Characteristics of contemporary working time arrangements

This paper reviews main characteristics of various working time arrangements with emphasis on those of compressed working time and telework that are the most recent result of modern technology changes. Contemporary organisation of working time in Europe is governed by the Council Directive on the organization of working time (93/104/EC). The main features of work-duration are on the one hand, part time work, and on the other hand, long hours. Thus, 14% of all workers work fewer than 30 hours per week and 23% work more than 45 hours. The main features of work organisation are dispersion of working hours over a day (33% of workers do shift work and 21% work at night, at least occasionally) and over a week (52% of workers work at least one Saturday per month; 29% at least one Sunday), as well as their irregularity (33% of workers have irregular hours). There are various additional types of working time arrangements: staggered hours, flexitime, annual hours and hours-averaging schemes, compressed work-week, telework and others. Compressed work week is attractive because it results in more usable free time for workers. It is only really possible where the content of work is not too physically or mentally demanding and should be implemented only after careful consideration of its advantages and disadvantages. Telework is a very new form of organisation of working place and time that raises many questions regarding legal situation and social security position of telworkers. There are also specific health and safety issues associated with telework on which research data is very limited.