Working Time Reduction Research Articles

Reduced working hours and work-life balance

ABSTRACT Little is known about how reduced working hours affects the work-life balance of staff in the Swedish social services, or their recovery off-work in terms of specific everyday choices. Staff at a Swedish social work agency participating in a longitudinal trial of work-time reduction in the public services were interviewed about their experiences of work and private life after their work hours were reduced (n = 12). All the interviewees described feeling more positive anticipatory emotions when going to work, several felt that their relationships with colleagues had improved, and most felt their relationships with clients had improved. Several worried less over work, and most perceived the risk for exhaustion syndrome to be lower. Most experienced more positive anticipatory emotions when returning home from work, most of those with children felt that their relationships with their children improved, and those with partners felt their romantic relationships also improved. Several devoted more time to parents and siblings. Most devoted more time to friendship, and all described having more time for recovery activities. Several worried less over their private life. A process that established and maintained a positive work-life balance is suggested by the interviews as a whole, related to increased control over private life, a larger capacity to meet private demands, improved recovery in terms of both quantity and quality, and having access to more sources of formal and informal social support.

Work–family balance in the second half of life: Caregivers' decisions regarding retirement and working time reduction in Europe

AbstractThis article investigates how different types of informal caregiving – upward, lateral and downward – impact men's and women's decisions to retire or to reduce their working hours, and how welfare policy characteristics moderate the linkage between informal care provision and employment participation. The analyses are based on six waves from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We exploit the data's longitudinal structure by applying fixed‐effects regression models with lagged, time‐varying country characteristics. The results show that, in most cases, upward caregiving to parents is less relevant for deciding to remain in the labour market than lateral care (especially to siblings, friends and neighbours) and downward grandchild care. The welfare context moderates the impact of caregiving on labour market participation, with variation between the different types of care provided.

Heuristic Route Adjustment for Balanced Working Time in Urban Logistics with Driver Experience and Time-Dependent Traffic Information

This article proposes a method to reduce working time violations of a real-world courier service in the urban logistics with time-dependent traffic information. The challenge is to reduce working time violation without creating significant changes to the urban logistics plan which provides city coverage to each driver. Furthermore, courier businesses require time-dependent traffic information to have an integrated traffic routing plan. This process will require very long enquiry time as the traffic information is available online, but a good decision must be made as soon as possible. To tackle the problem, we first propose a heuristic method for route adjustment using a particular traffic time instance (single traffic time). The route solution obtained from the single traffic time is subsequently transferred to the time-dependent traffic scenario. Computational results demonstrate that the heuristic route adjustment algorithm could decrease working time violations and create a balanced working time solution. We include also in-depth analyses on the optimal working time, and the effect of using a single traffic time solution in the time-dependent traffic information environment. The obtained results illustrate the effectiveness of our approach in solving the real applications of time-dependent vehicle routing in urban logistics.

Evaluation of a mass spectrometry and Vitek 2 combined protocol for rapid identification and susceptibility testing of Enterobacterales directly from positive blood cultures

ObjectiveThe aim was to evaluate a rapid method which would combine identification and susceptibility testing directly from positive blood cultures for Gram-negative bacilli of the Enterobacterales. Material and methodsGram-negative rods from blood cultures were directly identified by MALDI-TOF. Samples with Enterobacterales were selected for direct antimicrobial susceptibility testing by Vitek 2. The results were compared to those obtained with our laboratory's standard method. ResultsMALDI-TOF directly from blood cultures identified correctly 83% of the samples. Enterobacterales (n=68) were identified at gender and species level in 85% of blood cultures with a score >1.7. In general, MICs were obtained after 7h. MICs of amoxicillin-clavulanate, amikacin and ciprofloxacin showed in almost 50% of the cases after 5h. ConclusionsA simple procedure with low cost and reduced working time makes it possible to integrate both identification and susceptibility testing directly from blood cultures. Thus, this protocol could offer advantages when it comes to selection and cost of treatment and patients’ clinical outcomes.

СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЕ БИЗНЕС-ПРОЦЕССОВ В ХОЗЯЙСТВЕННОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ МАЛЫХ СРЕДСТВ РАЗМЕЩЕНИЯ

The article analyzes business processes using the example of the miniresort “Lazurny Bereg”. Of the four business processes (the main one, the accompanying one, development and management), the main business process turned out to be the least problematic. At the preliminary stage of identifying problematic processes, the employees of the enterprise voiced specific shortcomings for each of the business processes that, to one degree or another, affected the development of the enterprise. Among the shortcomings were named: lack of accounting, insufficiently “transparent” scheme for the areas of responsibility, incompetence and lack of personnel, insufficiently coordinated interaction between departments and guests, chaotic actions of the management, etc. In order to properly organize business processes of economic activity, it is necessary to eliminate all the visible shortcomings. The article provides recommendations for their elimination, which consist in regulating enterprise business processes (each of them is described in a separate regulation), which will fully describe them and the procedure for interaction between employees of departments that are related to a particular process. The implementation of the proposed recommendations in the activities of the miniresort pursues the following goals: elimination of spontaneity in work and the accumulation of knowledge, full control over the passage of all stages of business processes, internal audit, reduction of work time and minimization of errors. It is proposed to evaluate the efficiency of regulation of business processes of the miniboarding house “Lazurny Bereg” using the questionnaire method. For this, a questionnaire has been developed to assess the effectiveness of business processes, which must be filled out by the manager, restaurant administrator, boarding house administrator, marketer and head of the reservation service. The requirements for the procedures within the questionnaire are set out, as well as the interpretation of the results.

Menopausal transition and change in employment: Evidence from the National Child Development Study

ObjectivesThis study aims to investigate the impact of the menopausal transition and severe symptoms on changes in employment. Study designThis longitudinal prospective study analysed data from a population-based cohort study, the UK National Child Development Study Wave 8 and Wave 9, when the cohort was aged 50 and 55 respectively. The analytical sample comprised 3109 employed women at age 50. MeasuresThe outcome variable was the employment change from age 50 to age 55, with three categories: i) continued employed without reduced working time; ii) continued employed with reduced working hours; and iii) exit employment. The employment dynamics of women were compared using multinomial logistic regression modelling. Key independent variables included menopausal transition status and severe menopausal symptoms experienced. Results53.5 % of employed women at age 50 reported at least one severe menopausal symptom. Women experiencing severe menopausal symptoms had a higher chance of employment exit or reducing their working hours. The odds ratios contrasting severely symptomatic women with those with no severe symptoms were 1.43 (95 % CI = 1.11–1.84) between exiting employment vs continued employment without reducing working hours, and 1.23 (95 % CI = 1.02–1.48) between reducing working hours vs continued employment without reducing working hours. The strength of the association between women’s severe menopausal symptoms and the risk of employment exit or reducing working hours varied according to their HRT usage and their partner’s economic activity. ConclusionsMenopausal symptoms can pose obstacles to some middle-aged women in terms of remaining in employment or maintaining their number of working hours.

Solvent-free encapsulation of curing agents for high performing one-component epoxy adhesives

One-component epoxy adhesives, in which the epoxy resin and curing agent are premixed, have many commercial advantages including reduced working time and stable performance. However, these adhesives suffer from a short shelf life even at room temperature. Here, core-shell structured curing agents were prepared via a dry particle coating (DPC) process that improved the storage stability of one-component epoxy adhesives. The DPC process is a simple, economic, and solvent-free method to fabricate core-shell structured materials using mechanical forces. Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were used as encapsulating materials due to their high thermal conductivity and large surface areas. With the GNP-encapsulated curing agents, a one-component epoxy adhesive displayed significantly enhanced storage stability while maintaining its fast curing behavior. In particular, the pot life of the adhesive increased to 60 days, which is over two-times longer than that of a pristine epoxy adhesive. The curing temperature increased by up to 5.6 °C, which is a smaller increase than that observed when non-thermally conductive materials were used for encapsulation. Furthermore, the GNPs provided reinforcement in the cured epoxy adhesive, thereby improving the lap shear strength by 20–30%.

An exploration of the multiple motivations for spending less time at work

This article makes a significant empirical contribution to our understanding of why people in the United Kingdom without childcare responsibilities actively reduce or limit the amount of time they spend in paid employment. We show how the negative aspects of employment (push factors) and the desire to spend time in more varied and enjoyable ways (pull factors) interact to produce decisions to enact working time reductions (WTRs). The push factors include excessive workloads and difficult or tedious tasks which can result in stress and mental exhaustion. For people working non-standard schedules, their lack of control over hours can make it difficult to enjoy the free time that is available. The pull factors we have identified include traumatic experiences such as illness or the early death of a loved one which can lead to an increased awareness of the salience of time. Also important was the desire to develop skills and subjectivities unrelated to work-time identities. An overarching theme in the interviews was the idea that full-time work leads to a loss of autonomy, and a reduction in hours is a route to greater freedom. These motivations are contrasted with understandings of WTRs present in the empirical and predominantly quantitative literature which highlight the structural constraints that often force women in particular into part-time work as a result of childcare responsibilities. An exploration of the motivations of short-hour workers is pertinent, given increasing concern that long hours of work exacerbate multiple social, economic and environmental problems. We suggest that a deeper understanding of why individuals want to work less could help facilitate ‘priming’ campaigns aimed at increasing demand for WTRs more generally.

Environmental impacts of productivity-led working time reduction

This contribution shows that a relevant curtailment of carbon emissions results from productivity-led working time reduction, i.e. increases in labour productivity converted into less working time. However, the interaction between working time reduction and GDP can constrain the achievement of emission reductions. To explore these interactions, we apply Eurogreen, a dynamic macro-simulation model, to France and compare three different scenarios: i. Working Time Reduction converts increases in labour productivity into more time affluence; ii. Global Working Time Reduction explores the effects on exports when working time reduction occurs also abroad; iii. Constrained Working Time Reduction additionally examines the impact of a binding fiscal rule. We find that the greater the performance in terms of emission reduction, the smaller the improvement in employment. Moreover, under working time reduction, changes in the sensitivity of wage to productivity growth affect the relationship between distribution and emission. The benefits in emissions reduction are still significant while the labour share increases with respect to the baseline.

An ecological macroeconomics model: The energy transition in the EU

The Energy Roadmap 2050 (ER2050) is committed to achieve the European Union's emissions mitigation goals by reducing energy use and a transition to renewables. The macroeconomic impacts of the Ref16 and ‘EUCO’ scenarios of this strategy have been reported to entail an absolute decoupling between GDP growth and energy use. The aim of this paper is assessing the ER2050 targets with a novel modelling methodology based on Post-Keynesian Economics, i.e. demand-led economic growth and Ecological Economics, i.e. taking into account absolute biophysical (energy availability) constrains to economic growth. Thus, this article presents the Economy module of the Integrated Assessment Model MEDEAS-Europe, combining System Dynamics and Input-Output analysis, and evaluates the ER2050 targets under different scenarios regarding primary income distribution, foreign trade, labour productivity, industrial policy and working time reduction. Our results show that GDP growth and employment creation may be halted due to energy scarcity if the ER2050 targets are met even considering great energy efficiency gains. In addition, the renewables share would increase enough to reduce the energy imports dependency, but not sufficiently to meet the emissions targets. Only a Post-Growth scenario would be able to meet the climate goals and maintain the level of employment.

The effect of working hours on health

Does working time affect workers’ health behavior and health? We study this question in the context of a French reform that reduced the standard workweek from 39 to 35 hours, at constant earnings. Our empirical analysis exploits arguably exogenous variation in the reduction of working time across employers due to the reform. We find that the shorter workweek reduced smoking by six percentage points, corresponding to 16% of the baseline mean. The reform also appears to have lowered BMI and increased self-reported health, but these effects are imprecisely estimated in the overall sample. A heterogeneity analysis provides suggestive evidence that while the impact on smoking was concentrated among blue-collar workers, body mass index decreased only among white-collar workers. These results suggest that policies which reduce working time could potentially lead to important health benefits.

Critical Reflections on America’s Green New Deal: Capital, Labor, and the Dynamics of Contemporary Social Change

ABSTRACT The increasing urgency of the current climate crisis has been accompanied by a growing desire for constructive answers on how to confront the situation effectively and meaningfully. Yet, the pace of global climate change (GCC) continues to accelerate more rapidly than societal, institutional, and individual responses can be formed. The gap between increasingly sophisticated knowledge of objective biophysical threat, on the one hand, and our ability to transform society in accordance with this awareness, on the other hand, highlights the importance of ideology. Ideological barriers have become a major stumbling block for climate change activists and researchers. Focusing on the recent U.S. House Resolution for a Green New Deal, this paper examines how the U.S. political establishment ignores the underlying dynamic of capital and its drive toward ecological devastation and the hollowing out of labor. Given the urgent political task posed by GCC, the paper considers the potential of work time reduction (WTR) as a strategy for overcoming capitalism. The paper concludes by discussing the importance of critical theory.

Simulation-based performance analysis of residential direct evaporative coolers in four climate regions of Iran

In this paper, the effect of direct evaporative cooling (DEC) system design parameters, including the cooling pad saturation efficiency, the airflow rate, and the thermostat set-points on the system electricity and water consumption, is evaluated in four different climates of Iran according to Köppen-Geiger classification. EnergyPlus is used to perform the simulations for a typical residential apartment. The results show that using pads with a 30% higher saturation efficiency can significantly decrease the electricity and water consumption by up to 50.0% and 29.6%, respectively, because of the working time reduction. The maximum impact is in Esfahan city in cold desert climate as its wet-bulb temperature is lower than other investigated climates. Besides, increasing the airflow rate from 3000 m3/h to 6000 m3/h leads to 43.4%–55.2% reduction in electricity consumption in different climates, although the water consumption increases by 20.5%–58.8%. According to the results, by using the DEC system with 80% saturation efficiency and 6000 m3/h airflow rate, the average indoor relative humidity and CO2 concentration is 42.3%–48.5%, and 450 ppm–470 ppm, respectively, in different climates, which can provide acceptable indoor air quality. Increasing the saturation efficiency or decreasing the airflow rate increases the indoor relative humidity and CO2 concentration. The results are also compared with a typical packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC). The total hours when the indoor relative humidity is out of comfort zone in the DEC system, with 60% saturation efficiency, are about 92% lower than the PTAC system, on average. Moreover, with 24/26 °C thermostat set-points, the PTAC system consumes 234%–265% more electricity than the DEC one with 80% saturation efficiency in different climates.

Analysis of Production Obstacles in Assembling G Line Process Using FMEA Method (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis)

PT. XYZ is a company engaged in the manufacturing industry of manufacturing four-wheeled vehicles. Based on the results of preliminary observations, it was found that the production process in the G Line assembling section in this company had problems that could hamper the smooth production process. Problems that occur during the production process can reduce work time so that the number of products produced by the company becomes reduced. These problems can also result in the number of products produced not according to the number of products planned. To reduce the barriers to production, this study uses the FMEA method to identify the most potential causes of production barriers in the G line assembling process and recommendations for the solutions given. Based on the research conducted, it is known that there are several types of production barriers. Then the calculation of the percentage of disability is done to obtain a pareto diagram. Based on the calculation results, it was found that the types of production barriers analyzed were final line no body with a total resistance of 1400 and a percentage of disability 75.31%. The recommended solution is to provide training to operators so that operators have better skills.

Securing Jobs in Times of Recession. The German Experience during the Financial Crisis 2008/2009

As a consequence of the global financial crisis Germany experienced the deepest slowdown of its economy since World War II. However, given the sharp decrease of GDP the German labour market was quite stable compared to previous recessions when the labour market response was stronger. Therefore, there are empirical indications for temporary labour hoarding and it can be shown that the most significant factor for securing jobs was a reduction of working time. At the beginning of the crisis the conditions for short-time work became more attractive to firms. Therefore, non-subsidised forms of working time reductions or labour hoarding were complemented by public subsidies in the form of short-time work.

Comparison of Alternative Pulpwood Inventory Strategies and Machine Systems at a Log-Yard Using Simulations

The rising throughput of log-yards imposes new constraints on existing equipment and increases the complexity of delivering an optimal and uninterrupted supply of pulpwood to pulp mills. To find ways of addressing these problems by reducing log cycle times, this work uses a discrete-event mathematics model to simulate operations at a log-yard and study the impact of three different log-yard inventory strategies and two alternative machine systems for log transportation between main log-yard and buffer storage. The yard’s existing inventory strategy of last load in and first out limits access to older logs at the main storage site. By allocating space for 89,000 m3 and 99,000 m3 of pulpwood at the buffer storage it is possible to keep the log cycle time at the main storage to a maximum of 12 and 6 months. Additionally, the use of an alternative log transportation machine system comprising a material handler with a trailer increased the work time capacity utilization relative to the yard’s current machine system of two shuttle trucks and a material handler for transporting logs between the main and buffer storage areas. Compared to the currently-used last in first out inventory strategy and purposely emptying the main storage area once or twice per year did reduce the total work time of both machine systems by 14% and 30%. Consequently, the volume delivered from the buffer to the log-yard decreased on average by 17% and 37% when emptying the main storage area once and twice per year. Even with reduced work time when emptying the main storage area, both machine systems could fulfil given work load for transporting logs from the buffer storage to the main log-yard without interrupting operations of the log-yard.

Paving ways for a sustainable future: a literature review.

Sustainable development, while simultaneously sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend, is one of the most important development goals. In this review, the theories of five sustainable development pathways are presented, followed by a discussion on the influences of involuntary and voluntary practices. Specifically, this paper reviews the literature on limits to growth and on planetary boundaries, examines the critique of green growth, and outlines the debate between degrowth and a-growth. Then, the importance of economic recession as an involuntary instrument and working time reduction policies as a voluntary instrument in mitigating environmental pressure is examined. Policy implications are highlighted in the final section.

Evaluation of a mass spectrometry and Vitek 2 combined protocol for rapid identification and susceptibility testing of Enterobacterales directly from positive blood cultures

ObjectiveThe aim was to evaluate a rapid method which would combine identification and susceptibility testing directly from positive blood cultures for Gram-negative bacilli of the Enterobacterales. Material and methodsGram-negative rods from blood cultures were directly identified by MALDI-TOF. Samples with Enterobacterales were selected for direct antimicrobial susceptibility testing by Vitek 2. The results were compared to those obtained with our laboratory's standard method. ResultsMALDI-TOF directly from blood cultures identified correctly 83% of the samples. Enterobacterales (n=68) were identified at gender and species level in 85% of blood cultures with a score >1.7. In general, MICs were obtained after 7h. MICs of amoxicillin-clavulanate, amikacin and ciprofloxacin showed in almost 50% of the cases after 5h. ConclusionsA simple procedure with low cost and reduced working time makes it possible to integrate both identification and susceptibility testing directly from blood cultures. Thus, this protocol could offer advantages when it comes to selection and cost of treatment and patients’ clinical outcomes.

Optimization of the Ames RAMOS test allows for a reproducible high-throughput mutagenicity test

The Ames test is one of the most widely used mutagenicity tests. It employs histidine auxotrophic bacteria, which can mutate back to histidine prototrophy and, thus, grow on a histidine deficient medium. These mutants develop predominantly after adding a mutagenic compound during an initial growth phase on 1 mg/L histidine. In the established test systems, an endpoint determination is performed to determine the relative number of mutants. An alternative Ames test, the Ames RAMOS test, has been developed, which enables the online detection of mutagenicity by monitoring respiration activity. The reproducibility of the newly developed test system was investigated. A strong dependence of the test results on the inoculum volume transferred from the preculture was found. The more inoculum was needed to reach the required initial OD, the more mutagenic a positive control was evaluated. This effect was attributed to the histidine transfer from the preculture to the original Ames RAMOS test. The same problem is evident in the Ames fluctuation test. High reproducibility of the Ames RAMOS test could be achieved by performing the preculture on minimal medium with a defined histidine concentration and termination after histidine depletion. By using 5 mg/L initial histidine within the minimal medium, a higher separation efficiency between negative control and mutagenic samples could be achieved. This separation efficiency could be further increased by lowering the cultivation temperature from 37 to 30 °C, i.e. lowering the maximum growth rate. The optimized Ames RAMOS test was then transferred into a 48-well microtiter plate format (μRAMOS) for obtaining a high throughput test. The online detection of mutagenicity leads to a reduction of working time in the laboratory. Due to the optimization of reproducibility and the increase in separation efficiency, a sound mutagenicity evaluation, even of weak mutagenic compounds, can be achieved.

Working Time Reduction and Employment in a Finite World

Working Time Reduction and Employment in a Finite World