Working Time Arrangements Research Articles

Intervensi Ergonomi untuk Menurunkan Beban Kerja pada Operator Lantai Produksi Bisnis Unit South Copper Rod

Workload is a set or number of work activities that must be completed by an organizational unit. Activities carried out by humans will cause physical fatigue and psychological (mental) fatigue. Workload measurement is used to refine the size of the workload experienced by someone in carrying out activities, and to increase the level of productivity in work. This study aims to reduce the workload on the production floor. Based on research conducted by interviews and (surveys) found symptoms of excessive workload. The workload found is in the form of work stress and fatigue due to excessive physical activity. Measurement of mental workload using the NASA-TLX method and measurement of physical workload using the cardiovascular load method. The stages of the study were continued by finding the between workload and reaction time. The results of the of physical workload get a value of 0.334 which means sufficient correlation while the results of mental workload with reaction time get a value of 0.141 which means very weak correlation. Based on the results, the physical workload was chosen for ergonomic intervention because the coefficient of physical workload was higher than the mental workload. The proposed improvements provided were in the form of working time arrangements of 54.81 minutes and rest periods of 13.12 minutes for 20 production floor operators and carried out for 30 working days. The results of the next proposal will be implemented to the company with% CVL before implementation of 33.75% with the category needed improvement and after implementation with% CVL of 27.1% with the category no fatigue occurs

Dualization and the access to occupational family‐friendly working‐time arrangements across Europe

AbstractThis article examines outsiders' relative access to occupational level family‐friendly policies. I use data from the European Working Conditions Survey of 2015 across 30 European countries examining workers' access to two types of family‐friendly working‐time arrangements (WTAs): flexitime, and time off work for personal reasons. The article focuses on women with care responsibilities given that their demands for family‐friendly policies, as well as their outcomes, have been shown to be distinct from the rest of the working population. In addition to the outsider definition used in the labor market dualization and occupational segmentation literature, i.e., low‐skilled workers and those without a permanent contract, this article also defines outsiders as those perceiving their job as insecure. The results of the analysis show a segmentation between workers in their access to family‐friendly policies. Unlike statutory policies, occupational policies seem to be selectively provided mostly to workers where employers have a vested interest, i.e., insiders, resulting in a dualized system for most countries. However, rather than their contract status, the skill‐level of the job/workers, and their perceived insecurity were found to be important. The results further show that although Northern European and some continental European countries are those where family‐friendly WTAs are more readily available, it is in these countries where the division between insiders and outsiders is the greatest. The results of the article contribute to the literature by showing a need to move beyond the national level when examining family‐friendly policies, and to examine a more diverse definition of outsiders when examining dualization of working conditions.

Flexible Arbeitszeit — Forderungen, Fakten, Einschätzungen und Alternativen

In Germany, the employer’s association is interested in abolishing the legal maximum of working hours per day. The unions want to improve work life balance through a temporary working time reduction combined with a partial wage adjustment. Analysis shows that the current requests are not so urgent. In both cases, one party opposes the requests of the other. A process of give and take is necessary from both employees and employers. We suggest an extension of working time with flexible arrangements and in combination with more home office possibilities. If one party requires other working time arrangements, this should be compensated by wage equivalents.

Working Time Flexibility and Parental 'Quality Time' Spent with Children

The aim of our paper is to analyse the relationship between working time flexibility and parental time devoted to children. Using data from a large panel survey of Polish households carried out in 2013 and 2014 (Determinants of Educational Decisions Household Panel Survey, UDE) we investigate whether and how various dimensions of working time flexibility affect the amount of time parents spend with their children reading, playing or teaching them new things. We account for employment status of parents, their socio-economic status and social and cultural norms they share. Our results show that employment status of parents and their working time arrangements are not statistically significant for the amount of parental ‘quality time’ devoted to children. We show that these are parental human and cultural capital and their values that are primary factors determining the amount of parental time investments.

The Impact of Wage and Labour Flexibility on Employers and Employees

labour market flexibility, working time arrangements and work-life balance are important issues on the political agenda of many societies. The present paper captures the trade-off between the interests of employers and employees by adjusting working hours to the employee availability constraints. A theoretical model is developed in order to determine the ideal gap between full-time and part-time employees. The paper proposes a method of computing a fair rate for part-time employees that is driven by purely financial considerations which ensure that neither employers nor employees are penalized by the employment arrangement. The ideal that is identified can serve as a benchmark for a justifiable gap (also referred to as wage differences) between part-time and full-time employees. Policymakers can rely upon the method presented for computing a fair rate for part-time employees. Another dimension of labour flexibility in the field of Human Resource Management is discussed in order to define an appropriate gap between part-time and full-time employees.

Registered nurses' perceptions of rewarding and its significance.

To examine reward type preferences and their relationships with the significance of rewarding perceived by registered nurses in Finland. Previous studies have found relationships between nurses' rewarding and their motivation at work, job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Data were collected in a cross-sectional, descriptive, questionnaire survey from 402 registered nurses using the Registered Nurses' Perceptions of Rewarding Scale in 2015, and analysed with descriptive and multivariate statistical methods. Registered nurses assigned slightly higher values to several non-financial than to financial rewards. The non-financial reward types appreciation and feedback from work community, worktime arrangements, work content, and opportunity to develop, influence and participate were highly related to the significance of rewarding. We identified various rewards that registered nurses value, and indications that providing an appropriate array of rewards, particularly non-financial rewards, is a highly beneficial element of nursing management. It is important to understand the value of rewards for nursing management. Nurse managers should offer diverse rewards to their registered nurses to promote excellent performance and to help efforts to secure and maintain high-quality, safe patient care. The use of appropriate rewards is especially crucial to improving registered nurses' reward satisfaction and job satisfaction globally in the nursing profession.

Flexible working in the UK and its impact on couples\u2019 time coordination

The ability to combine work with quality time together as a family is at the heart of the concept of work-life balance. Using previously unexploited data on couples’ work schedules we investigate the effect of flexible working on couples’ coordination of their daily work schedules in the UK. We consider three distinct dimensions of flexible working: flexibility of daily start and finish times (flexitime), flexibility of work times over the year (annualized hours), and generalized control of working hours. We show that having flexitime at work increases a couple’s amount of coordination of their daily work schedules by a half to 1 h, which is double the margin of adjustment enjoyed by couples with no flexitime. The impact is driven by couples with children. In contrast to flexitime, the other two forms of flexible working do not seem to increase synchronous time. Our results suggest that having flexitime plays an important role in relaxing the work scheduling constraints faced by families with young children, and that effective flexible working time arrangements are those that increase the worker’s and not the employer’s flexibility.

Time to Reconsider Work: Dual-Earner Couples’ Work-Related Adaptive Strategies and Preferences for Reduced Work Hours

In this study, we use the life course perspective and the paradigm of the social construction of gender to examine the relationships between dual-earner couples’ adaptive strategies, such as their work-hour arrangements, conjoint occupational status, and relative earnings, and men’s and women’s own preferences for reduced work hours as well as their desire for reduced work hours of their spouses. Using the 2010 European Social Survey, we document a pervasive preference for reduced work hours in European countries, which is common to both men and women. Our findings indicate that, regardless of their actual work hour arrangements, conjoint occupational status, and relative earnings, couples generally report preferences for working hours for themselves and their spouses that conform to a modified male breadwinner/female homemaker template. More specifically, the ideal couple-level working time arrangement combines a husband who has a full-time job but does not work long hours and a wife working shorter hours, either in a part-time or full-time job. We discuss the impact of these findings on gender inequality, individuals, and organizations.

Weather and Intertemporal Labor Supply: Results from German Time‐Use Data

AbstractDynamic models of intertemporal labor supply suggest that workers substitute labor for leisure as a response to transitory wage changes. Empirical estimates of intertemporal substitution are difficult to interpret as wage changes are rarely transitory and workers may not have flexible working times. We address both issues by estimating an intertemporal labor supply model with German time‐use data as well as information on weather and the flexibility of working time arrangements. Our results provide some evidence on an interday labor supply substitution effect for women but not for men.

Sustained Effects of Flexible Working Time Arrangements on Subjective Well-Being

The article addressed the impact of a transition to two flexible working time arrangements, employee- and employer-oriented, on subjective well-being (measured by job satisfaction and satisfaction with leisure time) from a longitudinal perspective. The study investigated which of three patterns of well-being, i.e., stability, recovery, or chronic strain/long-term improvement, are associated with these transitions. To address this question, the study used data from eleven waves (2003–2013) of the German Socio-Economic Panel. Fixed-effects analyses indicated that the well-being of individuals who switched to the employer-oriented flexible time arrangement followed a chronic strain pattern (women) or adaptation pattern (men). The effect of the transition to an employee-oriented flexible time arrangement is not unanimous: women appear to profit from this arrangement in the long run in terms of increased satisfaction with leisure time, whereas men experience deterioration in satisfaction with leisure time, followed by adaptation. At best, the effect of this transition on job satisfaction is short-lived for both genders.

The impact of new technologies in balancing private and family life with working time

The work-life balance is a fundamental issue for all the workers and it is linked to many others, such as quality of work, female participation in the labour market, gender equality and active ageing.Among the new challenges of contemporary society, a key role is played by the introduction in the workplaces of new digital and computer technologies, which may change working-time arrangement and, at the same time, guarantee more flexibility in working-time.On the one hand, this phenomenon can lead to a better management of working-time; nevertheless, on the other hand, it can determine an increase in working hours, since digital technologies and working-time flexibility are associate with a different evaluation of workers’ performance no more in reference to the working time, but on the basis of the results. It may result in an increase of the working time. Indeed, working hours’ flexibility does not always ascribe more freedom to the workers, but, as it is often the case, it can lead to an increase in working time, which encroach on private and family life.Technologies offer the possibility to “anytime-anyplace” jobs, but it can not result in a demand of working “always-everywhere”. The working times allowed by new technologies risks to result in new sweating practices: even though digital technologies provide easier way to shape working time patterns, actually it challenges the fundamental right of workers to have a day of rest. The distinction between working and non-working time becomes less and less visible and the border line between personal and professional life is more and more confused.In order to avoid these criticisms, it was theorized the “right to disconnect”, which is the last frontiers of right to privacy in the 21 st century.The “ghost of ubiquity” is appearing, since workers are requested to be connected always and everywhere.At the moment, the tendency is to request a broader participation of workers in the life of the enterprise. It leads to actual difficulties in distinguishing working time and personal and family life.It is essential an alternation between work connection and disconnection. It is a matter of wisely managing working time patterns and connection/disconnection times. In order to guarantee this aim, social partners through social dialogue can play an important role.It seems to be a possible way forward to reach a compromise between flexible working hours and the private life of workers.Another problematic aspect regards the introduction of information and communications technology (ITC) in workplaces.The potentiality of such new technologies is the basis of a new revolution concerning intelligent production systems and new way of working, called “sharing economy” or “collaborative economy”. Such new economies involve promises of a new great development, but also many challenges which require a protective intervention involving governments, enterprises, workers and individuals.It is not only a structural change, but also and above all a functional change, in the sense that the way of providing work is profoundly changing. It implies a new labour law conception, not only because of a substantial change of its protective capacity, but also because it involves a profound change of its scope and of the extent of its protection area; it also implies a profound reflexion about labour law rules at national, European and international level. In this sense, we can talk about a new labour law dimension.Work is a key factor in this transformation and in the digital revolution.We are used to talk about “work 4.0” and about the heterogeneous phenomenon of the sharing economy. In particular, the latter includes crowdwork, work on digital platform and work on-demand via apps. The great change of work does not involve only industry 4.0. Obviously, it does not exist a homogeneous and monolithic concept relating to this type of work, since methods and ways of working may change on the basis of the service required by the customer and in relation to the complexity and the quality of the work.If any active policy for women will not be taken, in the future women will miss best career opportunities, risking to get worse the already marker gender inequality.In the light of that, it is essential to adopt a holistic approach to cope with this situation and to encourage a greater female participation in the labour market, through real integration policy.Work 4.0 is an opportunity without precedent to reach the same participation of women in the labour market through focusing the attention on the gender equality issue within the digital labour market.

Weather and Intertemporal Labor Supply: Results from German Time-Use Data

Dynamic models of intertemporal labor supply suggest that workers substitute labor for leisure as a response to transitory wage changes. Empirical estimates of intertemporal substitution are difficult to interpret as wage changes are rarely transitory and workers may not have flexible working times. We address both issues by estimating an intertemporal labor supply model with German time‐use data as well as information on weather and the flexibility of working time arrangements. Our results provide some evidence on an interday labor supply substitution effect for women but not for men.

Established, accelerated and emergent themes in flexible work research

Flexible labour markets, flexible working arrangements and motivations behind their use are established and expanding strands of sociology of work and employment relations research. This article provides a review of key themes and debates connected to workplace flexibility between 2000 and 2015 utilising research located in leading sociology of work, employment relations, industrial relations and human resource management (HRM) journals, in addition to key texts published during this time period. We establish that flexible work research is a growing area of research and focus our analysis on identifying key themes categorised as established, accelerated and emergent. We conclude with areas of contention yet to be resolved and possible avenues for future directions in flexible work research, noting a disconnection between macro analyses of flexibility at the economic level and the focus on flexible working-time arrangements at the workplace level. Furthermore we observed few quantitative multi-level modelling analyses or multi-methods research designs. To that end, analyses that can synthesise these literatures would enhance the field, as might innovations in methodological approaches which advance multi-level modelling and multi-method designs to give multiple and dynamic perspectives.

Help or hindrance? Day-level relationships between flextime use, work-nonwork boundaries, and affective well-being.

Flexible working time arrangements are becoming increasingly popular around the globe, but do they actually benefit employees? To address this question, we take a differentiated look at employees' day-specific use of flextime and its effect on the intersection of work and nonwork life. Specifically, we examined whether links between day-specific flextime use and affective well-being at work and at home can be explained by level of goal completion and the subjective boundaries around one's work and private life domains (i.e., the strength of work-nonwork boundaries). During 2 consecutive workweeks, 150 bank employees from various functions (Study 1) and a heterogeneous sample of 608 employees (Study 2) reported their day-specific use of flextime, boundary strength at work and home, and affective well-being in the evening and the next day. Multilevel structural equation modeling of 2,223 (Study 1) and 3,164 (Study 2) observations revealed that flextime use was associated with stronger boundaries at home in both studies and stronger boundaries at work in Study 2. Stronger boundaries were, in turn, positively associated with affective well-being, both in the same evening and the next day. Study 2 further revealed that day-specific nonwork goal completion mediated the positive association between daily flextime use and boundary strength at work. However, whereas occasional flextime use had unequivocal positive consequences, chronic flextime use undermined the completion of work goals. Overall, findings suggest that flextime use benefits employees when used in moderation. (PsycINFO Database Record

‘The Magnificent 7[am]?’ Work‐life articulation beyond the 9[am] to 5[pm] ‘norm’

This article focuses on the work‐life ‘balance’ challenges of those who work in organisations that operate beyond standard hours. The concept of work‐life articulation is utilised to examine the experiences and practicalities of attempting to reconcile the, often competing, demands of employment and family life. Qualitative research was conducted in two private sector businesses and one‐third sector organisation in the UK during the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. The findings reveal increasing competitive pressures, efficiency drives and work intensification. ‘Business needs’ are prioritised over care responsibilities, and in the private sector organisations there is declining flexible working with a reassertion of the management prerogative. This article contributes to current debates over work‐life ‘balance’ and highlights variable, changeable and unpredictable working time arrangements that permeate non‐standard hours, which creates additional complexities and challenges for family time schedules and routines.

Trust-Based Work Time and Innovation: Evidence from Firm-Level Data

The authors explore whether the introduction of trust-based working hours is related to the subsequent innovation performance of firms. Based on a panel data set of German establishments, the study uses a propensity score matching approach that considers only firms that did not use trust-based work contracts initially. Results show that firms that adopt such contracts tend to be 12 to 15% more likely to improve products and 6 to 7% more likely to undertake process innovation. These results hold when controlling for another form of flexible working-time arrangement, namely working-time accounts. Thus, the positive relationship between the adoption of trust-based working hours and innovation seems to be driven by the degree of employee control and self-management over working time, rather than by merely allowing working-time flexibility.

Paths towards Family-friendly Working Time Arrangements: Comparing Workplaces in Different Countries and Industries.

Although studies have examined the distribution and conditions of employer‐provided work–family arrangements, we still lack a systematic investigation of how these vary for different countries and industries. Based on the European Working Conditions Survey 2010, this study examines the conditions under which firms provide family‐friendly working time arrangements and what the differences are across four countries (Austria, Denmark, Italy and the UK) and four industries. The impact of employee representatives, employee involvement, manager support and female managers varies across countries and industries because of the institutional environment (prevailing family model, industrial relations) and workforce composition (gender). The impact of employee representatives depends on their co‐determination rights, and the direction of their effect on the prevailing family model (e.g. negative in conservative countries such as Austria) and the gender composition of the workforce (negative in male‐dominated production, but positive in services). Employee involvement in the work organization is significantly positive in Austria and Denmark (both with co‐operative industrial relations), while manager support has the strongest effect in the UK (liberal regime). At the industry level, female supervisors are positively associated with family‐friendly working time arrangements only in the male‐dominated production industry. These findings suggest that the effects of agency variables and their direction vary depending on the institutional context.

Organizational Initiatives for Promoting Employee Work-Life Reconciliation Over the Life Course. A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies

This review aimed to explore the initiatives, interventions, and experiments implemented by employing organizations and designed to support the work-life reconciliation at workplaces, and the effects of these actions on employees’ well-being at work. A systematic literature review was conducted on the basis of a search in PsycInfo, ERIC, and the ISI Web of Science database of Social Sciences between January 2000 and May 2015. Those studies were included in which either organizational or individual-level initiatives, interventions, or experiments were implemented by employers at workplaces in order to promote the work-life reconciliation of their employees. Work-life reconciliation was considered to encompass all life domains and all career stages from early to the end of working career. The content analysis of 11 studies showed that effective employer actions focused on working time, care arrangements, and training for supervisors and employees. Flexibility, in terms of both working time and other arrangements provided for employees, and support from supervisors decreased work-family conflict, improved physical health and job satisfaction, and also reduced the number of absence days and turnover intentions. Overall, very few intervention studies exist investigating the effects of employer-induced work-life initiatives. One should particularly note the conditions under which interventions are most successful, since many contextual and individual-level factors influence the effects of organizational initiatives on employee and organizational outcomes.

Working Time in Public, Private, and Nonprofit Organizations: What Influences Prospects for Employee Control?

ABSTRACTEmployee control over work-time arrangements promotes work-family reconciliation and buffers against stress. But which human service context provides employees with the best opportunities to control their work schedules? Analysis of Australian survey data shows that after accounting for the low levels of work-time control in human service occupations like teaching and nursing, nonprofit organizations offer superior prospects for work-time control. However, whether this is true is strongly influenced by other occupational, employment and personal characteristics, such that for personal-care workers, work-time control is lowest in nonprofit organizations.

Influence of Flexible Working-Time Arrangements on Faculty Satisfaction and Human Resource Retention at Amman Arab University in Jordan

This study aims at measuring the influence of flexible working-time arrangements on faculty satisfaction and human resource retention. A questionnaire was developed to collect data from all full-time faculty at Amman Arab University in Jordan which consists of 113 faculty members. 83 valid questionnaires were analyzed which encompass (73.5%) from all full-time faculty.The most findings of the study are:- Faculty perceptions about components of flexible working-time arrangements in Amman Arab University are high, except the paragraphs relating to uploading of courses materials on e-learning system from home, and interacting with students on the e-learning system from home, which the relative importance of each is moderate.- Faculty perceptions about their satisfaction components in Amman Arab University are high, except the paragraphs relating to satisfaction with the system of incentives, compensation, promotion, and the opportunities of participation in decision-making which the relative importance of each is moderate.- Faculty perceptions about human resource retention components in Amman Arab University are high, except the paragraphs relating to University attention to job security, salaries relative to competitive universities, additional benefits, and career planning which the relative importance of each is moderate.- There is a statistical influence of flexible working hours on faculty satisfaction and human resource retention.- There is no statistical influence of compressed week and telecommuting on faculty satisfaction and human resource retentionBased on the findings of the study, a set of recommendations was proposed to enhance faculty satisfaction and human resource retention in Amman Arab University.