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1 – 10 of over 9000The 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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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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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.
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I.J. Hetty van Emmerik and Karin Sanders
This study examined the relationship between two types of mismatch (i.e. non‐correspondence between preferred and actual number of hours), and affective commitment. It was argued…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examined the relationship between two types of mismatch (i.e. non‐correspondence between preferred and actual number of hours), and affective commitment. It was argued that specific groups of employees, i.e. women and part‐time working employees, attach more importance to their working hours and, therefore, are less likely to show affective commitment when they experience a mismatch.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from 222 employees of a Dutch Ministry, hypotheses were tested using regression analyses.
Findings
It was shown that a mismatch of working more hours was differentially related to the affective commitment of employees who wanted to work more and who wanted to work fewer hours. Moreover, gender and full‐time status were found to moderate the negative relationship between a mismatch and the affective commitment of employees who wants to work less.
Research limitations/implications
The focus is on affective commitment; however, it is possible that other types of commitment are also associated with perceptions of psychological contract breach.
Practical implications
Tailored HRM is needed: assisting employees with a mismatch wanting to work fewer hours can be achieved by allowing them more flexibility in their working schedules. Employees with a mismatch of wanting to work more hours can be assisted with additional support, e.g. shopping services.
Originality/value
HRM practices can be tailored to different preferences: the value of this paper is the examination of different types of mismatch for different group of employees.
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Denise Jackson and Ian Li
There are ongoing concerns regarding university degree credentials leading to graduate-level employment. Tracking graduate underemployment is complicated by inconsistent measures…
Abstract
Purpose
There are ongoing concerns regarding university degree credentials leading to graduate-level employment. Tracking graduate underemployment is complicated by inconsistent measures and tendencies to report on outcomes soon after graduation. Our study explored transition into graduate-level work beyond the short-term, examining how determining factors change over time.
Design/methodology/approach
We considered time-based underemployment (graduates are working less hours than desired) and overqualification (skills in employment not matching education level/type) perspectives. We used a national data set for 41,671 graduates of Australian universities in 2016 and 2017, surveyed at four months and three years' post-graduation, to explore determining factors in the short and medium-term. Descriptive statistical techniques and binary logistic regression were used to address our research aims.
Findings
Graduates' medium-term employment states were generally positive with reduced unemployment and increased full-time job attainment. Importantly, most graduates that were initially underemployed transited to full-time work at three years post-graduation. However, around one-fifth of graduates were overqualified in the medium-term. While there was some evidence of the initially qualified transitioning to matched employment, supporting career mobility theory, over one-third remaining overqualified. Skills, personal characteristics and degree-related factors each influenced initial overqualification, while discipline was more important in the medium-term.
Originality/value
Our study explores both time-based underemployment and overqualification, and over time, builds on earlier work. Given the longer-term, negative effects of mismatch on graduates' career and wellbeing, findings highlight the need for career learning strategies to manage underemployment and consideration of future labour market policy for tertiary graduates.
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Chitalu Miriam Chama-Chiliba, Mwimba Chewe, Kelvin Chileshe, Hilary Chilala Hazele and Abdelkrim Araar
This paper aims to study the relationship between working while studying in college/university and education mismatch among employed youth in the Zambian labour market.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the relationship between working while studying in college/university and education mismatch among employed youth in the Zambian labour market.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses data from the 2014 School-to-Work Transition Survey and a multinomial logit model to examine three education-mismatch categories: undereducated, matched and overeducated. The paper also examines heterogeneities by education level and gender and uses empirical and subjective approaches of education mismatch.
Findings
The evidence shows that employed youth who worked while studying have a higher likelihood of having well-matched jobs. The subgroup analysis by education level reveals no significant relationship between working while studying among employed youth with higher education (secondary and above). However, employed youth with lower education (primary and lower) are less likely to be mismatched for the job. The linkage between the education system and the labour market needs to be strengthened to support a smoother school-to-work transition for youth. Additional support to enable exposure to the right type of work during youth's college or university studies could increase job match and reduce labour market inefficiencies.
Originality/value
The paper provides insights into a significant challenge faced by youth in developing countries, i.e. finding a suitable job for youth's level of education.
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