Self-managed working time systems with working time checks

In several of the working time models described responsibility for daily working time planning and therefore the changes in working time which become necessary in the medium or short term

22 This can be explained schematically: If business hours of 168 hours are divided into five instead of four shift groups, an average weekly working time of 33.6 hours per shift group is the result.

23 A special feature of both British chemical companies is that in addition to these make-up shifts a fixed overtime contingent paid in advance is retained, so that a relatively large volume of additional shifts results which the compa-ny can demand of the employees (so-called "committed hours").In this way COMPANY B replaced the previous 200 overtime hours per employee and per year by 130 "committed hours".

is decentralised and delegated to employees. The working time organisation is therefore transfer-red to teams which generally only then need to consult with their superiors.

These case studies lead to the conclusion that this approach to working time organisation is encountered mostly in industrial and service companies with a highly-qualified workforce, although examples are reported of self-managed working time systems in low-wage/low-qualification sectors such as the retail food trade.

In the Danish textile company NECKELMANN, which operates continually, production workers have the choice in two pilot departments between a rigid and a flexible five-shift system. With the rigid system employees receive an annual shift schedule in which their total contractual working time of 1600 hours is rigidly divided up. Employees who choo-se the flexible option have a working time reduced by 80 hours. They also receive an an-nual schedule, although not all shifts are rigidly specified. These employees start so to speak with a working time debt of ten make-up shifts. They also have a working time ac-count with a maximum balance of +/- 155 hours. Weekly maximum working time is 48 hours.

Within this context working time is largely planned autonomously by so-called "self-governing teams". The extent of their competences is left to the teams by management and it is up to them, according to the case study, to decide which range of competences they are prepared to assume. In one of the two pilot departments investigated the distribu-tion of tasks within the group was the task of the teams as well as working time planning but not production planning. The following method of working time planning results from this double structure: the annual shift schedule caters for operation with normal plant ca-pacity utilisation. If it becomes clear that caca-pacity is not sufficient due to the volume of orders management announces a phase of above-average capacity utilisation. Employees with flexible contracts then agree their make-up shifts within the team and register their shifts themselves. The upper limit for make-up shifts is not the contractual working time but the maximum balance in the working time account of 155 hours. Within this band-with no overtime payments are made (overtime must be arranged), although an additional payment of 27 krones is paid for each hour worked in make-up shifts. Demands made of the workforce with flexible contracts is a common problem, although the teams themsel-ves decide whether unforeseen absences, due to sickness for example, really does have to be made good. Interactions within the teams is also highly significant. The risk of unfore-seen and arranged working time changes falls on those employees who do not plan

auto-nously and register their make-up shifts on a timely basis. Interestingly, according to the case study female employees with children manage this working time system very well and complain the least about unforeseen working time changes which could conflict with their household duties.

One example of self-managed working time in the service sector is the intensive care unit at the MALMÖ HOSPITAL already mentioned. Other examples are ADVANCED HOMECARE in the same Swedish hospital, the Dutch old people's home SWELLENGREBEL as well as German INSURANCE.

The working time systems in both care units are comparatively informal. With ADVANCED HOMECARE employees give two weeks notice of their working times ba-sed on their knowledge of personnel requirements that are becoming apparent. These working times are then simply coordinated by the ward sister. The only restriction on the individual working time schedules is the necessity to state two lots of night stand-by duty.

Generally speaking, the working time announced by the employees is shorter than the contractual working time in order to leave some room for maneouvre. In the SWELLENGREBEL old people's home working times are decided jointly in quarterly team meetings and updated on a weekly basis. The shifts planned and actually worked are recorded by employees using software.

The working time model for INSURANCE is worked out in more detail by comparison, but is equally strong on decentralisation and self-management. There is flexitime with no core time between 6.30 to 19.00 hours with a maximum daily working time of ten hours.

When planning their working time autonomously the teams must guarantee response time ("service readiness") with respect to customers between 8.00 and 16.00 hours (under the old flexitime system service readiness was two hours shorter and identical with core time). A "traffic light model" is used to regulate the handling of plus and minus balances in the working time accounts (see above), in which the works council is involved.

However, self-managed working time organisation is encountered not only in organisations with highly-qualified staff. Kirsch/Klein/Lehndorff/Voss-Dahm in their sector study on the German RETAIL FOOD TRADE cite the example of a decentralised and self-managed working time system in this sector in which low pay/low qualification strategies tend to prevail.

In the CHEMISTS MARKET COMPANY the intention is to solve the problem of ab-senteeism with the aid of teamworking and the stronger social control that is associated

with it. The practical consequence is the pilot project involving a "co-worker-supported personnel deployment plan" that is described in the sector study as follows: Employees themselves specify in advance and within the team the location and distribution of their working times in accordance with the amount of work which is notified to them. Advance planning of working time is four weeks. The branch manageress posts a weekly schedule in which the volume of work in the company is recorded but not the working times of the individual employees. The employees enter their manning times in this weekly schedule once they have agreed these in teams of two. If the working time plan has not sufficiently taken into account the actual requirements for working time, overtime is used primarily to deal with an increased amount of work in the company, and this overtime is compensated by time off in lieu. After prior agreement with the branch management the employees themselves choose the time of the days off in lieu and enter it in the personnel deploy-ment schedule. Requiredeploy-ments for flexibility arising from absence of employees are the exception according to the branch manageress: sickness levels have tended towards zero since the introduction of co-worker-supported personnel deployment planning.

In all these examples self-managed working time planning is effected within a context composed of three elements: First of all, management regards a certain manning level as necessary, se-condly from the management’s point of view certain times need to be worked, and thirdly em-ployees and superiors, as well as representatives of the company’s interests keep an eye on adherence to the contractual maximum working time. This framework may be more strict and precise or less so, but in one form or another, more transparent and active or less, it encompasses these self-managed working time systems. These elements can be summarised as time-based checks.

A final group of working time systems is based on the fact that the time-related check is replaced by a results-based one.