Social consequences of working time arrangements – results from a review Senior Researcher Karen Albertsen

Aim’s of report Describe the context of the labor market in the different Nordic countries Summarize the international scientific knowledge with regard to social consequences of long and irregular working hours and employee influence over working hours

Material Literature searched in large databases; PSYC-info and Pub Med Supplemented with other relevant literature Results from more than 85 studies included Available EU statistics utilized in the description of the Nordic countries

The Nordic context

Average self-reported usual weekly hours of work in main job for all employees (European Labour Force survey 2002) The 15 EU: Member states prior to enlargement in 2004: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

Flexibility/variability of working hours (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005)

Demands at work (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005)

Tele-work and work with computers (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005)

Influence at work (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005 )

Percent experiencing that work affects health (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005)

Stress and sleeping problems (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005)

Work-life balance (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005)

Summary The Nordic countries have: –high employment rates for women –an average number of working hours –high intensity at work –more influence on speed and schedule However –more people experience stress and sleeping problems –more people enjoy a better work-life balance

How does working hours, working overtime and irregular working hours affect work-life balance? Results from review Results from Danish National Data

Questionnaire study based on a representative national sample of employees years old N= 3517 Response rate: 60% Women: 52% The COpenhagen PychoSOcial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) Study base: The second National Danish Psychosocial Work Environment Study

Percent who feels that work demands so much of their time that it affects private life % Singles without children Couples without children Couples with older children (+7) Couples with small children Singles with children < 37hours 37 hours hours 45 hours or more Worse work-life balance with increased hours

Long working hours and overtime work damage work-life balance: Strong scientific evidence that a high number of working hours are associated with less balance between work and private life (26/30) Pattern more consistent among women (9/9) and in gender-mixed samples (15/15) than in male samples (2/6) Strong scientific evidence that overtime work are associated with lower levels of work life balance (7/7) Overtime work problematic for both full- and part time employed Fit of working hours, rewards and compensation for overtime work important mediators

OR for work-home interference when working overtime is much higher under low reward and high pressure conditions Van der Hulst & Geurts, 2001

Irregular working hours – more conflicts % Singles without children Couples without children Couples with older children (+7) Couples with small children Singles with children Fixed daily working hours Irregular working hours Percent who feels that work demands so much of their time that it affects private life

Irregular working hours damage work- life balance Strong scientific evidence, that shift work is associated with poor work-life balance (11/11) Shift work prospectively related to higher work-home interference (Jansen et al., 2003) Backward rotating shifts worse than forward rotating (Van Amelsvoort, 2004)

Negative effects of shift work on children’s wellbeing and marital quality Poorer cognitive stimulation of children (Heymann & Earle 2001) Higher odds for young children of behavioral and emotional difficulties (Strazdin et al., 2004) Marital instability (Presser, 2000) Prospectively associated with marital problems and divorce (White & Keith, 1990)

Shift work and increase marital instability Shift-work cross sectional associated with: –lower marital happiness –higher sexual problems –child related problems. Prospectively: –Disagreements increased when one of the spouses started to work shifts –Interaction increased and child-related problems decreased when one of the spouses dropped shift work The probability of divorce increaded by 57% for people working in shifts (after adjustment for other factors) White & Keith, 1990

Scientific evidence for the positive effect of control over working hours Strong scientific support that control over working hours is associated with better work-life balance (13/17) No evidence that control moderate or mediate the effect of long or irregular hours (3/3)

Intervention studies

Reduced hours with wage compensation – A 6 hours day (Åkerstedt et al 2001)

Compressed working weeks 3+ 3 model –improvements in recovery, self-reported health, work-life balance, sickness absence and job satisfaction (Andersson & Jonsson, 2005) 4 days and nights of work followed by 7 days off, and after that 3 days and nights of work followed by 7 days off –experience of positive changes in family life, leisure time, health, work environment and work tasks due to the new roster no signs of improved self rated health (Enehaug, Sørensen, & Helte, 2006) Double shifts (due to long commuting times):8 hour shift followed by two 15, 5 hours shifts and 8,5 hours off between the double shifts –positive attitude toward the long shift, no changes on measures of stress or self reported health, sleep length shortened between shifts, increase in sleepiness and mental fatigue (Ekstedt, Kecklund, Dahlgren, & Åkerstedt, 2001)

Changes in shift systems: Backward rotating three-shift system changed to a rapidly changing, forward rotating system, with morning, evening and night shifts followed by 72 hours off duty (Härmä et al., 2006)

New organisation of working life flexibility in working hours flexibility in working place changed organisation of work, with less emphasis on the formal regulation through work descriptions and with more emphasis on personal competences and self-regulation at work (Aronsson, 2005)

Studies of work without boundaries ‘trust hours’ (work based on results and performance rather than hours) –positive effect on satisfaction, burnout, stress and sleep. –15% of employees were dissatisfied and wanted regulated working hours back. They experienced more stress and increased workload and insecurity (Kecklund et al., 2002) Telework – SYSTEL (EU-project) –positive effect on quality of life, increased time at home for non-work activities, both positive and negative effects on work-life conflicts, more isolation to work-related contacts, increases in weekly hours (Schmidt, Millard, & Nielsen, 2003)

Studies of work without boundaries Contract work –Technical contractors perceived themselves to have flexibility, but rather than take advantage of this, the majority worked long hours and rarely scheduled their time flexibly (Evans, Kunda, & Barley, 2004). Self-employment –New media owners experienced lack of clear boundaries around project content, uncertainty about the volume of work and inflexible deadlines, put in hours of unpaid work, serious tensions between work and life, felt that work invaded private life, and forced them to work all the time –Women worked fewer hours, earned less and were more likely to have sole or major responsibility for childcare than the males (Perrons, 2003).

Summary Adverse effects of long working hours, overtime work and irregular hours on WLB Adverse effects of irregular hours on children's wellbeing and marital quality Moderating effects of fit, reward and pressure on overtime work Positive effect of schedule control on WLB Interventions showed positive effects on social life indicators Pros and cons of work without boundaries

Lack of research: Few studies of the new organization of working life Few prospective studies Few intervention studies Few studies with family or couple as entity Few studies of total work-load Few studies of effects on children and partner Studies comparing the effects of different kinds of non- standard work arrangements needed Studies with “hard-core” outcomes as divorce, delinquencies, number of friends etc.

Metodological requests Gender stratification important Conceptual problems: What are we measuring? Problem in many studies: lack of control of other relevant work environmental factors Schedule control and overwork often associated with a good work environment in general Selection problems Moderating and mediating effects important Negetive side-effects important (e.g. of part-time and flexibility) Positive social consequences and negative long time health consequences

Thank you for your attention – Now it’s lunch time!

Group work: knowledge gaps and important research questions What is the main issues and important questions to be answered with regard to working time and work-life balance? –With regard to practice –With regard to theory –With regard to methods