Working time arrangements and social consequences – What do we know? Karen Albertsen Kaisa Kauppinen Asbjön Grimsmo Björg Aase Sørensen Gudbjörg Linda Rafnsdóttir Kristinn Tómasson TemaNord 2007:607 Working time arrangements and social consequences – What do we know? TemaNord 2007:607 © Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen 2007 ISBN 978-92-893-1620-0 Print: Ekspressen Tryk & Kopicenter Cover: Kjell Olsson Layout: Cover photo: Copies: 200 Printed on environmentally friendly paper This publication can be ordered on www.norden.org/order. 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Acknowledgements This report has been written as part of network collaboration between researchers from the Nordic countries. The project was supported with a grant from The Nordic Council of Ministries. Grant no. 411050-05079. We would like to acknowledge Professor Torbjörn Åkerstedt, Karo- linska Institutet, Stockholm, Associate professor Carina Bildt, National Institute for Working Life, Sweden and Research Director Otto Melchior Poulsen, The National Research Centre for the Working Environment in Denmark, for their support and contributions in the upstart period of the project. Further, we would like to acknowledge the following persons, who have kindly assisted the project: Ms.Tarita Tuomola from The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) assisted with data collection. From the National Research Centre for the Working Environment in Denmark, the Secretaries Bodil Holst, Lone Bösewetter, Pia Gøtterup and Pia Dukholm have proff-read and revised the manuschript and made the layout. The Librarians; Rikke Nielsson, Elizabeth Bengtsen and Elisabeth Frederiksen have collected the large amount of literature to the project. Content Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ 5 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. Aim and frame....................................................................................................... 9 1.2. Social consequences............................................................................................ 12 1.3. Content of report ................................................................................................. 17 1.4. Method and data sources ..................................................................................... 18 2. The Nordic and the European context .......................................................................... 19 2.1. Working hours in the Nordic countries ............................................................... 21 2.2 Intensity of work and work organization.............................................................. 24 2.3. Work-life balance and stress ............................................................................... 25 2.4. The Nordic Model ............................................................................................... 29 2.5. Summary of Nordic and European context.......................................................... 30 3. Length of working hours .............................................................................................. 31 3.1. Consequences of working hours on work-life balance ........................................ 31 3.2. Consequences of working hours on stress and wellbeing.................................... 41 3.3 Summary on working hours, work-life balance and psychological well-being ....................................................................................................... 46 4. Non-standard working hours ........................................................................................ 51 4.1. Consequences of non-standard working hours on work-life balance................... 51 4.2. Consequences of non-standard working hours on stress and wellbeing .............. 56 4.3. Summary – non-standard working hours, work-life balance and stress and wellbeing.................................................................................................. 59 5. Influence over working hours....................................................................................... 61 5.1. Consequences of influence over working hours on work-life balance ................ 61 5.2. Consequences of influence over working hours on stress and wellbeing ............ 65 6. Results concerning health consequences of long and irregular working hours............. 69 6.1. Long hours and overwork.................................................................................... 69 6.2. Reduced hours..................................................................................................... 70 6.3. Shift work............................................................................................................ 71 6.4. Compressed work weeks..................................................................................... 73 7. Examples of interventions in working time arrangements............................................ 75 7.1. Reduced hours..................................................................................................... 75 7.2. Compressed work weeks..................................................................................... 76 7.3. Other changes in shift systems ............................................................................ 78 7.4. Increased influence over working hours.............................................................. 79 7.5. Summary on experiments and interventions in working time arrangements........................................................................................... 80 8. New organisations of working life............................................................................... 83 8.1. Trust hours – work based on results and performance......................................... 85 8.2. Teleworking – via telecommunications equipment ............................................. 85 8.3. A new kind of autonomy? ................................................................................... 87 8.4. Precarious work and self-employment ................................................................ 88 8.5. New competences?.............................................................................................. 89 8.6. Summary ............................................................................................................. 89 9. Examples of ongoing Nordic projects.......................................................................... 91 9.1. Work/Life Balance – a research and development program................................ 91 9.2. Work hours impact on health .............................................................................. 93 8 Working time arrangements and social consequences – What do we know? 9.3. Boundary-free work - stress, sleep and private life..............................................95 9.4. Working hours and parents’ experience of stress.................................................96 9.5 Shift work; employees attitudes and expectations.................................................98 9.6. The work-life balance: Integrating Family well-being and working life research.................................................................................99 9.7. Nordic Study on working hours in nursing ........................................................100 9.8. Reciprocity is an asset – a study on flexible working time arrangements..........................................................................................101 10. Summary from Seminar on long and irregular working hours at the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Denmark ...............................103 10.1. “Working time, demands at work and developments in fatigue, sleep and heart disease”....................................................................104 10.2. “Work-family Conflict and Fatigue: The role of Working Time Arrangements” .....................................................................................105 10.3. “Stress and Workload: Health Promoting and Health Damaging Effects” ........................................................................................106 10.4“Health and long/irregular/flexible work hour” .................................................108 Reference List...........................................................................................................111 Kort sammendrag............................................................................................................119