Conditions of Work and Programme Social Protection Sector M J W What iswork-sharing? Information SheetNo. WT-17 considered (seeInformationSheetNoWT-4 onpart-timework). sharing or -sharing, the legal regulationsregardingpart-time employment haveto be levels. However, when afull-timejobissplitintotwopart-timejobs,whetherinwork- to part-time are notreduced per employee the hours worked typically although employee, per hours working work byreducing of available the (lower)amount instead “share” and sharing programmes, firms can receive benefits when they refrain from the use of layoffs, constrained orpromoted? How arework-sharingandjob-sharing generally notusedasameasuretoavoidlayoffs or increaseemployment. see InformationSheetNo.WT-4is job-sharing onpart-timework).Unlikework-sharing, about part-timejobs, split onefull-timejobintotwopart-timejobs(formoreinformation made withtheemployer.to specificarrangements Ais to commonformofjob-sharing What isjob-sharing? in workinghours. workers’to theextentofreduction wagesandbenefitsmayornotbeproportional compensation). benefits (e.g. often social in The extentofthereduction or subsidies by government compensated benefits, which,inturn,maybepartially employment. and with cutsinwages hours ismostlycoupled inworking The decrease joint responsibility for onefull-timejobanddivide thetimetheyspendonitaccording joint responsibility take two persons whereby arrangement by contrast,referstoavoluntary ob-sharing, preserving existing or creating new ones. In the framework of national work- of national ones. Intheframework new or creating jobs existing preserving as alabourmarketpolicytoolaimedat facilitatework-sharing any countries of workoveralargernumberworkersinordertoavoidlayoffs orincrease a givenvolume to spread time intended of working is areduction ork-sharing Work-sharing andjob-sharing August 2004 Geneva Labour International How effective is work-sharing as a means to fight unemployment? driving force behind work-sharing The empirical evidence regarding the A has been the struggle for a reduction employment effects of of weekly working hours, pushed forward reductions is mixed. According to a study by workers’ all over the by the National Bureau for Economic world. The proponents of this strategy Research, for example, in the German believe that, when working hours are manufacturing industry between 1984 reduced, employers will distribute the and 1989, a one-hour decrease in the unchanged workload over a larger weekly working time raised employment number of workers, and by this means of hourly workers by 0.3 to 0.7 per cent create additional jobs. Opponents of and of salaried workers by 0.2 to 0.3 this strategy argue that the workload per cent.1 In contrast, a study by the does not remain constant when working German Institute for Economic Research hours are reduced, because additional found that a reduction of paid working costs result from hiring new workers. time among high-skilled workers and Moreover, it can be assumed that some managers was completely offset by an employees whose working hours have increase in unpaid . Thus, in been reduced may seek a second job, these occupations, work-sharing would in order to maintain a constant standard be quite ineffective in creating new of living. employment.2

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages for employers Advantages for employees

• Work-sharing can be used to • Work-sharing can enhance job better adjust the firm’s workforce to security due to the preservation of fluctuations in workload. existing jobs. • The reduction of the number of working • Work-sharing may promote the hours over the business cycle avoids creation of new jobs under certain layoffs, thus enabling firms to avoid circumstances. the additional costs of hiring new • Office and schedules might and untrained workers when demand be more in tune with workers’ needs recovers. and preferences, since a reduction in • A successful work-sharing programme the number of hours worked enables may lead to higher levels of productivity workers to get additional time off. and lower unit costs. • Job-sharing allows employees to • Job-sharing enables firms to retain work shorter hours, thus helping skilled women at work after a period them to have more time for family of maternity leave, or more generally, responsibilities and to achieve a better helps hiring persons who could not work-life balance. work full-time hours because of their family obligations. • Job-sharing helps with covering absent workers in the case of sickness, , and maternity leave. • Job-sharing allows firms to make better use of the skills and expertise of each worker. The combination of different skill profiles at the same workplace can improve business results. Disadvantages for employers Disadvantages for employees

• Under work-sharing, additional costs • Under work-sharing schemes, may result from the hiring of additional workers generally have to accept workers. some reductions in their earnings (due to fewer hours worked), although • Poor communication between job- these may be partially compensated sharers can disturb the successful by government wage subsidies on implementation of job-sharing. other social benefits.

• Both work-sharing and job-sharing • Under job-sharing, overlapping require firms to make the necessary periods of work are often needed. If changes in scheduling and in their these are outside the job-sharers’ work . normal working hours, they might lead to longer working hours.

With regard to work-sharing, as the case example (see the following page) makes evident, it is important to consider the following factors: • Work-sharing is more likely to be abrupt organizational and individual successful when organizational and changes from full to reduced work wage changes are not too abrupt. hours through the use of directed incentives, such as financing or kick- • Negotiation on the conditions of starting programmes to initiate work- implementation are important. Key sharing in companies; providing wage issues include voluntary versus subsidies or social benefits (e.g. involuntary reduction in hours of unemployment compensation) to work; the extent of the reduction in partially offset reductions in ; working hours; the extent of wage and disseminating information about decreases; the distribution of reduced successful experiences. hours of work over time; the length of the agreement; and the effects on • Managers have to be prepared to employment. make the necessary changes in the work environment, including changes • Government programmes can in work organization and adequate play a positive role in smoothing training measures.

With regard to job-sharing, it is therefore important to consider the following factors:

With regard to job-sharing, it is therefore • the skill profiles of each job-share important to consider the following partner; and factors: • the patterns in the weekly workflow (in • the amount of time spent on particular order to identify peaks in demand and tasks; realize a fair sharing of the working week). • the number of routine maintenance activities required; Case example: Work-sharing

n November 1993, confronted by new competition and structural changes in the I telecommunications industry, Bell Canada announced a plan to cut its labour force by 5,000 workers in all regions of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Because its unionized workers had a long attachment to the enterprise, the plan was intended to be voluntary, and Bell Canada attempted to get federal government assistance for its workers on reduced time. Furthermore, the plan foresaw incentives to leave the company, gradual initiatives, an increase in vacation time without pay and a shortening of the workweek. As it became clear that the Canadian Government would not subsidize Bell Canada’s workers, the company decided to renew its collective agreement. The weekly working time and the number of working days of technicians was reduced from a of five days of 40 hours a week to a schedule of four days of 36 hours a week. This reduction of weekly working time was therefore accompanied by an increase in the number of hours of work per day, effectively creating a “compressed workweek” (see Information Sheet No. WT-13 on compressed workweeks). Furthermore, workers gained the option to take their days off on either Monday or Friday, thus offering the possibility of long weekends. In return, however, wages decreased by about 10 per cent. The new workweek also required the firm to reorganize its scheduling in order to be able to meet its customers’ needs. Source: M. Huberman and P. Lanoie: “Worksharing in Québec: Five case studies”, CIRANO (Centre inter-universitaire de recherche en analyse des organisations), Paper No. 98s-11 (Montreal, March 1998).

1 J. Hunt: “Has work-sharing worked in Germany?”, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 114, No. 1, February 1999, pp. 117-148. 2 DIW-Wochenbericht, No. 31 (1999).

This factsheet was written by Akima Hamandia-Güldenberg

International Labour Office, Tel: +41 22 799 6754 Conditions of Work and Employment Fax: +41 22 799 8451 Programme, E-mail: [email protected] 4, route des Morillons, www.ilo.org/travail CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland