Working-Time Configurations

Abstract

W orking-time practices across the developed world have exploded with diversity during the past few decades. The once standard 8-hour day and 40-hour workweek that emerged and reigned throughout much of the 20th century have given way to an increasing variety of working-time arrangements. flexible schedules, in which hours can vary daily or weekly, and nonstandard work arrangements, such as fixed term, on-call, temporary, or part-time, are widely used at the workplace. In addition, we have witnessed the growth of zero-hour contracts that make no guarantee to provide workers with weekly working hours or a reliable income, while requiring employees to work on very short notice with very unpredictable schedules; annualized hours contracts that allow for work hours to vary over a year; and working-time accounts that allow employees to bank hours worked over a set weekly standard and to then draw on these accounts for paid time off.as a vital element of the employment relationship, working time is deeply linked to changes in the labor market and intertwined with pay and rewards (Rubery 2010). as such, the duration and scheduling of work hours are closely connected to some of the most pressing economic issues, including wage inequality. In the United states, zero-hour contracts with unpredictable schedules foster unpredictable incomes. nonstandard work arrangements restrict hours of work and often pay lower per hour rates than full-time jobs pay, contributing to the low-wage sector of the economy. nonstandard work arrangements also restrict access to full-time employment and benefits such as paid vacations, sick leave, and premium pay for working at unsocial hours (harvey 1999). These alternative arrangements make it difficult for individuals to move up the economic ladder and thereby further inequality within the labor market. moreover, stagnating or declining

Being “top‐ranked” without “causing troubles”: Comparing federal and provincial immigration pathways for Chinese international students in Canada

“…On the other hand, part‐time opportunities limit the types of jobs IS can have during their studies. Maintaining a part‐time schedule often means that IS are inevitably restricted to occupational sectors in which employers can break up work into fragmented schedules that can be adjusted to schedule multiple part‐time workers (Berg et al, 2014). Canada's part‐time employment is “most associated with retail trade and hospitality” (International Labour Organization, 2016: 63).…”

Working-hour Trends in the Nordic Countries: Convergence or Divergence?

“…This has made hiring young people and students with short-hour contracts more attractive for employers (Ilsøe et al 2017). The Danish case illustrates that even though the Nordic countries have a strong tradition of collective bargaining in establishing stability in working conditions and working time (Berg et al 2014;Gallie 2007), different reform paths are possible and can lead to different working-time outcomes among particular groups.…”

“…First, at a macro-level, the Nordic countries are characterized by a 'negotiated' working-time-setting regime (Berg et al 2014;Eurofound 2016). Collective bargaining agreements between employer and employee organizations, predominantly at the sectoral level, are the key instrument in establishing working-time standards.…”

Neither timeless, nor placeless: Control of food delivery gig work via place-based working time regimes

“…Over time, and as a result of workers voicing their demands, state regulation increasingly led to a temporal restriction of the working day. The result was a de-commodifying standard employment relationship (SER), which standardised a working time regime in which work was mainly carried out for about 40 hours from Monday to Friday between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Berg et al, 2014: 808; Bosch, 2006). As the SER is under pressure, recently, for example, from platform labour, ‘the restructuring of employment relations can be viewed as a restructuring of the temporalities of work’ (Harvey, 1999: 22).…”