Suchergebnisse

The study aims to identify the EU's trends in the use of flexible forms of working time and to determine the specifics of individual EU countries. The study monitors the flexibility of working time based on the following indicators: persons employed part-time (as a percentage of the total employment); involuntary part-time employment as % of total part-time employment; the share of employed persons by the flexibility to decide on working time by a country; the share of employed persons who can easily take one or two days off at a short notice by working at home. The paper uses descriptive statistics, analysis of the development of time series using the growth rate, sigma convergence, and weighted sum approach. All analyzed indicators were taken into account to express one value, based on which it is possible to compare countries. Thus, the study expressed the overall benefit using the weighted sum method. The maximum value of the total benefit expressed using all the indicators among the EU countries was reached by the Netherlands. One of the reasons may be the short period of parental leave and the large share of women working part-time for a long time. The second reason is the large share of young people working part-time. On the contrary, Bulgaria, where women spend a relatively long time with their children after birth and then start full-time employment, ranked the last. This should be justified by the fact that flexible forms of work are mainly used by women and their prevalence is largely dependent on the length of maternity and parental leave.
AcknowledgmentThis paper is created within the project funded by the Scientific Agency of Slovak Ministry of Education VEGA reg. no. 1/0689/20 "Digital economy and changes in the education system to reflect labour market demands".

The intentions of this article are, first, to clarify the reasons underlying new contradictions that are arising between the increasing flexibility of productive working time and the increasing inflexibility of domestic work and time off work; secondly, to ascertain what strategies are developed in practice by people who wish to overcome these contradictions. The authors develop their arguments on the basis of research carried out in the factory in Spain of one multinational company.

"Ziel des Beitrags ist es, die Gründe zu erklären, die zu neuen Widersprüchen zwischen zunehmender Flexibilität der beruflichen Arbeitszeit einerseits und wachsender Inflexibilität der Zeit für Haushaltsarbeit und anderweitige Aufgaben andererseits führen. Zweitens soll ermittelt werden, welche Strategien in der Praxis von Arbeitnehmern entwickelt werden, um diese Widersprüche zu überwinden. Die von den Autoren angeführten Argumente stützen sich auf eine Untersuchung in der Fabrik eines spanischen multinationalen Unternehmens." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

The European Court of Justice has recently issued rulings on the interpretation of the European Working Time Directive 2003/88, which appear to restrict flexible working time arrangements(especially Matzak C-518/15,Syndicat C-254/18 and CCOOC-55/18). Only a few months prior tothe latter ruling of the CJEU, the Austrian legislator amended the Working Time Act in orderto make it more flexible. The article argues that the measures taken by the Austrian legislator toenable more flexibility and autonomy can still be regarded as compatible with Union law. In general,the article tackles the question of possible further legislative developments in order to strike abalance between autonomy and the need for security of both parties to the employment relationship. Among other suggestions, the article introduces the concept of molecularisation ofworking time and examines whether work intensity should be introduced as a qualitativedimension to the concept of working time, thus deviating from the current European WorkingTime Directive. Finally, the article suggests security measures – often referring to Austria as a bestpractice example – in order to safeguard workers in view of working time flexibility.

Objective: This study investigates (a) whether job commitment and family commitment moderate the positive association between flexible working-time arrangements and work hours, and (b) whether childless women and men and mothers and fathers with the same levels of job and family commitment work equally long hours with flexible working-time arrangements. Background: As working-time flexibility increases at many workplaces due to digital technologies and work overload, so too does the risk of working longer hours. Although previous research has neglected job and family commitment as potential moderators of the relationship between working-time flexibility and long working hours, it has found gender inequalities in working hours among employees with flexible working-time arrangements, which have been attributed inter alia to men's higher commitment to work and lower commitment to family. Method: Multivariate analyses were conducted based on German Family Panel (pairfam) data for 2018, 2019, and 2020. The sample comprised data from 4,568 employee-years, 1,666 part-time employee-years, and 2,902 full-time employee-years. Results: Among full-time employees, only those with high job commitment and low family commitment worked longer hours with employer-driven flexibility and working-time autonomy. Mothers with these arrangements worked fewer hours than childless women, childless men, and fathers, unless they had the same levels of job and family commitment as the latter three groups. Conclusion: These results suggest, first, that among full-time employees with flexible working-time arrangements, job and family commitment are driving factors for working long hours; second, that gender differences in work hours are shaped by parental status; and third, that these differences are due, at least in part, to differences in connectedness to job and family roles.

'Die Arbeitszeitflexibilisierung war ein zentrales Thema der Kollektivverhandlungen der 1990er Jahre in Österreich. An Hand einer Analyse ausgewählter Branchen (Metall, Textil, Papier/Druck und Bau) zeigt der Aufsatz, dass die beachtliche Variation kollektivvertraglicher Verhandlungsverläufe und kollektivvertraglich vereinbarter Arbeitszeitregelungen mit dem Verhandlungshorizont der beteiligten Akteure erklärt werden kann. Der gewerkschaftliche Organisationsgrad und -bereich sowie der Verbandstyp der Arbeitgeberseite spielen dabei eine wesentliche Rolle: Je stärker die institutionellen Anreize zu einer gesamtwirtschaftlich ausgerichteten Politik sind, desto eher kommt ein Kompromiss zustande. Zugleich zeigen die Verhandlungsverläufe, dass eine Beurteilung der Entwicklung der Sozialpartnerschaft die Diversität kollektivvertraglicher Verhandlungsarenen nicht unterschätzen darf.' (Autorenreferat)

"Wettbewerbsbedingungen führen zunehmend zu Dezentralisierungs-Experimenten im deutschen System der Arbeitsbeziehungen. In diesem Artikel wird gezeigt, inwiefern flexible Arbeitszeiten ein integraler Bestandteil des deutschen Systems sind und wie flexible Arbeitszeitmodelle zu dessen Transformation beitragen. Außerdem werden die Implikationen, die flexible Arbeitszeiten für Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer haben, sowie die Lehren der deutschen Erfahrungen für die USA diskutiert. Flexible Arbeitszeiten tragen zur Dezentralisierung des deutschen Systems der Arbeitsbeziehungen auf diversen Ebenen bei, insbesondere innerhalb der Unternehmen. Aus Arbeitgebersicht nimmt der Nutzen flexibler Arbeitszeiten vielfältige Formen an und ist generell positiv, während die Implikationen für Arbeitnehmer ambivalenter Natur sind. Die wichtigste Lehre für die USA besteht darin, dass Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen nach wie vor relevant sind für die Entwicklung flexibler Arbeitszeitmodelle, die den Bedürfnissen sowohl der Arbeitgeber als auch der Arbeitnehmer gerecht werden." (Autorenreferat)