Flexibility and WLB Flashcards
Time Squeeze (Hochschild 1997)
employees are experiencing a ‘time squeeze’
Time-fighting (Epstein and Kalleberg 2004)
people are ‘fighting for time’
Statutory Obligations (IWGB - Pressure Groups)
increased maternity and paternity leave, and the ‘right to request’ flexible work practices
IWGB Union represents workers in the ‘gig economy’ - success with Uber and Deliveroo, no longer are self-employed
Working Time Regulations (1998) 48hr maximum weekly work hours including overtime (can opt out)
National Child Care Strategy and National Carers Strategy (both 1998)
Time Demand and Consequences (Bunting 2004)
the time demand and pressures of paid employment have escalated, with serious negative consequences for employees’ family and social lives
Job Retainment Consequences (Cappelli 1995)
employees who retain their jobs, greater job insecurity and higher workloads have often been the consequence
Boswell and Olson-Buchanan (2010)
the phenomenon of ‘24/7’ access whereby employees are able to stay connected to work even when not formally in the office
Country Working Hours (Kodz et al 2003)
US, UK, Australia and Japan are more likely to work longer hours (48hrs plus) than Europe and Scandanavia
Working Hours (High/Low Skill) (Kodz et al 2003)
long hours especially among manual workers are more prevalent in countries with higher income inequality
countries without WLB regulation have higher proportions of of employees working long hours
Working Hours Statistics
male employees working more than 45 hours a week dropped from 39% in 1998 to 27% by 2011
22% of men working excess of 48 hours a week compared to only 8% of women (Hooker et al 2007)
Dependent Children (Desai et al 1999)
57% of women in 1990 employed also had dependent children compares to 71% in 2010 (ONS) showing a ‘declining barrier to work’
Competitive Presenteeism (Simpson 1998)
individuals seek to to compete over who works the longest hours
Law Firms (Landers et a 1996)
junior lawyers more inclined to work longer hours if they perceived their co-workers had increased their hours
Salary vs Work (Reynolds 2003)
employees may only be inclined to seek shorter work schedules when they are well off financially, due to Third Work-Life Balance Survey whereby 2/3 of respondents stated they would not be interested in shorter work hours if it meant earning less money
Computer-Mediated Communication Technologies (CMCT) (Boswell and Olson-Buchanan 2010)
mobile phones, email etc after hours has also been found to be associated with employee perceptions of work-life conflict. Due to connectivity and flexibility.
Implications of Work-Family/Life Conflict (Allen et al 2000)
greater levels of conflict associated with stress and greater job burnout
people with greater levels of conflict tend to be less satisfied with their careers
individuals experiencing greater levels of conflict display less organisational commitment and higher turnover
Three Work-Life Iniatives
policies that; respond to employees’ desire for reduced working hours in order to fulfil caring responsibilities and leisure pursuits; enable workers to have greater flexibility or control over the scheduling of work hours and the location of work; provide financial, informational and organisational support for employees including assistance with childcare/eldercare
Implementation of EU Legislation
working time (1998), parental leave (1999), paid paternity leave (1993), equality in the treatment of part-time workers (2000) and employees’ rights to time off work for family reasons (1999)
Stock Price (Arthur 2003)
the average dollar value of the change in share price associated with a work-family initiative is approximately 60 millions dollars per firm
Forms of Flexibility
flexi-time, annualised hours, fixed-term and part-time contracts, job-sharing, home-working and/or mobile working, seasonal hours, overtime, temporary/casual, zero hour contracts, outsourcing, sub-contracting
Flexibility Types
Functional: high-skilled, core permanent staff
Numerical: adjust to market demand (ZHC, part-time etc)
Temporal: adjust to business demand (seasonal)
Financial: payment systems that support flexibility (PRP)
Locational: home-working, multi-site
Neo-Villeiny Fitness Industry
PT’s: bondage to lord (gym), pay to work (monthly fee to operate), insecure income (speculative work/no guarantee income)
Flexible Rationales (Pocock 2005)
Business case: profit, efficiency, responsiveness
Social case: happier workforce/morale, relationships
Political case: health issues/disabilities
Personal case: individual well-being
Work-Family Border Theory (Clark 2000)
3 types of borders; physical, temporal, psychological.
Physical: different spaces e.g. office and home
Temporal: working hours, weekends/holidays
Psychological: attitudinal and behavioural perceptions
