The Long Working Hours And Rigidity Of Work

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction:

Managing the people in the organization have been a key issue since decades and this tough work has been key foundation and associated with the human resource department. The contemporary issues in the real time are on large scale affecting the organizations and their workforce. The main issue we have been facing is related to the flexible working arrangements. The employees have been facing this issue in the organization of the long working hours, due to which the employee’s productivity has been affected and moreover there is the basic criticism over the work life balance and the extreme distress in the life and the mental burden.

Issue faced by the organization

The Long working hours and rigidity of work arrangements.

There are many issues rising regarding the long work hours in the organization with respect to the increased distress and mental depression and the out of pace work life balance. Many of the employees have left the job because of the extremity of the working hours and not being able to give proper time to their families. This extra turnover of the employees and the reduced productivity is affecting the organization directly. The employees have reported that the long hours keep them engage in the work and thus this increase the stress level. The employees who left the organization reported the same issue of no work hour’s flexibility for them to manage the work and their personal life equally.

Issue of Dissatisfaction

The main issue affecting the organization is the employee dissatisfaction with the rigid and long working hours which results in the absenteeism and turnover. However it has been viewed that the job satisfaction is the predictor of the quits, lay off, job transitions, health and absenteeism it is also positively linked with the productivity and the organizational performance. Thus the decreased level of the employee satisfaction will ultimately reduce the organizational performance. (Daniel Possenriede, 2011)

Issues related to health of employees

The studies have revealed that these long work hours are affecting the productivity of the organizations. The employees who use to engage in the extreme jobs and long working hours their health and wellbeing are drastically affected. The long work hours have been linked with the cardiovascular disease, hypertension, fatigue, depression, stress, chronic infections, the musculoskeletal disorders, diabetes and all of this increase the risk of mortality. Many other researches have been published as well regarding these long working hours and these related these findings to the health of the workers. It has been reported that in USA the 19-33% of the overtime work is compulsory; this overtime work is the requirement of the employers when the employees fail to comply and these overtime work are induced by the employers under the threat of the job loss, or other such penalties. These essential overtime work have the negative impact on the health of the workers with respect to the fatigue, impaired performance, potential for accidents, and increased stress and depression (A E Dembe, 2005)

Issue of Work Life Balance

The other relative effect of the long work hours is on the families and the workers who struggle to balance the demand of both the work place and home life. It has been assumed by the researchers that the long time work hours tend to hype the conflicts between the employee’s work and home life. It has been viewed that the time based conflict is the commonly measured conflict that occurs when a person is unable to give the proper time to any one of the role among both, such as the worker at workplace and a father, mother, husband or wife at home. People tend to work for the longer hours when they had to do too much in the little time on the job/workplace, they perceive that they have been asked by the supervisor to work extra, perhaps the poor understanding, or they might have the great responsibilities and extra financial needs. The long hour work time and work interference with family life have resulted in the marital problems, poor job performance, turnover and absenteeism which then affect the performance and productivity of the organization (Virginia Smith Major, 2002)

Research analysis on long hour work schedules:

A research by the work life policy institute demonstrates that the extreme and long jobs are on the rise. More than two million Americans are indulged in the long work hour jobs and they are in every industry. These long hours’ jobs have been affecting the labor of all ages and at every stage of the career. It has been shown in the research that 62% workers tend to work more than 50 hours per week who are earning high. However 35% are those who are working more than 60 hours per week. And among all the workers 10% are those who are putting in their efforts in the jobs are working more than 80 hours per week. The job timing has been rising for decades, the researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research has reported that the men who are working full time who are almost working 50 hours a week, their number has been increased from 22.2% to 30.5%. 48% people said that they are working an average of 16.6 or more hours per week then they use to do five years back (DiRomualdo, 2007)

Flexibility

The flexibility is a very broad term, which means elasticity, with respect to the human resource the flexibility can be divided among the different fields, the wages flexibility, ease with which employees can be engaged or dismissed i.e. flexible working arrangements, adaptability of workers in the process of production, and temporal flexibility (Anderson, 2004).

Flexible work arrangements

The module of the flexibility we are dealing with is the flexible work arrangements/ working hours. These flexible working arrangements are generally meant to enhance the motivational level of the employees and increase the satisfaction level by reducing the stress through different working arrangements, like, job sharing, flextime, flex place, part time job, part time job with benefits, compressed work weeks etc. (Ricky W. Griffin, 2010)

Study related to deprivation of flexible work arrangements to employees

There has been shown the great interest from the side of employees for the flexible work arrangements, so that they could balance the work and life. Moreover it has also been revealed by the national data that more than 80% of the workers are interested in the flexible work arrangements if they are available to them with no negative consequences. However many of the workers are deprived of the flexible work arrangements and there are many limitations to that. The survey has revealed that 32% employers haven’t allowed any of the workers to alter their starting and finishing time, and 67% do not allow all or most of the employees to alter the timings. The employees are not allowed to control the shifts in which they work by almost 61% employers, and 47% of the employers never allow any of the employees to move from the full time to part time and back again however 79% of the employers don’t allow all or some of the workers to switch between full and part time. 54% of the employers do not allow any worker to share job, and 66% of them do not allow their workers to do work part work-week, at home, or on any occasional or regular basis. However 61% of the employers do not allow their workers to work on compressed weeks or at least part of the year (Jean Flatley McGuire, 2010)

Possible solutions with respect to real life examples

The possible solutions for workers and their long working hours are the flexible work arrangements, these flexible work arrangements include the:

Part time jobs

Compressed work weeks

Job sharing

Part time work with benefits

Flexible work schedule

Flextime

These are all the possible solutions to the problem faced within the organization by the workers and to improve the productivity and reduce the employee turnover in the organization. There has been the certain example of the organizations which has successfully adopted these solutions in order to fix the challenges they faced. The Kraft Foods is a food and beverage manufacturing company operating over more than 150 countries with almost 109,000 people as its workers, the company was faced with the challenge of the employee dissatisfaction regarding the work hours of the employees in the production area. The company came up with the solution of Fast Adapt in which the employees and the supervisors working in the production area 24/7 were provided with the better policy implementation of Fast Adapt which allowed the workers to swap their shifts and take the single day vacations, and were able to request the job sharing arrangements All of the employees were allowed to the use the Fast Adapt options where applicable to their work process, and if not the Human Resource department is responsible for producing and arranging the flexible work hours for them. The fast adapt policy was implemented in some locations in the start, and these plants were advised to induce the work life factor in their plan. The outcome of the policy was positive, the survey conducted in 2003 from employees showed the increased level of satisfaction of employees with respect to the work life incorporation. Thus the implementation of the flexible work hours and arrangements would help enhancing the satisfaction level within the organization (Jean Flatley McGuire, 2010).

However there has always been the threat of the employee turnover to the organization. It has been viewed that First Tennessee Bank was faced with the same situation of employee turnover; the First Tennessee Bank is the financial service company being in operation with almost 8,000 employees in Memphis, Tennessee. It has 259 banking sites and 150 mortgage banking offices in 28 states. The company was faced with the challenge of increased turnover of the employees because of the long and inflexible working hours, the bank then introduces the flexible working hours and work schedules with part time work options including the benefits for the employees. As we previously discussed that the extra financial needs are also the main issue in the long working hours of the employees. The bank introduced the part time working hour facility for the employees who were working in the bank for more than one year; they were permitted to work almost 20 hours a week with the benefits. The absenteeism which resulted because of the sick children of the employees pertaining to their care, they were given the facility from the company to bring their children to the hospital in Memphis and bank would pay for them. These policies were implemented within three and a half days where Human Resource liaison travelled different cities in order to train the employees and managers regarding the flexible arrangement of the schedule, and this was done in 1992. More than 100 workers used the part time flexibility with benefits and it has been reported by the company that this saves the 85% of the turnover of the employees. Thus the implementation of the part time work hours would reduce the turnover in the company (Jean Flatley McGuire, 2010).

There was the issue reported in the organization’s profile related to the health of the employees and works stress, this issue has been addressed in the Texas Instrument company a Dallas based Technology Company operating over more than 25 countries, with almost 35,000 numbers of employees. The company’s assessment for the needs of the employees revealed the need for the flexible working hours they have been provided with the solution of the ad hoc flexible working policy in which the employees were allowed to work in the flexible schedules and compressed weeks. This policy was not for all the employees but for those who have to adjust their schedules with respect to the doctor’s appointments and sick children. The company reported the retention of the employees and the lower level of stress among the employees and they were there for each other at any point of need.

The Eastman Kodak company with the workforce of more than 70,000 employees working in more than countries, the company was faced by the challenge of employees demand for the work life balance, the policy introduced by the company was the flex time, job sharing, part time work compressed work weeks and telecommuting. All regular employees were eligible to request any of these flexible working arrangements from the managers regardless of their location and position. The employees were notified by the company’s newsletter and on the website as well of this new flexible work arrangement policy so that they could acquire these according to their needs. The company reported the several success stories of these flexible work arrangement requirements and employees have been satisfied with the implementation of these to provide the balance between their work and life and managers have succeeded in providing the successful implementation of the policy. (Jean Flatley McGuire, 2010)

Policy Parameters for organization based on the real time examples

There must be the policy for the workers regarding the flexible working arrangements, based on all the potential components of the selected module related to the issue.

There will be part time option with the acquisition of the benefits for the employees who are working in the organization for more than the two years. They will be provided by the facility of working the 22 hours a week and will be able to acquire the health and medical facilities for their children and themselves. The company will provide the 10% subsidy of their pay on their medical facilities. The part time job facility with benefits will be especially for those people who are suffering from the lower health condition.

There will be the option for the employees for job sharing and swap of the shifts for the employees working in the area of manufacturing and production. As the manufacturing and production level requires all the time inspection and duty the employees will be given the option to arrange the flexible work arrangements on the request to the manager. In the need of emergency they would be allowed to inform the supervisor by a literary note in order to acquire the flexible arrangement suitable for them.

The female workers in the workforce will be allowed to acquire the flextime and flex place facility for their ease, as the mothers and at home they have to pay more attention to their children.

The compressed work week will be available for the employees who have to spend the weekends and long vacations at home and they need the work life balance in order to enhance the productivity at both the roles.

Recommendations:

Human Resource Department will be responsible for devising the policy and implementing it, the managers and head of the department must consider all the aspects before devising the policy in order to ensure the success level

The development of the policy must be added in to the agenda and employee hand book and must also be notified to all employees through the newsletter and posted on the website of the company.

There must be the implementation of the policies in all the plants and locations of the organization step by step instead of implementing them at once, in order to check the application of the policies and improvement of the challenges.

There must be developed a measurement system for the implementation of the flexible working arrangement policies

There must have to be proper training programs devised for the managers and the supervisors of the organization’s offices and plants located in the other states and countries so that the uniform structure of policy must be ensured.

All the negative impacts must be recorded in order to keep the check on the potential gaps so that these gaps could be filled with the proper improvements, and employees must be surveyed in order to check the satisfaction level and success of the policy devised as the solution for the challenge faced by the organization.

Conclusion

The different aspects of the issue have been elaborated in the study and the issues important to the organization and the workplace. The employee’s dissatisfaction, the demand and need for the work life balance and the effect of the long hours on the deterioration of the employees’ health were all the factors affecting the productivity of the company directly. The employees with the low health rates and increased depression and the great intensity of the work load affecting the balance between the home and work life of the employees was resulting in the turnover of the employees from the company. Thus the increased rate of turnover intrigued the need of the policy for the flexibility in the work arrangements so as to meet the requirements of the workers and to manage the workforce so that it will eventually reduce the absenteeism and the turnover in the company. It has been found that the flexible work arrangements are associated with the higher job satisfaction regardless of the employees with the family’s responsibilities and the despite of the gender differences as well (Daniel Possenriede, 2011). There has been devised a policy with respect to the need of the organization and requirements of the employees, the proper recommendations have been elaborated as well. The employees are the integral part and stakeholder of an organization, and the protection of their rights and their needs is the responsibility of the organization. And these two needs of the employees have been discussed and provided with the solution, the health of the employees is the important aspect, if the employee’s health is affected due to the long hours and employees become unable to perform effectively thus it results in the deterioration of the company’s assets, and these human assets have to be retained by giving them the proper solutions and the main intriguing issue in most of the organization heading up from decades is the balance among the work and life, these issues are especially linked to the females who are unable to balance between their homes and their work lives and thus this transition affect the marital relationships, and increase the family gaps which is a serious issue. It has been seen in the study that not only the women are satisfied with the flexible work arrangements but the overall workforce is content with the devised policy of flexible work arrangements. Thus having more control over the working life, improves the balance between the paid life and the private life of the workers and helps in improvement of the health of the workers as well.