Why we to rethink working time

1. Why we to
rethink
working time
HEEJUNG CHUNG
PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY
AND SOCIAL POLICY
UNIVERSITY OF KENT

2. Today
Why we need to reconsider what is working time (& private time)
Flexibility Paradox – with the rise of flexible working, blurring of boundaries there is a threat
towards the retrenchment of private time & increased competition & increase gender inequality
Why? Work centric society & rise in insecurity
Current labour laws insufficient to tackle this issue & we need a new right to time → 4 day
week, right to disconnect

3. The flexibility
paradox
When workers have more control
over when and where they work
(flexitime, working time autonomy,
teleworking/homeworking) they end
up working harder and longer
Rather than flexible working
allowing workers to work any time
and anywhere they want, they end
up working all the time and
everywhere

4. Why does this
happen?

5. Kelliher &
Andersen
(2010) –
study of UK
organisations
(pt/tele)
Imposed intensification: employers impose additional work
through the back door – e.g.) part time worker doing full time
load / academic workload / Korean case of 52 hours legislation
Social exchange theory: transaction between workers and
employers – workers reciprocate for the gift of control/flexibility
… to overcome stigma? Cf) Orchestrated negotiated exchange
(Bathini & Kandathil, 2019) – Indian IT company
Enabled intensification: enabling workers to work harder – fewer
distractions from work(teleworkers); being able to work
harder/less likely to feel fatigue (part-time workers) – reduced
absenteeism/sickness
5

6. Self
exploitation
Workers use the freedom and control over their work to
enhance their competitive edge/market chances to better
perform the ideal worker norm
Esp. in the context of long-hours ideal worker culture in the
profession/organisations people need to (perform) long hours
work to maintain a certain level of professional reputation
(Mazmanian et al. 2013) – flexible working results in workers
working all the time everywhere → vicious cycle of increased
competition (autonomy-control paradox) (Putnam et al 2014)
Sometimes accelerated by the introduction of other
organisational level policies – such as performance related pay
(Pongratz & Voss 2013)
6

7. The context
of self-
exploitation
Work centric society (Frayne)
Work culture where Busyness as a badge of honour, confirmation
of self-worth (Gershuny; Bellezza et al)
Job is no longer considered a way to earn a living but (the only
way) to self-fulfilment/valued by others and yourself
Passion at work – passion exploitation
Even low paid service sector job adverts ask for “passion” at
their jobs
7

8. The context
of self
exploitation
2
Insecurity
The demise of the collective bargaining power/the welfare state(job
guarantees or income protection) & rise in insecurity (job, status, income)
Individualisation of risks - contributes the individual’s need to enterprise
oneself with the freedom over one’s work. Workers are considered master’s
of one’s own destiny – e.g. workface, welfare attitudes on unemployment
(scrounger) → recommodification of labour (Esping-Andersen, Polayni) no
longer a right to job
Increase in precariousness - rise in temporary/zero hours etc job. even the
permanent workers feel insecurity
Rise in competition – those in top positions are made to feel insecure due
to increased performance management by organisation/metric guided
constant (self)evaluation/competition (Mau)

9. Evidence of
the flexibility
paradox

10. Flexible
schedules lead
to increased
overtime hours
– German
Socio-
Economic
panel
On average 0.7 hours more overtime with flexitime, and 1.5
more hours with working time autonomy (Lott &Chung 2016)
10

11. Figure 6-2: Increase in
unpaid overtime hours
due increased schedule
control for men and
women (from no control)
Source: UK Household
Longitudinal Study,
Chung and van der Horst
(2020).
Schedule control = A little
Schedule control = Some
Schedule control = A lot
0 .5 1
Men Women
11

12. Teleworking/home
working
Glass & Noonan 2016 – US National Longitudinal Study of
Youth data set from 1989 to 2008 – teleworking leads to
longer overtime hours
Bloom et al. (2015) – Chinese call centre & Boltz et al
(2022/forthcoming) – Colombia experimental study → workers
working flexitime/from home were taking less breaks/working
longer
More likely to multi-task (Schieman and colleagues; Offer &
Schneider, 2011)
More likely to have mental spill-over (see also, Lott, 2020;
Chung 2022)
12

13. Figure 6-3.
Association between
flexible working and
spill-over
Source: European Working
Conditions Survey 2015, Chung,
2022
13

14. Gendered
flexibility
paradox
Men increase paid hours more due to their breadwinning roles
However, women end up expanding their unpaid hours/care time
– this is especially in the context of intensive parenting culture
+ future labour markets of children are becoming more
competitive
Women end up doing unpaid hours → increasing gender
inequality patterns at home
Employers stigmatise women’s flexible working as there is an
assumption that women are less productive at home →
increasing gender inequality patterns in the labour market

15. Impact on
work-family
conflict
Source: EWCS 2015
Chung, 2022

16. Why a right to
disconnect/ti
me is needed

17. Why current labour
laws are not enough
Built around office work/fixed schedules
Remote working – time boundaries are blurred –
question of what is working time? And When is working
time?
Stigmatised views around home working/long hours
culture may exacerbate the long hours working pattern
Without strict boundaries always on work culture is
bound to develop – not only by managers (adding more
work/discounting certain hours), but also as a downward
spiral of increased competition/culture among workers –
expectation changes

18. Problem with working hours calculations
when teleworking
We are living in a dadaism period of work
What is working hours ? Where it is conducted? its
outcomes? Or who does those hours?
Previously all hours in the office was considered
working hours – yet only 3 hours were used for work
It may not necessarily be about what you are doing
but what is impacted?
Sum → Protecting the right to REST/TIME may be
more important
A UK workers's "work"day (source: voucher cloud)
social media reading news
talking to colleagues making drinks
smoking text messaging
eating snacks making food
making calls to partner searching for new jobs
work

19. Why we need
a right to
disconnect
Enabling a right to REST (Chung, 2022) → mandated
and protected time away from work – both physically and
mentally
This does NOT mean that workers lose their flexibility – as
workers CAN do work, but there is no expectations
Improve workers’ work-life balance + firm productivity
Physical and mental detachment away from work is crucial
for productivity (Sonnentag and colleagues) (cf) role of
labour law protection
Ensuring that the rise of remote working which can
does not result in social costs → workers’ reduced
work-life balance, burn out results in high social costs
not only for workers, but family company --society

20. Why we
need a four
day week
Reconfiguration of performance and value at work – work
smarter
(by providing time for other aspects of life) Valuing non paid
work as valuable (family time, leisure, voluntary) (Fraser)
Shift in our society away from a work centric society
Remove the division between those who work (very long hours)
and do not work → long hours work is exclusionary towards
women, workers with care responsibility
Reconfiguration of social value and how our time should be
spent in the age of automation, digitalisation and climate crisis

21. Summing
up/take
home
message
Flexible working can be a great enabler esp for those in
marginalised positions
Rise of flexible/remote working is likely to result in a long hours
hyper competitive work culture, where workers are expected to be
always available/always on → resulting in bad well being outcomes
& worsening gender inequalities -→ which will damage not only
workers, but companies and increase societal costs
Current labour laws regulating maximum hours of work insufficient
based on ambiguities around working place/time → A stronger
protection of REST times
Right to disconnect may provide an artificial boundary, help shift
cultural norms and expectations
4 day week can help us reconfigure values at work and society to
better prioritise the use of our limited resource of time

22. The Flexibility Paradox: Why Flexible
Working Leads to (Self-)Exploitation
By Heejung Chung
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https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-flexibility-paradox
"Flexible work is a priority for many workers and yet remains a puzzle to
many employers. This book provides much-needed clarity about the
critical role schedule control will play in creating equitable work systems
and cultures." Brigid Schulte, New America

23. Thank you
http://www.heejungchung.com
@HeejungChung