Flexibility and WorkLife Balance

1
Flexibility and Work-Life Balance

• an intervention
• WORKS conference 8-9 October 2008
• Helge Hvid
• Roskilde University, Denmark

2
Congratulation!

• Have created a very detailed picture of
• Trends in work organisations towards new kinds
  of flexibility and back again
• Patterns of time in work and work-life balance
• Gendered effects of the changes
• Differences between EU countries and examples of
  the impact of regulation

3
First Refexion

• gt No single trend, many different patterns exist
  beside each others there are room for politics
  and for improvements

4
Flexibility Good or Bad for Quality of Working
Life?

• The reports pinpoint problematic elements
• - uncertainty, asocial working hours, intensity,
  reduced complexity, work-life imbalance
• However employees want some kinds of
  flexibility
• - The task oriented and boundaryless work is (for
  many) considered as attractive
• Employers make constant pressure for more
  flexibility some time numerical, some time
  functional often both

5
The Challenge

• Searching for a kind of flexibility, which
  improves quality of working life - AND somehow
  maintain and improve innovation capacity,
  efficiency and quality
• gt Need for an intelligent regulation,
  consciously affecting quality of working life

6
Three Kinds of Flexibility

• Flexible work organisations
• - Just in time, project orientation
• Flexible contracts of employment
• precarious employment, part time,
• outsourcing
• Flexible time arrangements
• 24/7 society, irregular time schedules,
• flexi time

Degree of Fun. flex
Degree of Num. flex
7
Regulating Flexibility

• Flexible work organisations
• - ?? ??
• Flexible contracts of employment
• - Flexicurity individual rights to social
  security and training
• Flexible time arrangements
• - Family related leaves (parental leave),
  flexi-time, autonomy over working time

8
Regulatory Limitations

• Flexible work organizations
• - ?? ??
• Flexible contracts of employment
• Flexicurity makes an unsustainable work
  organization possible
• Flexible time arrangements
• - Individual rights related to time tend to
  increase intensity in both work and family life,
  and tend to create gender inequality

9
In Search for a Regulation for Sustainable Work
Organization

• It is very important to be aware of unsustainable
  elements of the flexible work organization.
  WORKS give a lot of knowledge
• Also important to look for possibilities WORKS
  also gives opportunities for that?
• Important to excavate experiences with
  regulations that are promoting sustainable work
  organizations
• - Social partners at the work place, campaigns,
  agreements, governmental support etc.