Quality of Work and Employment in EuropeQuality of Work and Employment in Europe
Working time and work-life balance Working time and work-life balance in European companiesin European companies
David FodenResearch Manager
Eurofound
3 septembre 2008 1
David Foden – Eurofound 2
Some general info on the surveySome general info on the survey Coverage:
- 15 ‘old’ MS of the European Union - 6 NMS (Czech Republic, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia)
Telephone interviews in over 21,000 workplaces
Establishments with 10 or more employees, across all economic sectors : random selection
personnel managers and – where available – employee representatives
3
What do we want for work-life What do we want for work-life balance?balance?
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Introduction or extension of flexi-time or working-time accounts
Introduction or extension oflong-term leave options
A general reduction inweekly working hours
Introduction or extension of opportunitiesfor phased retirement
Introduction or extension of opportunities for early retirement
Reduction of overtime or introductionof time-off in lieu
Introduction or extension of opportunitiesto work part-time
No action needed
Better possibilities to change from un-usual hours to normal working hours
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Flexible time arrangementsFlexible time arrangements Flexible working time arrangements exist in almost
half (48%) of companies with 10 or more employees in Europe
A larger proportion of companies in the services sector (50%) than in industry (43%) report the existence of some form of flexibility
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Flexi-time arrangements in EuropeFlexi-time arrangements in Europe
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
CY
PT
EL
HU
BE
SI
IT
ES
NL
LU
FR
ALL 21DK
DE
AT
CZ
IE
PL
UK
FI
SE
LV
Possibility to use accumulated hours for longer periods of leave Possibility to use accumulated hours for days off Possibility to accumulate hours, but no full days off Possibility to vary start and end of daily work, no accumulation of days
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Flexible time arrangementsFlexible time arrangements The two main reasons cited by managers for introducing
flexible working arrangements were ‘enabling employees to better combine work and family (or personal) life’ (68%) and ‘better adaptation of working hours to the establishment’s workload’ (47%)
Both managers and employee representatives report higher job satisfaction as the main outcome of the introduction of flexible working times, followed by a better adaptation of working hours to the workload
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The effects of flexitime The effects of flexitime
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Reduction of paidovertime
Better adaptationof workloads
Lowerabsenteeism
Higher jobsatisfaction
Other positiveeffects
Communicationproblems
Rise of costs Other negativeeffects
All Managers Managers with corresponding Employee-Representative-Interview Employee Representative
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% establishments w ith any part-timers (base: All establishments)
shar
e of
par
t-tim
ers
per
esta
blis
hmen
t (ba
se: e
st. w
ith p
art-t
ime
empl
oyee
s)
DK
IT
IE
BE
UK
EL
SI
DE
NL
AT
PT
SE
PL
FR
CY
LUHU
ES
CZ
100%
40%
0%
FI
LV
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Forms of part-time workForms of part-time work
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Average Scandinavia Western Europe Anglo-Saxonia Mediterranean Eastern Europe
Some fixed hours every day Other fixed cycles Flexible hours on demand Other forms/DK/NA
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08/04/23 10
Switching to part-time (skilled)Switching to part-time (skilled)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
United Kingdom
Sweden
Netherlands
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Austria
France
EU21
Ireland
Germany
Latvia
Spain
Poland
Finland
Luxembourg
Italy
Slovenia
Hungary
Cyprus
Portugal
Greece
Easy to switch Possible, after some time Possible, only exceptionally Practically no chance Never happened
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Part-time workPart-time work A significant proportion of both employee
representatives (41%) and managers* (27%) stated that working part-time had a negative impact on career prospects
* 34% of managers in establishments whre an employee representative was interviewed
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CareerCareer prospectsprospects of part-timers compared to of part-timers compared to full-timers with comparable qualificationsfull-timers with comparable qualifications
1% 1% 0%
61%
57%
49%
16%
22%25%
11% 12%
16%
11%9% 10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
All managers Managers with corresponding employee-representative interview
Employee representatives
Better than those of full-timers About the same Slightly worse Significantly worse Don't know/No answer
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Family-related leaveFamily-related leave In half of all companies (51%) in the survey, at
least one employee has availed of parental leave in the three years preceding the interview
On average, 30% of the establishments with recent experience of parental leave reported that one or more male employees took parental leave
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Family-related leaveFamily-related leave National systems/ culture : very important here
Possibility / length / generosity
Training programmes to facilitate the re-integration
of employees returning to work after an extended period of leave are offered by about 22% of all companies
08/04/23 15
Companies in which fathers taking parental leaveCompanies in which fathers taking parental leave
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
SE SI FI PT NL BE UK LU DK IE FR EU21 EL IT ES DE LV AT PL HU CZ CY
08/04/23 16
Long term leavesLong term leaves
53%
37% 36%
26%
47%
32% 32%
22%
71%
55%
51%
38%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Total leaves* For the care of elderly, ill or disabledrelatives
For further education For any other purpose
Average Private sector Public Sector* without parental leave
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Retirement Retirement Phased retirement schemes are offered in about 37% of companies
in the survey Phased retirement is more likely to be found in countries that have
broad experience of part-time employment than in countries with little experience of such work
Early retirement schemes are more widespread: 48% of companies surveyed offer this
The incidence of early retirement is particularly high in the education sector (72% of establishments), in financial intermediation (63%) and healthcare (61%)
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Typology of working time flexibilityTypology of working time flexibilityType of WT-flexibility
% of organisations 14% 22% 18% 7% 18% 21%
Indicators
part-time workers (>20%) + + + + - -
irregular hours - + - + -
flexible working hours (>20%) + - + - -
overtime (>20%) + + - + -
parental leave + + - - - -
long-term leave available + + + - - -
early retirement option + + + - - -
facilities for work-life balance + + + + - -
flexible contracts + + - - -
See also Table A in handout
David Foden – Eurofound
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High flexibility, worker orientedHigh flexibility, worker oriented
% of establishments
17.0 to 33.0 (6)10.5 to 17.0 (10)2.9 to 10.5 (5)
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High flexibility, firm orientedHigh flexibility, firm oriented
% of establishments
25.2 to 28.6 (6)20.8 to 25.2 (8)12.8 to 20.8 (7)
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Intermediate flexibility: life-courseIntermediate flexibility: life-course
% of establishments
19.8 to 35.0 (9)14.4 to 19.8 (8)5.6 to 14.4 (4)
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Intermediate flexibility: day-to-dayIntermediate flexibility: day-to-day
% of establishments
9.8 to 12.1 (5)2.9 to 9.8 (11)1.1 to 2.9 (5)
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Intermediate flexibility: overtimeIntermediate flexibility: overtime
% of establishments
21.5 to 32.3 (7)13.3 to 21.5 (8)6.7 to 13.3 (6)
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low flexibilitylow flexibility
% of establishments
33.1 to 50.8 (6)18.8 to 33.1 (7)7.4 to 18.8 (8)
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Distribution of company types within Distribution of company types within industry and servicesindustry and services
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Industries (NACE C-F) Services (NACE G-O)
% o
f est
ablis
hmen
ts
high flexibility, workeroriented
high flexibility, firmoriented
intermediateflexibility, lifecourse
intermediateflexibility, day-to-day
intermediateflexibility, overtime
low flexibility
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Distribution of company types within Distribution of company types within private and public sectorprivate and public sector
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
private sector public sector
% o
f est
ablis
hmen
ts
high flexibility, workeroriented
high flexibility, firmoriented
intermediateflexibility, lifecourse
intermediateflexibility, day-to-day
intermediateflexibility, overtime
low flexibility
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Relation of WT flexibility toRelation of WT flexibility tofirm’s performancefirm’s performance
High Intermediate Low
worker-oriented
firm-oriented life-course day-to-day overtime
Economic situation very good 16% + -
Personnel size increased 34% + + - - -
Problems finding skilled staff 35% + - + -
Problems retaining staff 9% + -
Low motivation of staff 16% + - - + -
Social climate very strained 4% +
Work-life balance very difficult 6% + - +
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Summing upSumming up
•Based on observed practices in ESWT: 6 types of firms regarding WT-flexibility
•Typology is more subtle than ‘more vs. less flexible’ working time flexibility is not a 1-dimensional concept
•Substantial variation within and between countries
•No strong relation between high flexibility and ‘performance’differences between types of flexibility at least as important
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Further informationFurther information European Foundation website www.eurofound.eu.int
Company survey page http://www.eurofound.eu.int/areas/worklifebalance/eswt.htm
Publications http://www.eurofound.eu.int/publications/index.htm
Or email Camilla Gallo da bino: [email protected]
David Foden – Eurofound