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The subject of part‐time work is one which has become increasingly important in industrialised economies where it accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of total employment. It is estimated that in 1970, average annual hours worked per employee amounted to only 60% of those for 1870. Two major factors are attributed to explaining the underlying trend towards a reduction in working time: (a) the increase in the number of voluntary part‐time employees and (b) the decrease in average annual number of days worked per employee (Kok and de Neubourg, 1986). The authors noted that the growth rate of part‐time employment in many countries was greater than the corresponding rate of growth in full‐time employment.

The author argues that we must stop and take a look at what our insistence on human labour as the basis of our society is doing to us, and begin to search for possible alternatives. We need the vision and the courage to aim for the highest level of technology attainable for the widest possible use in both industry and services. We need financial arrangements that will encourage people to invent themselves out of work. Our goal, the article argues, must be the reduction of human labour to the greatest extent possible, to free people for more enjoyable, creative, human activities.

The 1980s and 1990s were periods of far‐reaching transformations in working hours and flexibility in Europe. Usually those initiatives came from the social partners. Yet France stood out during this period in that it maintained an interventionist state; the climax of public intervention came when the Aubry laws were passed introducing the 35‐hour working week. Paradoxically, the Aubry laws resulted not in a weakening of collective bargaining, but in an unprecedented series of negotiations in companies. This article sets out the process leading to the laws, and then analyses the results of the negotiations.

This article examines experiments with shorter working hours in Finnish municipalities between 1996 and 1998. The article focuses on the effects of different working time experiments on employees (work ability), on working units (quality of services) and substitutes recruited during the experiments. The results indicate that shorter working hours reduce job exhaustion, with respect to both 6‐hour shifts and other forms of reduced hours. The participants reported positive changes the quality and availability of services, especially in the case of 6‐hour shifts. In addition, during the experiment, new employees (substitutes) reported improved chances to obtain work in the future; after the experiment, however, only small a proportion of these employees were able to procure a new job. The analysis was based on three kinds of questionnaire data. First, in the three municipalities (Jyväskylä, Naantali and Espoo) — supported by the European Social Fund (ESF) — three‐phased panel data included 75 experimental and 42 control group participants. The second set of data was gathered in the other 14 municipalities implementing different working time experiments with a two‐phased questionnaire (panel data without control groups, n = 567). The third set of data included new employees (substitutes) recruited during the experiment in the three ESF municipalities and in Saarijärvi (n = 66).

In 1993, an innovative working time agreement was achieved at the Volkswagen (VW) Company. Its major aim was to save 30,000 jobs in VW's six German plants, which were endangered because of a severe crisis of the car manufacturer. The 2‐year agreement included as its major point a reduction of the weekly working hours by 20% to 28.8 hours/week without complete financial compensation for the employees. In the years following, the original agreement was renewed and amended several times whereby the amendments mainly included a considerable flexibility of the working time structures at Volkswagen. This paper discusses the different agreements and presents some findings of a representative empirical study among the VW employees about the effects of the 28.8‐hour per week agreement. Finally, the question will be answered whether the VW model could serve as a general model to redistribute an existing volume of work among more employees in order to reduce unemployment.

DURING some courses on production and management problems at the T.U.C. Training College job evaluation and merit rating were discussed. The notes used for that purpose form the basis of a booklet which the Trades Union Congress has published at 1s. 6d. Its purpose is to equip trade union representatives with an outline of the systems most widely used.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the employment trajectories, aspirations, work‐life balance and career mobility of women working as part‐time managers.

In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 16 female part‐time managers and four of their line managers in public and private‐sector organizations. Interviews explored women's career trajectories before and after the transition to part‐time work and focused on career mobility, aspirations and work‐life balance.

The part‐time managers in this sample held varied careers while working full‐time but careers stalled once a transition to part‐time work was made. The majority were career focused, worked intensively and felt frustrated with their lack of mobility and career progression while working part‐time. The majority worked in excess of their contracted hours and did not experience an appropriate reallocation of work when they reduced hours.

This paper is of value to both researchers and policy makers. Policy implications point to the limitations of the current UK legislation on the right to request flexible working. The paper states that further research would be beneficial on the ways in which managers employed on part‐time and other flexible contracts, operate successfully in organizations, with the aim of championing alternative working patterns and breaking down traditional long hours cultures which act as a barrier to women and part‐time workers.

This paper explores the employment profiles and experiences of a little studied and rare group of female workers.

This article has a threefold purpose. First, it presents an overview of part‐time employment within the European Community in the context of current labour market trends. Second, it discusses the advantages and disadvantages associated with part‐time working and third, it outlines the factors supporting a future expansion of part‐time working.

Rising unemployment in the 1970s and particularly over the last six years (1979–85) has focused trade union strategies on the question of job creation. The initial response was largely a restatement of Keynesian macro‐economic policies plus a series of short‐term “special measures”. The deepening of the recession in the early 80s caused a minor re‐think and an examination of notions of work redistribution. The immediate solution was seen as “the shorter working week” and, despite a growing awareness of other options, this remans the cornerstone of TUC thinking and that of its major affiliates.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a labour process theory interpretation of four case studies within the Australian construction industry. In each case study a working time intervention (a shift to a five‐day working week from the industry standard six days) was implemented as an attempt to improve the work‐life balance of employees.

This paper was based on four case studies with mixed methods. Each case study has a variety of data collection methods which include questionnaires, short and long interviews, and focus groups.

It was found that the complex mix of wage‐ and salary‐earning staff within the construction industry, along with labour market pressures, means that changing to a five‐day working week is quite a radical notion within the industry. However, there are some organisations willing to explore opportunities for change with mixed experiences.

The practical implications of this research include understanding the complexity within the Australian construction industry, based around hours of work and pay systems. Decision‐makers within the construction industry must recognize a range of competing pressures that mean that “preferred” managerial styles might not be appropriate.

This paper shows that construction firms must take an active approach to reducing the culture of long working hours. This can only be achieved by addressing issues of project timelines and budgets and assuring that take‐home pay is not reliant on long hours of overtime.