Irregular, variable and flexible working hours -how does it affect work-life balance?

1. Irregular, variable and flexible working hours -how does it affect work-life balance? Karen Albertsen National Institute of Occupational Health Danmark

2. Topics: • How many and who experience work-life conflicts? • How does working hours, working overtime and irregular working hours affect work-life balance? • Is flexibility the solution?

3. Working hours and work-life balance • A representative Danish study, COpenhagen PSychoSOcial Questionnaire (COPSOQ),2004-2005, 3517 participants at work, NIOH, DK • Results and examples from a literature review, Collaboration project financed by The Nordic Council of Ministries • An example of an intervention in working time arrangements in a psychiatric ward, Women at work, Multiple case intervention study (17 interventions),2000 – 2004, NIOH,DK

4. How many and who experience work-life conflicts in Denmark and EU?

5. Work-life conflicts in selected EUcountries Sourse: ”Quality of life in Europe”, 2003, European Foundation

6. 1/4-1/3 experience time- and energy conflicts from work to private life in DK COPSOQ 2005; NIOH,DK

7. Few experience time- and energy conflicts from private life to work COPSOQ 2005; NIOH,DK

8. Work-life conflicts in selected job groups (among 56): Results available on www.ami.dk

9. Summary • 1/4 - 1/3 of the working population experience conflicts from work to private life in Denmark • More people experience problems in the “new” EU member states • Few people experience problems from private life to work • More people experience energy than time problems • No large gender differences • Primarily people with higher education and school teachers • People in “Work without boundaries”

10. How does working hours, working overtime and irregular working hours affect work-life balance?

11. 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 (15/20) • Pattern more consistent among women (8/8) than men (1/5) • Strong scientific evidence that overtime work are associated with lower levels of work life balance (6/6) • Overtime work problematic for both full- and part time employed • Fit of working hours, rewards and compensation for overtime work important mediators

12. OR for work- home interference higher under low reward conditions Van der Hulst & Geurts, 2001

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

14. Irregular working hours damage work-life balance • Strong scientific evidence, that shift work is associated with poor work-life balance (6/6) • Shift work prospectively related to higher work-home interference (Jansen et al., 2003) • Backward rotating shifts worse than forward rotating (Van Amelsvoort, 2004)

15. Negative effects of shift work on children 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)

16. Shift work 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

17. 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 • Few prospective studies • Few studies with family or couple as entity • Few studies of effects on children • Conceptual problems: What are we measuring?

18. Is flexibility the solution? - Or part of the problem?

19. Example: A working time intervention within a psychiatric hospital In collaboration with: Joanna Pryce & Karina Nielsen

20. Organization of intervention • Aim: Improve work-life balance • Focus: work schedule • Steering committee with representatives from teams, security representatives, representatives from trade union and project manager • Daily planning and coordination handled by the project manager • Two external consultants associated the project in the whole period

21. Participants: • 4 nursing teams in intervention group (n= 86) • 5 nursing teams in comparison group (n=91) • 60% nurses • 40% health care assistants • 92% female • Average age 43

22. The intervention • Participatory approach • 3 out of 4 teams chose an empty roster intervention • Employees should fill in own schedule under responsibility of the needs of others • Fine – tuning of roster by two nurses on a rotating basis • Results only includes the three teams implementing the empty roster

23. Effect- and process evaluation • Process evaluation: • Interviews with project managers, line managers, employees, consultants • Focus group interviews • Questions to process in questionnaires Baseline questionnaire 20 month follow up Workshop Implementation of interventions 20 month follow up Baseline questionnaire • Process evaluation: • Focus group interviews • Questions to process in questionnaires Comparison groups

24. Satisfaction with work-life balance improved

25. Job satisfaction and community improved

26. Social support improved

27. From process evaluation • Managers: • Employees gained better insight in available resources and utilization of resources • Employees: • Initial resistance to the intervention • Positively received - entry into a broader discussion about the way in which work is designed and managed. • Competition to be the first one to fill in the schedule • Insecurity related to increased responsibility for the fine-tuning of the plan

28. Summary: • Intervention improved job-satisfaction, work-life balance, social support and feelings of community • No effect on health and stress variables • Relative simple and cheap intervention • Important that new responsibilities are followed by new qualifications

29. 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 (10/12) • No evidence that control moderate or mediate the effect of long or irregular hours (3/3) • Control can not compensate for high number of hours or irregular hours • Problem in many studies: lack of control of relevant work environmental factors • Control often associated with a good work environment in general

30. No effect of flexible work hours in a large, prospective and adequately controlled study WFC was predicted over 1 year among 5143 men by: • High psychological, emotional and physical demands • Low decision latitude • Low social support • Conflicts with supervisor • Job insecurity • Shift work • – but not flexible work hours, overtime work or commuting time • WFC was predicted over 1 year among 999 women by: • Physical demands • Overtime work • Commuting time • – but not flexible work hours Jansen et al., 2003

31. Summary • Positive effects of influence on WLB and wellbeing • No moderating or mediating effects of influence • Other work environmental factors may be more important

32. Perspectives/questions • Influence over working hours improve work-life balance - BUT • Job groups with high influence over work schedule have low work life balance • It may be that a certain level of influence over working hours are important, but that no regulation give rise to new problems • Self-regulation in a labor market with the goal of constantly increasing efficiency can be dangerous!

33. Dick Birds tries with catering: ”That's it! Now, your employees can have lunch, including salad, chicken, and all coffee consumed during the day, through this drip. All breaks are gone! They will just work uninterrupted! And you pay me! All are happy!”

34. Thank you for your attention!