Abstract
In the recent decades, work schedules have diversified, leading to the implementation of different schedules like shift work or irregular hours. This chapter primarily focuses on irregular work schedules, and is structured in three parts. The first part is dedicated to the theoretical framework of the subject, particularly dealing with the main effects of irregular work schedules for the workers. Next, a study carried out in the Portuguese context is presented, where the impacts of irregular work schedules of different types (i.e., depending on their degree of irregularity) on the workers were evaluated, specifically in terms of health, family, and social spheres, as well as satisfaction with work schedule. In general, the results indicate that the greater the irregularity of work schedule, the greater the negative impact on the worker. The third part discusses possible strategies for managing non-standard work schedules by organizations, especially at the level of personnel management.
TopIrregular Work Schedules
According to Lee et al. (2020), a regular work schedule can be defined as a variable with a fixed daily work period, a fixed weekly work period, a fixed weekly shift, and a fixed start and end time for each shift. That is to say, the duration of working hours as well as the number of days must be the same every week, the weekly shift must be fixed, and the start and end time of each shift must be equally fixed. Thus, irregular working hours were considered those that presented irregularity in any of the previously mentioned criteria, which is the definition that the present investigation will be based on, and which was proposed by the mentioned author. Irregular work schedules are present in several professions, such as railway drivers (Aguirre & Foret, 1994), maritime pilots (Andresen et al., 2007), and bus drivers (Anund et al., 2018) among others.
According to the European Working Conditions Survey, in 2015, it was estimated that 38.9% of Portuguese workers did not have fixed entry and exit times at work, 30.9% of Portuguese workers did not work the same number of hours every week, and 31.5% of Portuguese workers did not work the same number of hours every day (Eurofound, 2015).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Irregular Work Schedules: Organization of working time that presupposes irregularity in the daily or weekly work period or in the start and end times of shifts.
Family and Social Life: Time that the worker spends with his/her family and on social activities.
Well-Being: Workers' perception of their physical, mental, and social state.
Flexibility: Working time management strategy provided by the organization that allows the worker to decide certain aspects of his/her work schedule (e.g. start time).
Work-Family Conflict: Conflict that exists between two spheres of the individual's life, work and family.
Nonstandard Work Schedules: Organization of working time that differs in some respect from the standard work schedule; that is, that it differs from a schedule practiced from Monday to Friday that starts in the morning and ends in the afternoon/evening and rest at the weekend.
Work Schedule Management: Policies and practices adopted by the organization in managing the time of its workforce.
Job Satisfaction: Satisfaction that the worker expresses with his/her work and its various facets (e.g. working conditions, relationships with colleagues).