Working time

Relevant Eurofound research and data

Presentation
Working hours: some stylised facts Work life-balance Working time flexibility Gender aspects of working time Conclusions
Main sources: Fourth European Working Conditions survey (2005), European Establishment survey on working time / work life balance (2004-5)

Annual working hours: the historical trend

3500

3000

2500

2000

France Germany UK US

1500

1000 1870 1900 1913 1929 1938 1950 1960 1973 1980 1990 2000

Source: Huberman 2003

Working more than 48 hours a week

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
TR RO EL PL BG HU CZ SK HR LV SI IE MT ES AT LT CH BE PT IT UK CY DK EE DE SE NL LU FI FR NO

Self-employed

Employee

Who works long hours ?

50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

43.9%

19.9% 14.8% 8.5% 9.4%

Male TOTAL EU27 SEX

Female

Employee

Self-employed

EMPLOYMENT STATUS

Work-life balance
80% are satisfied but 40+% of those working long hours are not satisfied, working fathers report more dissatisfaction
100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% <10 10 - 30 31 - 35 36 - 40 41 - 45 >45

Very well

Well

Not very well

Not at all well

Dissatisfaction with work-life balance by country

Do working hours fit in with family or social commitments outside work? Unsatisfactory work-life fit by country
50 60

40

54

30
%

48
hrs

20

42

10

36

0
NO AT DK CH FI DE UK NL LU BE PT FR IE CZ EU27 SE MT SK CY LT EE ES HR SI RO BG HU IT PL LV TR EL

30

Not very w ell

Not at all w ell

Weekly hours

Standard hours are preferred

Different schedules and dissatisfaction with work-life fit (%) (male full-time /female part and full-time)
Daytime schedule variants

Daytime, some weekend including long days

Daytime, weekday, some long days Daytime, some weekend work, no long days

Daytime, weekday, no long days 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

female p/t

male f/t

female f/t

Flexibility?....
Work fixed starting and finishing times by gender, %
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 EU15 1995 EU15 2000
male

EU15 2005
female total

EU25 2005

Source: Fourth European Working Conditions survey

Working time discretion by country

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%
SE NL DK FI AT BE LU UK FR DE IE IT EE SI CZ SK PL ES LV MT LT RO HU EL PT CY BG

Your working hours are entirely determined by yourself You can adapt your working hours within certain limits You can choose between several fixed working schedules They are set by the company with no possibility for changes

Source: Fourth European Working Conditions survey

Flexi-time arrangements in the EU

LV SE FI UK PL IE

AT DE DK ALL 21 FR LU NL ES IT SI BE HU EL PT CY 0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

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
50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Data from EF Establishment Survey (2005)

CZ

Why was flexitime introduced?

90% 80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0% To reduce paid overtime hours To make working hours To enable employees To cope with commuting Other reasons more adaptable to the to better combine work problems variations in workload and family or personal life Don't know/No answer

Data from EF Establishment Survey (2005)

The effects of flexitime

80%

(Positive effects)
70%

(Negative effects)

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Reduction of Better adaptation Lower paid overtime of workloads absenteeism

Higher job satisfaction

Other positive Communication effects problems

Increased costs

Other negative effects

Data from EF Establishment Survey (2005)

Contactability outside work-hours (by phone/email)

Conta cte d outside w orking hours

Fem ale

M ale No supervisory responsibilities

Fem ale

M ale Supervisory responsibilities

20

40

60

80

100

120

E very day A t least once a w eek A couple times of a m onth or less of ten Less of ten Never

Gender divergence: working hours and parenthood

Weekly working hours by gender and number of children U-16
45 40

hrs

35 30 25 None 1 2 m f
Source: Fourth European Working Conditions survey

4 or more

Total

Combined working hours : women work the longest

(EU27 only)

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Part-time

male female male female

23.5 21.3 43.1 40.0

Paid working hours main job +Commuting time

7.3 32.7 7.9 23.0

+Paid working hours second job +Unpaid working hours

Full-time

Conclusions
1. Average working weeks have declined markedly over the last generation more so in the EU than in the US - but one in ten European employees still report that they usually work over 48 hours per week. Working time flexibility: not as widespread as some might think. More prevalent in Northern European countries Around 50% of EU establishments have some form of flexitime arrangements; their evaluation of the effects of these arrangements is very positive. Evidence that it WLB practices improve performance and time management, reduces absenteeism and facilitates recruitment. The double burden: taking household and labour market work together gives a very different picture of the relative workloads of men and women.

2. 3.

4.

Supplementary slide
..from ESWT 2004/5

100%

25%

50%

75%

0%
Sweden Finland Austria Latvia Germany Denmark Ireland Czech Republic Poland United Kingdom France Luxembourg Netherlands Spain Italy Hungary Belgium Slovenia Greece Portugal Cyprus

Proportion of flexi-timers in the company

flexi-time workers
40-60% 20-40% All 80-90 60-80% Less 20% No flexi-time

Data from EF Establishment Survey (2005)