Contracted Hours Research Articles

Flexibility potentials of digital work communication – mothers’ labour market involvement in comparative perspective

ABSTRACT Digital work communication offers increased flexibility in timing and location, helping employees, particularly mothers, balance work and private life. This flexibility can enhance mothers' ability to increase their contracted hours in paid employment, especially given the impact of childbirth on their careers. Drawing on boundary management theory, this study posits that digital communication with supervisors enables mothers to better manage work tasks alongside personal obligations, potentially allowing them to work longer hours. However, the actual use of this flexibility is influenced by a country’s level of de-familialisation, which refers to family policies that reduce care dependency. Analyzing data from the European Social Survey involving 3,179 mothers across 25 countries, the study found that mothers generally worked longer hours when they utilized digital communication more frequently. Comparisons across countries showed that this relationship was stronger in nations with robust de-familialisation policies. The findings suggest that the potential of digital work communication to enhance work involvement is particularly leveraged in countries that promote de-familialisation, allowing mothers to navigate their professional and personal responsibilities more effectively.

Do return-to-work trajectories differ by mental disorder diagnosis? A register study among 37 523 Dutch workers.

Return to work (RTW) of workers with mental disorders is often a process of gradually increasing work hours over time, resulting in a RTW trajectory. This study aimed to investigate 2-year RTW trajectories by mental disorder diagnosis, examining the distribution of age, sex and contracted work hours across the diagnosis-specific RTW trajectories. Sickness absence episodes diagnosed within the ICD-10 chapter V (mental and behavioral disorders) and ICD-10 Z73.0 (burnout) were retrieved from a Dutch occupational health service register, together with age, sex and contracted work hours. Sickness absence episodes due to adjustment disorders (N=25 075), anxiety disorders (N=1335), burnout (N=3644), mood disorders (N=5076), and post-traumatic stress disorders (N=2393) were most prevalent and included in latent class growth analysis (LCGA) to estimate 23-month RTW trajectories. Four main RTW trajectories were identified for all mental disorder diagnoses: fast full RTW [range 82.4% (mood disorders) to 92.0% (adjustment disorders) of the study population], slow full RTW [3.5% (burnout) to 6.1% (mood disorders)], slow partial RTW [0.6% (adjustment disorders) to 1.6% (mood disorders)] and no RTW [2.2% (adjustment disorders) to 9.7% (mood disorders)]. Trajectories with a late onset of fast full RTW included higher percentages of women and lower percentages of full-time workers. RTW trajectories were similar for different mental disorder diagnoses although the distribution differed across diagnoses, with more partial and no RTW trajectories among workers with mood disorders. To better guide workers back to work, more knowledge is needed of factors associated with late, partial, or no RTW.

The leadership gap between full-time and part-time female employees

Employers interpret high numbers of contractual working hours of part-time employees as a signal for high work engagement, qualifying them for a leadership position. However, signals do not work equally well in all environments. We suggest that the value of a signal depends on corporate culture, being relatively low in companies with strict work regimes where employees are expected to be available and visible. We test this prediction combining data on female employees and their employers. Our analyses show that the positive effect of contractual hours on leadership positions varies systematically with the difference between the contractual working hours of full-time and part-time employees. The smaller the working time difference between a full-time and a part-time employee, the more likely it is that the part-timer is in a leadership position. In addition, the more a firm relies on overtime and requires strict presence at work, the larger is the statistical association between high contractual hours and leadership positions at individual level. In a world where work-life balance is increasingly important, this research provides new insights into the heterogeneity of part-time workers and the design of corporate cultures and policies to create sustainable work environments.

Ist informelle Telearbeit eine Gefahr für die Vereinbarkeit von Erwerbsarbeit und Familie? Ein Vergleich der Implikationen von formeller und informeller Telearbeit für Vereinbarkeitskonflikte

AbstractThe study analyses the relationship between formal and informal telework and work-family conflicts using the job-demands and resources (JD-R) model. Previously, the model has more frequently been applied to understand the implications of telework without distinguishing between formal telework and informal telework outside contracted working hours. We conducted cross-sectional OLS-regressions on pilot data from the European Social Survey compiled in 2019. The results show that formal telework is associated with fewer, and informal telework with more work-family conflicts. While formal telework appears as a resource, informal telework rather functions as a demand. Additional analyses report that formal teleworkers are nevertheless at risk of work-family conflicts because formal telework often goes hand in hand with informal telework and, thus, work-family conflicts.Practical Relevance: While formal telework can facilitate the reconciliation of work and family life, employees are at risk of counteracting this dynamic when telework is conducted informally during paid or unpaid overtime. The findings suggest that it is important for managers, HR managers and employees to be aware of the potentials and risks of frequent teleworking that come with the ability to work anytime and anywhere in order to avoid unintended consequences. In this context, an organisational culture that values adherence to schedules and ‘switching off’ at the end of the workday, even under conditions of high workloads and low personnel resources, can be beneficial.

Repercussions of home office on the mental health of teleworkers: integrative review

Scientific research demonstrates that productivity increased when workers began working from home, providing a better balance between work activities and personal life, as well as reducing organizational conflicts. Working from home often extends the workday beyond contracted hours, as workers are always available. The study aims to systematize, based on information available in the literature, articles published on the effects of remote work on workers' mental health. As a method, an integrative literature review was conducted, finding a total of 26 articles written between 2018 and 2023. It can be concluded that remote work is not just a change in the workplace, but a comprehensive transformation that requires attention both in the organizational and family context and has been a phenomenon of significant impact on workers' lives, influencing working conditions, but also their family relationships and mental health. Although it offers advantages such as reducing commute-related stress and more family interaction, it presents significant challenges, including social isolation, conflicts between personal and professional life, and adaptation difficulties.

Workplace-related determinants of mental health in food and bar workers in Western, high-income countries: A systematic review.

This review synthesizes evidence from etiologic and intervention studies of workplace-related determinants of mental health in workers in food and bar workers in the hospitality industry in Western high-income countries. Peer-reviewed literature published between January 2000 and August 2023 was gathered from five bibliographic databases. Any study design was eligible. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute tools for appraisal. A narrative analysis was conducted for 26 included studies (total n = 15,069 participants) across Australia (3), Ireland (1), Norway (1), Spain (2), the United States (17) and the United Kingdom (2). Individual and task-related factors such as high emotional job demands and low job control were associated with high burnout and depression. Uncivil and hostile interpersonal interactions with customers, management, and colleagues were found to contribute to poor mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and burnout. Findings from included studies highlight the impact of workplace culture, including management practices and workplace social support, on mental health. Organization-level interventions may therefore be most effective for addressing individual, interpersonal, and organizational determinants of mental health in food and bar occupations, particularly when implemented as part of broader organizational efforts to support health and wellbeing. Industry-wide policy changes may also be necessary to address structural concerns, including job and financial insecurity, job strain and access to benefits, such as secure sick leave and minimum contract hours.

Treatment Effect Modifiers for Return-to-Work in Patients With Musculoskeletal Disorders

Investigating how individual characteristics modify treatment effects can improve understanding, interpretation, and translation of trial findings. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to identify treatment effect modifiers of the MI-NAV trial, a 3 arm, parallel randomized controlled trial which compared motivational interviewing and stratified vocational advice intervention in addition to usual case management (UC), to UC alone. This study included (n = 514) participants with musculoskeletal disorders on sick leave for at least 50% of their contracted work hours for at least 7 consecutive weeks with the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. Sickness absence days was the primary outcome, measured from baseline assessment date until the 6-month follow-up. Potential treatment effect modifiers, identified a priori and informed by expert consultation and literature, were evaluated using linear regression models and statistical interaction tests. For motivational interviewing versus UC, age (mean difference [MD] −.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] −1.5 to .2; P = .13) and self-perceived health status (MD −.3, 95% CI −.7 to .1; P = .19) were identified as potential effect modifiers (P ≤ .2). For stratified vocational advice intervention versus UC, analgesic medication use (MD −26.2, 95% CI −45.7 to −6.7; P = .009) was identified as a treatment effect modifier (P ≤ .05). These findings may assist in more targeted treatment adaptation and translation as well as the planning of future clinical trials. PerspectiveThis secondary analysis of the MI-NAV trial found that analgesic medication use, age, and self-perceived health may modify the effect of 2 vocational interventions on reducing sickness absence in people with musculoskeletal disorders.

Electronic monitoring of working time and labour market outcomes: Evidence from Brazil

AbstractThis study analyses the dynamics of registered firms after implementing a new law (2009) in the Brazilian labour market. The law proposed the electronic monitoring of working time to provide more efficiency and security by standardizing the equipment used for control and avoiding manipulation. As stricter monitoring may increase costs, this paper seeks to analyse whether there have been changes in the dynamics of firms adapting to the new regulation. There are two potential mechanisms as a reference: increasing wages and decreasing workers (or contracted hours), and increasing labour force and decreasing contracted hours per worker (and therefore the monthly wage). Using Brazilian employee–employer data and the difference‐in‐differences approach as an empirical strategy, our main findings suggest that firms that adapt to the new electronic workday control had a general reduction in the number of hours hired, an increase in wages for companies with 10–50 employees and a decrease in workplace accidents in firms with 50 or more employees.

Transition to fatherhood and adjustments in working hours: The importance of organizational policy feedback

Objective: This study investigates whether the normalization of the use of the family-friendly workplace policy flexiplace in the organization affects men’s adjustments in working hours following their transition to fatherhood. Background: Men’s stable full-time employment after childbirth remains to be a barrier to the equal distribution of care and paid work. Recent research suggests that state family policies promoting dual-earner/dual-carer family models can involve new norm setting of active fatherhood, albeit so far with only modest consequences for fathers’ working hours. Unclear is, however, whether family-friendly workplace policies, such as flexiplace, and involved organizational policy feedback are of complementary importance. Method: We estimated fixed-effects regression analyses on men's adjustments in actual and contracted hours after a transition to fatherhood. Analyses are based on linked employer-employee panel data (2012/13; 2014/15; 2018/19) from large German work organizations, considering a random sample of 1,687 men in 131 work organizations. Results: Findings revealed that the normalization of using flexiplace in the work organization was associated with a reduction in men’s overall working hours as well as marginal adjustments in their contracted hours after transitioning to fatherhood. Conclusion: Although a normalization of flexiplace is more likely in demanding workplace contexts, men experience at least some leeway in adjusting extensive temporal investments to cater to private demands.

Estimating labor supply responses to Danish tax reforms

This paper estimates the elasticity of labor supply at the intensive margin by applying the latest estimation strategies from the elasticity of taxable income literature to administrative register data on performed hours of work. Performed hours of work are contract hours plus paid overtime, minus paid absence, vacation, and holiday leave. I estimate elasticities of labor supply at the intensive margin (ELS), labor income (ELI), and taxable income (ETI) of 0.08, 0.06, and 0.1. The results show that the high ratio of ELI to ETI can be attributed to changes in labor supply for wage earners, capturing inherent labor responses. As a result, I explicitly connect the labor supply and ETI literatures. The labor supply response is driven by changes in contract hours, paid absence, and individuals switching between main and secondary employment. These results suggest that contextual factors such as labor market fluidity and flexibility are important to facilitate real responses to taxation and that labor supply responses are core underlying drivers of total responses to taxation.

COPUS-TA: An "Entry-Level" Peer Observation Tool to Support Teaching Assistant Professional Pedagogical Development.

When coordinating teams of teaching assistants (TAs) in our courses, it can be time and resource prohibitive to provide mentorship for individual professional development of their teaching. Peer observation of teaching is a useful and effective approach for professional development and for forming a community of practice that TAs can engage in. However, structured peer observation can require substantial training - which may make it infeasible for large teams of TAs with variable teaching expertise and limited contract hours. This article describes the development of an observation protocol, adapted for the TA context, from the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS; by Smith et al. 2013). We have used this successfully, with very minimal training (15-min discussion plus one practice observation). I include the modified form (COPUS-TA) for practical and immediate use in supporting the development of TAs' teaching skills.

Estudio transversal sobre la calidad de vida y el riesgo psicosocial de trabajadores migrantes

Migration figures place Chile as one of the South American countries with the highest rate of migrants. The present study estimated the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics, quality of life, and psychosocial occupational risks in migrant workers from the Maule region. Cross-sectional study with migrant workers between 18 and 60 years of age residing in the Maule region (n = 145). The applied questionnaires were: a psychosocial risk questionnaire, a health and quality of life questionnaire, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. A bivariate statistical analysis was performed using nonparametric Mann-Whitney U tests, Kruskal Wallis, Spearman correlation, and multiple linear regression models. In Chile, 21% of the migrants maintained the same work activity as in their country of origin. Although the quality of life in physical and mental health is adequate, 52% have low psychological demands at work, 48.9% have low levels of active work and development skills, 57.7% have a high-risk level of compensation and self-esteem, and 65.5% have a high-risk level of double presence at work. Migrants with a higher quality of life in the physical health dimension have a lower risk of maintaining a balance between effort and reward; they worked 44 hours a week and did not work directly at Maule. Migrants with a higher quality of life in the mental health dimension have a lower risk of emotional demands, perceive greater social support in the company, and are less concerned about domestic chores. Migrants with lower quality of life in the physical health dimension presented less compensation at work and recognition, came to work directly in the region, and had jobs with fewer contract hours. Workers with lower quality of life in their mental health exhibited a greater risk of psychological demands at work and perceived low social support in the company; they were concerned about having to respond to domestic and salaried work.

Mechanisms of vocational interventions for return to work from musculoskeletal conditions: a mediation analysis of the MI-NAV trial

ObjectivesTo investigate whether and to what extent, return to work (RTW) expectancy and workability mediate the effect of two vocational interventions on reducing sickness absence in workers on sick leave...

Estimating the Monetary Value of Hours Lost to the Nigerian Public Healthcare System When Full-Time Government Employee Doctors Engage in Dual Practice

Background: Dual Practice (DP) allows full-time public sector doctors to concurrently offer the same clinical services in the private sector. The debate against this practice seems to be largely influenced by its potential to reduce the contracted hours in the public sector and shift attention to private work. Purpose: The purpose of this secondary research is to estimate the monetary value of hours lost to the Nigerian public healthcare system when full-time government employee doctors are engaged in private practice. It attempts to quantify the amount of resource outflow from the public system due to absences and lateness arising from competition for time between the public system’s contracted hours and private practice. Methods: Sensitivity analysis in Excel 2010 was used to calculate doctors’ hourly pay in the public sector using the 2015 Consolidated Medical Salary Structure for medical and dental officers in Nigeria’s federal public service. The parameters used for the calculation were the official 40-hour working week and the average monthly gross pay of doctors on different grade levels. Hypothetical scenarios of hours lost due to absences associated with DP were created. The value of different hypothetical hour losses by the percentage of doctors assumed to engage in dual practice across all doctor grade levels was then computed. Results: The estimated annual value of hours lost from dual practice to a single public tertiary care hospital was N4,851,754 or 15,855 USD (best case scenario) and N19,407,017 or 63,422 USD (worst case scenario) for the normal routine work and N1,800,133 or 5883 USD (best case scenario) and N3,600,266 or 11,766 USD (worst case scenario) for the on-call duty. Conclusion: The government may have been paying salaries for large volumes of work not rendered in the public sector. The overall financial impact of dual practice in the Nigerian public system might be negative.

Work-to-family conflict and parenting practices: Examining the role of working from home among lone and partnered working mothers

Objective: This study investigates associations between work-to-family conflict and parenting practices among lone and partnered working mothers and the role of working from home as a potential resource gain or drain for acting empathetically and supportively towards their children. Background: Emerging evidence suggests that work-to-family conflict reduces responsive parenting practices, yet prior studies have rarely examined disparities by family structure. Although working from home has recently gained in importance in the workforce, there is still little research on its implications for the relationship between work-to-family conflict and the quality of parenting practices. If working from home is not used to do supplemental work during overtime hours, it may free up mothers’ time and emotional resources. In turn, this may either buffer the harmful impact of work-to-family conflict on parenting practices or indirectly enhance the quality of parenting practices by reducing work-to-family conflict. This could be particularly beneficial for lone mothers, who experience more role and time strain. Method: Analyses were based on 1,723 working mothers and their reports on 2,820 schoolchildren drawn from a German probability sample that was collected in 2019 (i.e., before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic). Using OLS regression models, we first examined whether work-to-family conflict was associated with four dimensions of verbal parenting practices (i.e., responsive and hostile communication, responsive decision-making, and school involvement at home). Second, we conducted moderation analyses to test differences by working from home (within contract hours and for supplemental work) and family structure with two-way and three-way interactions. Third, we performed mediation analyses to examine the indirect effect of working from home on each parenting dimension mediated by work-to-family conflict. Results: Higher levels of work-to-family conflict were associated with less responsive and more hostile parenting practices. The moderation analyses did not indicate a buffering effect of working from home. Instead, the mediation analyses showed that compared to mothers who worked from home within their contract hours, those who did not work from home or who did supplemental work from home tended to report less empathic parenting practices transmitted through higher levels of work-to-family conflict. Results showed no significant associations for mothers’ school involvement at home. Furthermore, no major differences emerged between lone and partnered mothers. Conclusion: Our pre-pandemic results challenge the buffering hypothesis and suggest that working from home can be either a resource gain or drain for the mother-child relationship regardless of family structure, but depending on mothers’ opportunity to work from home within the scope of contract hours.

Effectiveness of adding motivational interviewing or a stratified vocational advice intervention to usual case management on return to work for people with musculoskeletal disorders: the MI-NAV randomised controlled trial

ObjectivesTo evaluate if adding motivational interviewing (MI) or a stratified vocational advice intervention (SVAI) to usual case management (UC), reduced sickness absence over 6 months for workers on sick leave...

A stochastic methodology to exploit maximum flexibility of swimming pool heating systems

Swimming pool heating systems are known as one of the best flexible resources in buildings. However, they can be flexible only for a certain number of hours throughout a day due to the comfort constraints of the users. In this study, a new approach is proposed to determine a group of contract hour sets to procure maximum flexibility of swimming pool heating systems supplied by heat pumps for trading in the regulation market while respecting the comfort of users. The main advantage of the contract hour sets is the certainty in response to flexibility requests. The proposed approach consists of three main steps. First, a stochastic mixed-integer linear program is proposed to find the optimal operation of a swimming pool heating system that has agreed to provide flexibility in a contract hours set. Then, a metric is proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of contract hour sets using the results obtained in the first step. Finally, an algorithm is proposed to identify a group of the most efficient contract hour sets using the calculated metric. The proposed approach is validated through comprehensive simulation studies for a summerhouse with an indoor pool heated by a heat pump. Also, a cost–benefit analysis is performed to examine the feasibility of these contract hour sets from financial viewpoint. Simulation results show that the maximum contract hours can vary from 2 to 12 h depending on the building occupation pattern and the minimum payment to owners is between 0.03 to 0.06 (Euro/kW).

Academic workloads: what does a manager need to consider?

ABSTRACT Utilising Bacchi’s framework ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ the literature on managing academic workloads was analysed to explore why workload allocation models are deemed essential in the contemporary university and the assumptions which underpin workload allocations. Whether due to the need for efficient use of scarce resources or ensuring equity for staff, workload allocation models are promoted as an accurate measure of each individual’s workload and as a measure of accountability. The literature privileges the views of staff whose workloads are ‘managed’ but unable to do their work within their contracted hours. Universities justify long hours of unpaid overtime as a norm of professionalism. Critical issues for managers are identified, and suggestions to enable them to be more effective in the process of workload allocation are presented.

Optimising UK training in aesthetic surgery: A prospective national study using operative logbooks and questionnaires to determine factors associated with trainee participation

We aimed to determine the proportion of UK aesthetic surgery training taking place in the independent sector, how this experience is gained, and factors associated with trainee participation. We also aimed to draw comparisons between training in the National Health Services (NHS) and independent sectors. Plastic Surgery Trainees were asked to complete a 10-item questionnaire, in addition to their usual operative entry on eLogbook, when logging a procedure with an aesthetic operative code, prospectively over a 6-month period. Anonymised data was exported and analysed using SPSS. A total of 285 questionnaires were completed; all UK training regions were represented. The majority were for NHS procedures (88%), of which 56% were for breast surgery, 23% facial surgery, 19% body contouring, and 2% non-surgical. Trainees were significantly more likely to participate in procedures when they were performed in the NHS (odds ratio, OR, 9.7, p<0.01) or when they were body contouring surgery (OR 1.5, p<0.01). Trainees were more likely to participate in perioperative care in an NHS setting (p<0.01). When trainees attend the independent sector, it was usually within contracted training hours (57%) with their consultant trainer with whom they are working in the NHS (63%). The majority of aesthetic surgery training occurs in the NHS but this is not representative of UK aesthetic practice. There is a need to engage the independent sector to provide formal aesthetic surgery training as part of the plastic surgery training programme, including procedural participation and perioperative care. Additional aesthetic fellowships and mechanisms for mentorship by established consultants should be developed.

A column generation-based algorithm for midterm nurse scheduling with specialized constraints, preference considerations, and overtime

This paper presents an augmented mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for the nurse scheduling problem designed to accommodate overtime and several practical considerations that are part of the rostering process but have been absent in previous work. The goal is to minimize the sum of weighted uncovered demand and nurse preference violations over a one-month period. Model features include maximum number of consecutive working days and days off, minimum number of rest hours between shifts, vacations and birthdays. Preference violations are measured by the number of times certain days-off and days-on patterns appear in a nurse’s schedule, and the number of times an assignment contains a shift transition on two consecutive days. In addition, the formulation accounts for each nurse’s working status in the last few days of the previous month to ensure that constraints are not violated when new schedules are developed, and that preference violations are properly counted. The problem is solved in two stages due to the complexity of dealing with regular time and overtime in an integrated model. In Stage 1, a mixed-integer linear program is used to assign shifts to nurses without exceeding their contracted regular hours. Column generation is applied to derive solutions. In Stage 2, a heuristic is developed to add overtime to the rosters found in Stage 1. This is done with the goal of minimizing total overtime hours while trying to balance each nurse’s workload. Experimental results are provided for instances with up to 60 nurses based on data obtained from a 1000-bed hospital. We conclude with a sensitivity analysis of the uncovered demand weight to determine its impact on solution quality and computational effort.