Prsentation PowerPoint

1
WORKING TIME OPTIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS OVER THE
LIFE COURSE INSTITUTINAL FRAMEWORK AND
FIRMSPRACTICES
Jean-Yves Boulin CNRS-IRISES/Université Paris
Dauphine
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
2
STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION
Introduction
Trends in the Institutional Framework
Trends in firms practices
Conclusions
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
3
Introduction
Part of a research project involving six research
teams empirical data gathered together with
Saskia Keuzenkamp (SCP/NL) and Christina Klenner
(WSI/GER) One of the objective of the project
was to provide new empirical evidences on the
current state and development of working time
options (WTO) and working time arrangements
(WTA) that allow to combine paid work with other
activities over the life course. Working time
options (WTO) institutional and legal
possibilities to opt for various working time
patterns Working time arrangements (WTA) how
the different WTO are currently taken up and
applied by employees and companies
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
4
From concept to policies

• The technological determinism Fourastiés 40
  000 hours
• (1965)
• The Human Resources Management approach of the
• OECD report (1973)
• The Gösta Rehn society of free choice
• The Transitional Labour Market Policy (Schmid and
  alii)
• It seems that there is a new opportunity to shift
  from concept to
• policies. A life course approach to working time
  issues seems to be
• particularly adapted to the EU strategy of
  employment (as defined in Lisbon and Barcelona)
  and also to the ways EU intends to answer to the
  challenge of globalisation without throwing the
  basis of its social model.

IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
5
I. Trends in the Institutional Framework
Six countries surveyed (FR, Germany, NL, Spain,
SW, UK) WTO analysed - right to
reduce/increase working hours temporarily -
maternity, paternity, parental leaves and other
care leaves - (progressive/phased) early
retirement schemes - sabbatical/career breaks -
life long learning leaves - working time accounts
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
6
Life events specific WTO versus life course
designed ones
A. Life events specific WTO Most of the
countries have implemented life events specific
WTO corresponding to specific life events(mainly
in relation to parenthood and retirement) -
maternity and paternity leaves - parental
leaves - care leaves - (progressive/flexible)
early retirement schemes
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
7
Trends concerning the life events specific WTO
1. Shift from short leaves (maternity) towards
longer leaves (parental leaves) 2. Strong
differences from a country to another concerning
long leaves (impact the take up rate and partly
explain the cross national differences between
gender in the time allocation and labour market
participation) - paid/unpaid - duration -
conditions of use (flexible e.g full time and/or
part time or rigid) - possibility to return to
the same or a similar job 3. Early retirement
- shift towards a more dynamic approach (in a
first step gradual early retirement e.g
possibility to work on a part time basis and in a
second step, flexible e.g age for retirement
may be before or after the legal retirement
age, in relation with the pension reforms and the
increasing uncertainty concerning the level of
the pensions)
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
8
B. Life course oriented WTO are less common and
have appeared recently - the regulation of
WTO designed in a life course perspective allow
theoretically for the construction of individual
biographies linked to the differentiated needs
and lifestyles of employees - right to reduce
AND increase working hours is statutory
regulated only in the NL. Germany has regulated
the right to reduce working hours (subject to
controversial debate) while UK has introduced
such a regulation for parents of less than 6
years old children - Working Time Accounts are
statutory regulated in FR/Germany and the NL -
individual lifelong learning accounts have also
appeared recently (FR) or are combined with WT
Accounts (Germany or NL)
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
9
Three marked trends

• increasing orientation towards WTO that allow
  for longer periods for deviating
• from the standard employment relationship and are
  opened to more flexible use
• - the regulation of the WTO designed in a life
  course perspective tend to be,
• in their general principles, defined at the
  central level, mainly by law.
• conditions and mode of enforcement tend to be
  regulated through industry
• or firm agreements.

IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
10
II. Trends in firms practices
Increased heterogeneity of working time
arrangements Increasing role of employers and
employees representatives in the regulation of
working hours at the firm level
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
11

• Pressure on firms
• - economic, social and demographic changes
• - development of a corporate culture based on
  social responsibility
• working time arrangements as a business case
• pressure and incentives from the institutional
  context (role of European Strategy for employment
  and Equal Opportunities)
• unions, employees and social movements

IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
12
Trends - increasing importance of work/life
balance arrangements at the firm level - most
of the WT arrangements refer to the work/family
balance - several WT arrangements implemented
at the firm level aim at enhancing firms
efficiency or to face overstaffing (the case for
early retirement schemes, sabbaticals, WT
Accounts, temporary reduction in working hours)
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
13
Typology of firms behaviour
Conformity Symbolic gesture/pro active
behaviour Resistance Manipulation/instrumentalis
ation
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
14
Innovations at the firm level
Age dependent working hours (VW) Choosen Part
time (Boiron) Flexible working time regimes
(City of Bristol)
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
15
Conclusions
Statutory regulations tend to focus more and more
on life course designed WTO Work/life balance
oriented working time options tend to be
regulated (in their principles) at central
levels As far as firms behaviour is concerned
we must have in mind the nature of
the institutional framework that tends to play a
major role - the compulsory dimension of the
statutory regulated WTO (degree of coercion
varies strongly from a country to another) -
coercive dimension for firms depends of the kind
of schemes - importance of the level at which
the right and conditions are defined which may
be different
IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06
16

• Questions to be discussed
• How to avoid path dependency (the question of the
  continuation of the
• employment relationship during the leave or the
  downshifting period
• and the question of the social protection
  entitlements) ?
• -How to avoid the low take up rates of men
  (parental leaves, transitory reduction in working
  time etc.) ?
• Should we introduce a distinction between WTO
  subject to universal
• rights and others that refer more accurately with
  the personal life and
• development of the individual (inter temporal
  distribution of time over
• the life course)
• Universal rights suppose inter temporal and inter
  personal distribution of time and income

IWPLMS 27conference Växjö 14-16 september 06