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1 – 10 of over 12000The mismatch between desired and actual hours of work per week is common among the employed in many countries and has important effects on the adequate functioning of labour…
Abstract
Purpose
The mismatch between desired and actual hours of work per week is common among the employed in many countries and has important effects on the adequate functioning of labour markets. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the likelihood of being underemployed, matched or overemployed in terms of hours worked for workers without and with disabilities in Germany by using longitudinal data.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are taken from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1985-2013) for a large sample of salaried workers aged 16-64. The authors have used a “Random-effects ordered probit model” to estimate the impact of being disabled on the likelihood of suffering any type of working time mismatch. Additionally, the authors have estimated a “Tobit Random-effects model” on the number of hours of underemployment and overemployment.
Findings
Females with disabilities are more likely to be overemployed than females without disabilities. In addition, only females with disabilities experience a lower number of hours of underemployment than females without disabilities. As for overemployment, both males and females with disabilities are more likely to report a higher number of hours of overemployment as compared to their non-disabled counterparts.
Originality/value
This paper therefore shows the importance of combating and reducing the hours of overemployment for all workers in general and for males and females with disabilities in particular. A large longitudinal data set has been used in the paper and it is the first attempt to estimate the determinants of being underemployed, matched and overemployed for workers without and with disabilities.
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Previous theoretical and empirical literature has advocated growth in the access and use of flexible working arrangements by establishing their link with individual and especially…
Abstract
Previous theoretical and empirical literature has advocated growth in the access and use of flexible working arrangements by establishing their link with individual and especially parental subjective well-being. Given this, the current research investigates impact that their own or their partners’ transition to flexitime and teleworking has on parental subjective well-being. The cross-partner dimension has not been explored yet by prior studies. Measures for cognitive, subjective well-being include satisfaction with life overall, satisfaction with the amount of leisure time, and satisfaction with health. Ordered logit longitudinal models are estimated using Understanding Society data from 2009 to 2019. Corroborating prior studies, the current analysis finds that mothers’ transition to flexitime and teleworking has a positive impact on their leisure time and health satisfaction. For fathers, switching to telework improves satisfaction with their amount of leisure time, while adopting flexitime can take a toll on self-reported health satisfaction. However, contrary to expectations, mothers’ move to teleworking can be injurious for fathers’ life satisfaction levels, yet fathers’ adoption of flexitime fosters mothers’ satisfaction with their leisure time amount.
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Minna Murtorinne-Lahtinen, Sanna Moilanen, Mia Tammelin, Anna Rönkä and Marja-Leena Laakso
The purpose of this paper is to investigate Finnish working mothers’ experiences of the effects of non-standard working schedules (NSWS) on family time in two family forms…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate Finnish working mothers’ experiences of the effects of non-standard working schedules (NSWS) on family time in two family forms, coupled and lone-parent families. Furthermore the aim is to find out what meanings mothers with NSWS attached to family time paying particular attention to the circumstances in which mothers experienced NSWS positively.
Design/methodology/approach
Thematic analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews was used to investigate mothers’ experiences of the effects of NSWS on family time.
Findings
The key factor generating positive experiences was the ability to maintain regularity and togetherness, which was enhanced by specific features of work, such as autonomy and regularity, and successful child care arrangements. Also important were the values mothers associated with family time. The results highlighted the more problematic situation of lone-parent families.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this study was the small sample size.
Practical implications
The findings show how the parents of small children benefit from the regularity and flexibility in their working hours. Owing to irregular and varying working times, flexible around-the-clock childcare is needed. In Finland, an important question is how to organize the care of small school-aged children. Lone mothers, especially, may need services to help with domestic chores and childcare.
Social implications
A non-resident parent can also be an important source of childcare. Therefore policymakers should take into account family type, including consideration of the rights to childcare of non-resident parents.
Originality/value
This study adds to the literature by explaining more in depth, through the richness of qualitative data, the circumstances in which mothers experience NSWS positively.
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Jing Wang and Frank Reid
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired weekly hours of work on employee absence.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired weekly hours of work on employee absence.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a nationally representative, employer-employee matched sample of over 39,000 employees and applied zero-inflated Poisson regressions.
Findings
Work hours discrepancy has a significant impact on employee absence. This impact is different among employees who want to work more hours and those who want to work fewer hours.
Originality/value
This study provides new insights into the determinants of employee absence and the implications of constraining employees in their choice of weekly hours of work.
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Mark Le Fevre, Peter Boxall and Keith Macky
– The purpose of this paper is to identify whether there are particular employee groups that are more vulnerable to work intensification and its outcomes for well-being.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify whether there are particular employee groups that are more vulnerable to work intensification and its outcomes for well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper utilises data collected in two representative national surveys in 2005 (n=1,004) and 2009 (n=1,016), first to determine which employee groups are most vulnerable to work intensification and, second, to identify who is more vulnerable to the impacts of high work intensity on well-being, in terms of job (dis)satisfaction, stress, fatigue, and work-life imbalance.
Findings
Professionals reported significantly higher levels of work intensity than all other occupational groups, and higher levels of stress and work-life imbalance. In addition, full-time employees experienced greater work intensity than part-timers, and union members than non-union members. Public-sector employees reported greater stress and work-life imbalance than those in the private sector. There was also a small, but significant and consistent, interaction effect that identified women as more negatively impacted by high work intensity than men.
Research limitations/implications
Professionals have become vulnerable workers, in the sense of high levels of work demand, and the notion of worker vulnerability needs to recognise this. Future research on vulnerable employees would benefit from a broader conception of what constitutes vulnerability, exploring a wider range of employee groups who might be considered vulnerable, and including a wider range of potential outcomes for the lives and well-being of the individuals concerned. In particular, a more finely grained examination of the working conditions of professionals would be desirable, as would a more detailed examination of the reasons for the higher negative impact of work intensity on women.
Practical implications
One way of improving the sustainability of professional working is to foster higher rates of part-time working, which brings better outcomes in terms of stress and work-life balance. This, however, is hardly a societal remedy and the question of how to reverse deteriorating job quality among professionals, particularly those struggling to balance work and family demands, is something that needs much greater attention.
Originality/value
The paper expands the notion of “vulnerable workers” to recognise those groups most at risk of work intensification, and the outcomes of that intensification for satisfaction, stress, fatigue, and work-life balance. The authors add to the small group of studies highlighting the degradation of professional work, as well as identifying other types of employee who are more vulnerable to work intensification. The use of two large-scale surveys, with a four-year gap, has allowed a high degree of consistency in the patterns of vulnerability to be revealed.
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Milkerie1 worker cooperative was created after a yearlong labor fight against a factory closure announcement. By creating the coop, Milkerie’s workers set out to prove that if…
Abstract
Milkerie1 worker cooperative was created after a yearlong labor fight against a factory closure announcement. By creating the coop, Milkerie’s workers set out to prove that if workers were given more decision-making power in the economy, it would be possible to create a more inclusive economy that values worker labor and provides them wage-based livelihoods. This chapter describes the historical conditions that the cooperative emerge, shaped its business model and governance structure. If cooperatives are believed to propose an alternative to capitalist enterprises, the case of Milkerie shows how the market pressure turns activism, that is, various types of unpaid voluntary labor, into simple jobs, that is, activities codified by task description and time frame, limiting the possibility to re-imagine the economy collectively.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine employee satisfaction with an employer-imposed compressed workweek (CWW) schedule within a US municipality (City).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine employee satisfaction with an employer-imposed compressed workweek (CWW) schedule within a US municipality (City).
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilizes an employee survey (n=779) to test factors related to employee satisfaction with the CWW, a four-day, ten-hours/day workweek (4/10 schedule).
Findings
Employee satisfaction with the schedule is influenced by previous 4/10 pilot experience, work schedule preference, and happiness with the 4/10 schedule’s implementation. Additionally, sick leave figures and survey results regarding informal substitute work schedules suggest that worker fatigue may limit the overall organizational value of the 4/10 schedule.
Research limitations/implications
The study is opportunistic in nature and therefore constrained by the City’s HR Department concerns for survey length and respondent anonymity. This meant an inability to collect demographic data or to utilize validated scales.
Practical implications
Analysis suggests that the potential work-life benefits of flexible work schedules may not apply equally to employer-imposed vs employee-chosen compressed work schedules. Further, CWWs engender greater fatigue despite employee satisfaction, an issue managers should consider when weighing schedule costs and benefits.
Originality/value
The study highlights the importance of employee choice in conceptualizing flexibility and for capturing CWW benefits, namely: an initiative’s voluntary or involuntary nature should be considered when determining whether it is likely to be beneficial for employees.
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In recent years, there has been a burgeoning interest around “time” or “temporality” as a subject of study in workplace behavior at the microlevel. This research is, however, not…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, there has been a burgeoning interest around “time” or “temporality” as a subject of study in workplace behavior at the microlevel. This research is, however, not integrated systematically till date. The purpose of this study is to address this gap with a comprehensive review of this domain.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study conducts a large-scale bibliometric analysis of 1,120 papers, collected from Scopus, to decipher the structural patterns underlying this research domain.
Findings
The analysis unraveled the performance statistics (articles, journals, authors) and intellectual structure (themes, keywords, ontological position) of temporal research. The authors also present a matrix of extant and emergent thought in time studies and discuss how they fare on causality versus dynamicity dimensions.
Research limitations/implications
Future research directions are discussed extensively based on qualitative and quantitative insights.
Originality/value
This is a structured literature review combined with bibliometric analysis of a large corpus of research.
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Pablo Arocena and Imanol Nuñez
– The purpose of this paper is to study the incidence of depression affecting work (DAW) performance and estimates gender differences across occupations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the incidence of depression affecting work (DAW) performance and estimates gender differences across occupations.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Labor Force Survey data from the UK in 2007, the authors first decompose the differential on the aggregate incidence rate of DAW between men and women into two components: the gender effect and the occupational effect. Then, the authors identify the stressors of DAW by means of a logit regression analysis.
Findings
The empirical results show that gender is not a significant explanatory variable of DAW. Further, when differences are analyzed for each gender separately, results show that the effect of occupations is stronger within females than within males.
Originality/value
Most of previous studies focus on occupational causes of depression. By contrast, this paper investigates the effect of depression on work performance.
Details
Keywords
Misbah Choudhry and Hina Uqaili
Gender Roles, Human Resource Management.
Abstract
Subject area
Gender Roles, Human Resource Management.
Study level/applicability
HRM-related courses at undergraduate and MBA level. Can be used in executive training.
Case overview
Nida Akhtar, a 29-year-old factory unit supervisor and a labor union leader of one of the biggest private textile manufacturing companies of Pakistan, faces a crucial decision regarding her personal and professional life. She is getting married in a few months and may need to move to another city. She has been working at Shanza Textile Limited (STL) for the past nine years. In spite of several social pressures and sometimes unfavorable circumstances, she has continued working because of her determination and endurance. She has earned appreciation and respect from her organization as well as from her family and friends. She has an option of moving to STL’s female hostel if she wants to continue working. However, she will have to gain her husband’s consent to do this. Alternatively, she can look for another job in the new city, but in this way, she will not be able to enjoy the same rank and position which she currently enjoys. She is exploring possibilities, and she knows that this decision will not only affect her own future life but will also have a significant impact on her married life and on her future generation.
Expected learning outcomes
Introducing students to an important aspect of labor economics: determinants and demographics of female labor force participation rates, in the context of an emerging market like Pakistan. Enabling students and other participants to engage in a meaningful unbiased discussion regarding gender roles in workplaces of emerging markets. To make students familiar with related characteristics, issues and challenges faced by working women in developing and emerging economies. To devise and present policy suggestions for making work environment more conducive for the female workers.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Subject code
CSS 6: Human Resource Management.
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