucial task to regulate the work hours to guarantee the health rights and living rights of the workers.
 The Korean work hour system is mainly based on the Labor Standards Act. Since the enactment of the Labor Standards Act in 1953, the discussions and changes regarding the work hour system have been focusing on reduction of the legal work hours and standard work hours to secure the recess rights or health rights of the workers. For example, the initial work hours of Korea reduced from eight hours a day and 48 hours a week (Labor Standards Act enacted on May 10, 1953) to eight hours a day and 44 hours a week in 1989 (Labor Standards Act amended on March 29, 1989). Since 2003, the work hours have been reduced to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week (Labor Standards Act amended on September 15, 2003) until now. Provided, the work hour system under the current Labor Standards Act mainly regulates the actual work hours and fails to consider the living time of the workers.
 The work-life balance has been recently spotlighted, and there is a growing demand for flexible work hours. In fact, flexible work hour is a key issue in many workers for work-life balance, and flexible work hour is considered as a main mean to improve the work-life balance.
 The guarantee of time needed for family life and social life may vary depending on the individual circumstances of each work. In order to improve the work hour system, it is necessary to secure the right to decide the allocation and placement of the work hours in consideration of the individual worker demands based on the labor-management agreements.
 In reformation of the work hours, the total amount of work hour should be continuously reduced and regulated while guaranteeing flexibility in operation of the work hour within the total amount. The current laws and systems also need to be reviewed again based on these perspectives. Furthermore, individual and fragmentary improvement of the work hour system cause inefficiency and lack of practicality in system operation. Thus, it is necessary to redesign the realistic and future-oriented work hour regulation framework.

Increasing numbers of organisations offer flexible working hours to help employees balance work and personal life. However, studies about the effects of flexible working hours on work–life balance and organisational outcomes are ambiguous. The aim of this study is to gain greater insights into how employees experience the influence of flexible working hours on their work–life balance. A qualitative research was performed by in-depth interviews with a variant sample of 15 employees and thematic analysis of the data. The more family responsibilities the respondents have, the more they tend to perceive flexible working hours as a necessity rather than an extra benefit. According to the interviewees, the system creates a situation which is advantageous for both employer and employee. The extent to which this is achieved though depends on how organisations apply and implement it. It is concluded that when flexible working hours are supported by management and fit the work culture, they are highly appreciated both for private and work-related reasons. Moreover, its meaning for the private life varies according to life stage. Findings are important for policy makers and human resources managers alike in order to implement and deal with flexible working hours effectively. Consequently, this will help employees strike a proper balance between work and personal life generating beneficial organisational outcomes.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Employment of People with Disabilities and Employers

Objective To identify organizational barriers to and facilitators for female surgeons' career progression. Design Systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies relating to organizational barriers to and facilitators for female Surgeons' career progression. After the quality assessment of the peer-reviewed journal articles, twelve articles were selected for full review. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes in these selected articles. Setting The studies solely focused on organizational factors linked to female physicians' career progression in surgical specialties. Partcipants Female surgeons. Main outcome measures Organizational barriers and facilitators Results Twelve peer-reviewed journal articles were included in the study which focused on barriers to female surgeons' career progression, ways of facilitating female surgeons' career progression, and female surgeons' job satisfaction. Conclusion The major organisational factors contributing to the lack of career progression for female surgeons are (1) organizational culture which promotes rigid career structure that is inclined to support male surgeons than female surgeons and also male domination in which male surgeons feel superior to female surgeons (2) work family conflict whereby women feel that they have to make a family sacrifice by being women; they experience the difficulty in securing a work-life balance in the masculine career structure in surgical specialties. This implies that policy makers and healthcare organizations need to pay significant attention to organizational facilitators for female surgeons' career progression such as flexible career pathways and work patterns, a variety of different viable career progressions, more family-friendly working conditions, and the promotion of female mentors and role models in surgical specialties to support female surgeons in dealing with the organizational barriers in the male-dominated organizational culture and the lifestyle issues as well.

This study concentrated on proposed hypothetical model to explore the link between flexible working hours, psychological empowerment and team performance of project based organizations in Pakistan, while observing work engagement in mediating role. The study was carried out by cross-sectional survey among employees and managers of selected organizations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad cities. Sample population consists of 221 employees and data collection was done by the distribution of structured questionnaires through convenience sampling technique. In statistical analysis to draw conclusions the analytical tools such as reliability, correlation, and regression analysis were used. After compilation of results it was observed that there was a positive and significant association between flexible working hours, psychological empowerment, work engagement and team performance of employees. Also, the outcomes of the study supported highly significant mediating role of work engagement on association between flexible working hours-team performance and psychological empowerment-team performance relationships. Work engagement of employees enhances by initiating flex-time and empowering the employees psychologically in an organization. Due to high engagement of employees in their work, team performance increases. The organizations are always in effort for motivating their employees in order to keep them engaged in their work and generate best results regarding their assignments.

Employee Retention is considered to be a major concern any industry where the employee turnover rate tends to be higher. When it comes to the Information Technology (IT) industry (where in Sri Lanka or at global level), there is a visible trend in the employee turnover when compared to the other industries. More specifically, the employee turnover of IT industry employ has been identified as a crucial issue in the Asian context including Sri Lanka. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of some selected employee retention factors on employees’ intention to stay within the IT companies of the Colombo Suburbs, Sri Lanka. A model was designed and the hypotheses were empirically tested from data collected through a survey. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were carried out to test the association and the degree of impact of the selected employee retention factors on Employees’ intention to stay. The analysis results indicated that all the three independent variables (Employee Career Progression, Organizational Culture, and Flexible Working Hours) are positively associated with the dependent variable. The findings of this research also indicate that, career progression and flexible working hours has a high degree of impact on employees’ intention to stay where the organizational culture has only a negligible impact on the employees’ intention to stay. The research results will have implications for any IT organization operating within the Colombo Suburbs. This research also opens up new opportunities for academicians in studying cross-linkages among the various key factors identified by the study.

AimsTo examine the mediating role of flexible working hours on the relationship between supervisor support, job and life satisfaction among female nurses in China.DesignA cross‐sectional, quantitative study was conducted with online survey questionnaires.MethodsConvenience sampling was implemented with 171 female nurses from two tertiary public hospitals in 2019.ResultsThe mediation analysis demonstrates that flexible working hours significantly and positively mediate the relationship between supervisor support to job (β = 0.775, p < .001) and life satisfaction (β = 0.745, p < .001). In addition, supervisor support and flexible working hours significantly and positively influence job (r = 0.520, p < .01; r = 0.520, p < .01) and life satisfaction (r = 0.487, p < .01; r = 0.487, p < .01). The study suggested that flexible working hours iarean indicator of what supervisor support (r = 0.656, p < .01) is to improve nurses’ job and life satisfaction. The study revealed that flexible working hours and supervisor support are crucial to female nurses who face high demands at both work and home.

Purpose: This study aims to determine the impact of the implementation of flexible working hours on motivation, satisfaction, and performance at the Secretariat General of the MPR RI Methodology/approach: The type of research used is descriptive qualitative, and the informants in the study were 4 people. Results/findings: The employees of the Secretariat General of the MPR RI have the same perception that the establishment of flexible working hours can improve employee performance organizational environment. The implementation of flexible working hours has a positive impact on employee motivation, satisfaction and performance. Conclusion: The implementation of flexible working hours has significant potential to improve the motivation, satisfaction, and performance of Secretariat General of the MPR RI employees, although it requires careful management of the constraining factors. Limitations: This research only focuses on the implementation of flexible working hours that can affect employee motivation, satisfaction, and performance, and is limited to the scope of the Secretariat General of the MPR RI. Contribution: This research provides a deeper understanding of the dynamics of flexible working hours implementation in the context of government organizations in Indonesia, especially the Secretariat General of the MPR RI, and offers practical recommendations for more effective and adaptive policy development.

Work-life balance is vital for health, mental, relationships, and employee productivity and performance. The study utilized the descriptive, correlational design to assess the interrelationship among profiles, perceptions on flexible working hours, and work-life -balance among hospital employees of St. Anthony Mother and Child Hospital (SAMCH) in Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City for 1st quarter of 2023. The findings of the study revealed that just over half of the respondents were young adults between the ages of 19 to 35 years old (n=45). The majority of the respondents were female (n=56) and married (n=54). Additionally, most of them identified as Roman Catholics (n=72) and approximately half of them held college degrees (n=51). The majority of the respondents came from the administrative and support groups. In terms of the years of service, over one-third of the respondents have served for two to five years already (n=27). Moreover, almost a quarter of the respondents reported having four family members at home (n=20). The perception on flexible working hours was generally good; however, the work-life balance of the respondents was only good. Factors such as age, gender, civil status, religion, highest education attainment, department, years of service, and number of household family members at home did not correlate with the perception of flexible working hours. However, religion did have a significant impact on work interference with personal life. On the other hand, factors such as age, gender, civil status, highest level of education, department, years of service, and number of household family members at home did not show any significant relationship with work interference with personal life. There was no correlation found between any of the following factors: age, gender, civil status, religion, highest level of education completed, department, years of service, and number of household family members at home, with regards to personal life interference with work, work-personal life enhancement, and work-life balance. All the independent variables—dimensions of flexible working hours and overall perceptions on flexible working hours were significantly correlated with work-life balance. In response to the study’s findings, a proposed flexible work arrangement guideline was developed.

Recent studies on flexible working hours show at least some of these working time arrangements seem to be associated with impairing effects of health and well-being. According to available evidence, variability of working hours seems to play an important role. The question, however, is how this variability can be assessed and used to explain or predict impairments. Based on earlier methods used to assess shift-work effects, a time series analysis approach was applied to the matter of flexible working hours. Data on the working hours of 4 week's length of 137 respondents derived from a survey on flexible work hours involving 15 companies of different production and service sectors in Germany were converted to time series and analyzed by spectral analysis. A cluster analysis of the resulting power spectra yielded 5 clusters of flexible work hours. Analyzing these clusters for differences in reported impairments showed that workers who showed suppression of circadian and weekly rhythms experienced severest impairments, especially in circadian controlled functions like sleep and digestion. The results thus indicate that analyzing the periodicity of flexible working hours seems to be a promising approach for predicting impairments which should be investigated further in the future.