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PurposeAs a result of COVID-19 and associated stay-at-home orders, the number of employees working remotely reached unprecedented levels during early periods of the pandemic. Since that time, some employees have returned to the office;yet, there is a lasting impact on employees' desires for remote work. In response, decision-makers in organizations should be equipped with knowledge regarding what makes remote work beneficial for both employees and the organization and also fair and compliant with the law. This paper aims to take a dual perspective spanning human capital and legal aspects of remote work to offer six practical recommendations to organizations. Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews the human resources (HR) scholarly literature on remote work, using principles from evidence-based management to select valid and reliable findings in which to base practical recommendations for organizations. Associated legal risks are identified through a review of the legal literature on remote work and integrated into the recommendations. FindingsBuilding on a multilevel model of HR practices, the authors offer the following six practical recommendations to organizations: offer hybrid work and both location and schedule flexibility;ensure fair and compliant work schedules;acknowledge manager perceptions;ensure fair approval and evaluation of remote workers;acknowledge individual workers;and align remote work practices with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Originality/valueThe multilevel model of remote work practices discussed in this paper offers an organizing framework for identifying advantages and disadvantages of remote work that future research may build upon. The six recommendations help bridge the research-practice gap by providing organizations with knowledge on how to maximize the benefits of remote work while mitigating potential legal risks.
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Using interviews with 15 Australian fathers, we explored the impact of having spent time in COVID-19 lockdown on men's views of their relationship with their children and family-work life balance. All interviewees were married to women and living with their children, most were employed and working full-time. Three themes were identified from the interviews: an ongoing desire to be present as a father, benefits to being present through COVID-19 lockdowns for self as a father and for the children, and conflicting pressures from workplaces and at home which were barriers to being present. Survey data 1 year later revealed that many of these fathers had shifted their work patterns because of their lockdown experience. Shifts in workplace culture and behavior were identified as supporting flexible working arrangements. Despite the immediate challenges of lockdown, it provided the opportunity for some fathers to reevaluate their priorities resulting in long-term changes in working patterns.
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We analyze the viability of teleworking in the tourism sector in Argentina by using the COVID-19 shock on employment as a case study. We pay special attention to the tourism sector and its sub-sectors because they comprise activities with low teleworking potential and high informality rates, which could further condition the effective implementation of new work arrangements, such as remote work. By using estimates of teleworking potential at the sectoral level, we study its relationship with the evolution of employment during the quarantines implemented in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina. We find a positive effect of teleworking potential on employment in the tourism subsectors, such as food and accommodation and travel agencies activities, but more pronounced in the other services subsectors (sports, cultural, and entertainment service activities). This suggests that, despite having a low telework potential, certain tourism activities could be performed remotely. Surprisingly, we find that teleworking potential had a positive effect on employment in some tourism subsectors only for informal workers. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
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Covid-19 has been one of the most disruptive pandemics to date. Among the other aspects of disruption, it also disrupted the way people work in organizations. Many of the organizations surrendered their offices for good. However, there are many ill effects of these unconventional work practices also. This research study aims to explore the perception of the employees towards the adoption of Virtual and flexible work practices. The study uses a conjoint analysis approach on different possible Work Practice Profiles, that specify the nature of work (Virtual, offline, or hybrid), nature of work schedule (flexible, or fixed), nature of ownership (individual, or team), and length of working hours (8.5 hours, or 9.5 hours or 10.5 hours). The study finds that the number of working hours is the most important criterion for the employees followed by mode of work, responsibility, and work schedule. © 2023 IEEE.
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This research was developed before the world society was taken by surprise by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). This fact accelerated the need for most companies to adapt to the home office regime of their workforce. The trail that the coronavirus has left is one of caution in the labor market and changes in the relationships between employers and employees. The objective of this article is to identify in the literature an overview of the evolution and trends of flexible work arrangements in companies and organizations over time. Data collection from integrative literature review in the Scopus and Web Of Science databases, of articles published without time restriction. The sample consisted of 562 studies, categorized and separated into periods in a longitudinal fashion. The issues that are trending about the future of work were identified, such as flexible work arrangements, the lack of labor legislation on remote work, telecommuting as a tool for sustainability, and the impact of these new work arrangements on work-life balance. In addition, we also have the issues that impact the management of people in telecommuting. We did not search for theses and dissertations that address the theme, which could bring even more recent results, but were beyond the scope of this research methodology. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken the world by surprise, there is an impact on traditional work. Companies had to implement remote work urgently, without planning and theoretical foundation. This study is an input for companies and leaders who are dealing with the adoption of flexible working arrangements. In the current pandemic moment, remote work has gained unimaginable proportions. Labor relations need to be adapted and the management of this new modality becomes an urgent need and still under construction for use by business leaders.
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Working-from-home (WFH) models represent one of several types of flexible work practices gaining ground in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of particular interest is the increase in the use of digital technology platforms for work collaboration and communication. These have been largely well received in terms of their potential to mitigate disruptions to business activity and employee work life in the absence of in-person work contexts. Research indicates that the sales and adoption of many digital platforms have witnessed sharp increase since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. These have contributed to creating seamless organisational collaborations, shared access to electronic data and new organisational processes to mirror previous in-person work arrangements. Many organisational members have had to upskill at rapid rates to catch up with these developments. Despite the benefits to employees, managers and organisations in terms of facilitating continued remote work, we illuminate the hidden inequities within this work model and highlight the unintended consequences from the standpoint of gender, race and the digital divide. We identify key aspects of WFH that represent underlying factors which create conditions for inequities and illustrate these with a case study. Additionally, we analyse the role of technology as a platform for WFH, noting impacts on employee well-being, team dynamics, as well as manager-employee relations. We conclude by raising implications for managers, offering recommendations to rebalance the inequities identified, such as developing an inclusive organisational culture, creating systems to access and evaluate employee feedback as well as developing appropriate response mechanisms that support particularly vulnerable groups. © 2022 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.
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We examine how knowledge workers use narratives to legitimize their hybrid work practices in post-Covid-19 work life. We identify three narratives, the 'individualist', the 'collectivist', and the 'institutionalist', as alternative perspectives of hybrid work that people draw on to legitimize their workplace choices to support performativity and well-being. This study contributes to research on organizational policy implementation by explaining how narrative constructions are used to legitimate different choices within same organizations that go through a transition from forced remote work to hybrid work. © 2023 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.
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Before 2020, the way occupants utilized the built environment had been changing slowly towards scenarios in which occupants have more choice and flexibility in where and how they work. The global COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this phenomenon rapidly through lockdowns and hybrid work arrangements. Many occupants and employers are considering keeping some of these flexibility-based strategies due to their benefits and cost impacts. This paper explores how demand-driven control strategies in the built environment might support the transition to increased workplace flexibility by simulating various scenarios related to the operational technologies and policies of a real-world campus using a district-scale City Energy Analyst (CEA) model that is calibrated with measured energy demand data and occupancy profiles extracted from WiFi data. These scenarios demonstrate the energy impact of ramping building operations up and down more rapidly and effectively to the flex-based work strategies that may solidify. The scenarios show a 5–15% decrease in space cooling demand due to occupant absenteeism of 25–75% if centralized building system operation is in place, but as high as 17–63% if occupancy-driven building controls are implemented. The paper discusses technologies and strategies that are important in this paradigm shift of operations. © 2023 The Author(s)
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In today's world, an event that has not been seen for many years, the virus called Covid-19 has entered human life and seriously affected it. While globalization has had a positive effect in many areas, globalization with Covid-19 has had a negative effect around the world. It has affected many areas of world life since the end of 2019. The most important of these areas is business life. This period, in which measures such as curfews, quarantine, and closure of workplaces were implemented, affected the business life perspective of generation Z, who just started their business life. In a process where remote working models have been discussed in recent years, and different working models have been introduced, especially for the generation Z, remote working and hybrid models have been put forward with Covid-19. This process is an important process that will affect both employers, consumers, and employees. In this context, it is necessary to design overtime concepts within the harmony and coordination of all stakeholders. The aim of this study is to evaluate the perspective of the generation Z on the concept of overtime with the effect of Covid-19 and accordingly to create a decision support system using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). For this, a team of 20 people was first formed, and surveys were prepared to be made to the generation Z individuals. This survey was also conducted on 432 new graduates and senior university students from the generation Z and the results were evaluated. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] Günümüz dünyasında uzun yıllardır görülmemiş bir olay ile karşılaşılarak, Covid-19 olarak adlandırılan virüs insan hayatına girerek ciddi bir şekilde etkisi altına almıştır. Küreselleşmenin birçok alanda pozitif etkisi görülürken, Covid-19 ile küreselleşme dünya genelinde negatif olarak bir etki vermiştir. 2019 yılının sonlarından günümüze kadar dünya hayatının birçok alanını etkilemiştir. Bu alanlardan en önemlisi de iş hayatıdır. Sokağa çıkma yasakları, karantina, iş yerlerinin kapatılması gibi tedbirlerin hayata geçirildiği bu dönem, iş hayatına yeni başlayan Z kuşağının iş hayatına bakış açısını etkilemiştir. Son yıllarda uzaktan çalışma modellerinin konuşulduğu, özellikle Z kuşağı açısından farklı çalışma modellerinin ortaya konulmaya başlandığı bir süreçte Covid-19 ile zorunlu olarak uzaktan çalışma ve hibrid modeller ortaya konulmuştur. Bu süreç hem işveren hem tüketici hem de çalışanları etkileyecek önemli bir süreçtir. Bu bağlamda tüm paydaşların uyum ve koordine dahilinde mesai kavramlarının tasarlanması gerekmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Covid-19 etkisiyle Z kuşağının mesai kavramına bakış açısını değerlendirmek ve buna bağlı olarak Analitik Hiyerarşi Prosesi (AHP) kullanarak bir karar destek sistemi oluşturmaktır. Bunun için öncelikle 20 kişilik bir ekip oluşturulmuş ve bu şekilde Z kuşağı bireylerine yapılmak üzere anketler hazırlanmıştır. Z kuşağından 432 yeni mezun ve üniversite son sınıf öğrencisi üzerinde de bu anket çalışması yapılmış ve elde edilen sonuçlar değerlendirilmiştir. (Turkish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Electronic Journal of Social Sciences is the property of Electronic Journal of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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Working from home has long been considered an exception applicable to freelancers and a limited number of jobs. In Nigeria, past research revealed that flexible work arrangements were attractive to many employees irrespective of gender but that managers were generally reluctant to accept flexibility in time and in space. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged this managerial mindset, obliging both men and women to move their workstation from the company premises to their home. This chapter tells what happened at the onset of the pandemic in Nigeria and looks at its impact on employing organisations, employees and families. It is found that (1) employers can benefit from substantial savings when employees work from home, (2) personality types, poor infrastructure, lack of digital skills, unequal access to internet and inadequate family support affect the experience of work from home for employees. Employers must be willing to provide necessary training and to give adequate support to employees working from home to help them defray additional expenses a home office entails. © 2022 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.
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This study compares health science librarian job postings in the MEDLIB-L listserv from 2018-2019 and 2021-2022 to assess whether there was an increase in remote or hybrid schedule arrangements listed in job advertisements after the pandemic's onset. Results indicated a notable increase in advertising remote/hybrid work arrangements rising from 1.2% of listings in 2018-2019 to 16% of listings in 2021-2022. Data from a 2022 survey of library directors, however, indicated that approximately 70% of respondents expressed confidence in the continuance of remote/hybrid work. Additionally, from a very limited sample size, salaries for remote/hybrid positions did not appear to be less than in-person postings. While current employees at many institutions may benefit from flexible scheduling, this study examines whether job postings, which are often the primary information available to applicants, included information about remote and hybrid work options.
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COVID-19 , Librarians , Humans , Pandemics , Workforce , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) became a way of life for many as they navigated the numerous challenges that arose from the COVID-19 global pandemic. As organizations evaluate their FWA policies and implementation, it is worth asking how FWAs relate to employee engagement and, importantly, how can organizations shape that relationship? These questions may be especially pertinent to millennial employees who value many of the benefits of FWAs, such as increased autonomy and independence, and who are experiencing noticeably lower rates of engagement compared to their older coworkers. As such, this research is grounded in the question, what is the relationship between employees' flexible work arrangement experience (FWA use, FWA perceptions, and FWA tools) and their level of engagement? Furthermore, does this relationship differ for millennial employees? This research surveyed 3,555 employees from a U.S.-based company on their FWA use, FWA perceptions, and FWA tools. Additionally, participants completed the UWES-9 engagement survey. These data, along with participant generation, were analyzed through several regression models to explore the relationships between specific FWA components and employee engagement. This research demonstrated that FWA perceptions and FWA tools had strong positive relationships with employee engagement, while FWA use did not. These findings provide significant practical takeaways for organizations looking to leverage FWAs to improve employee engagement;most importantly, it is paramount that employees feel flexibility is supported in the organizations even if they never choose to use FWAs. Additionally, generation was not found to moderate the relationships between FWAs and engagement, but statistically significant differences between generations were noted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the hospitality industry. This research combines different data to examine the US labor market trends during COVID-19. It is found that low-preparation jobs in leisure and hospitality are the hardest hit and slow to recover. The pandemic has highlighted growing issues in workplace safety, skill gaps, technology adoption, and work reorganization in the hospitality industry. This paper develops two propositions about preparing hospitality workers for the future of work and providing flexible work arrangements.
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The previous academic research on work-family conflict mainly focused on the relevant elements in the work field. This study concludes that elements of the family domain have a significant impact on the relationship between work-family conflict and employee wellbeing. Female employees' perceptions of wellbeing largely depend on their willingness to have children when they take on family roles. During COVID-19, employees had more time to fulfill both work and family roles in the family sphere due to the epidemic blockade, the contribution of the female employee's significant other (husband) in family matters had a significant impact on Fertility intention. This study using SPSS 24.0 AMOS 20.0 and M plus 7.4 statistical analysis tools to test the proposed hypotheses. In the paired data of 412 working female employees and husbands of Chinese dual-earner families with different occupational backgrounds, hypothesis testing results support that female employees' work â family conflict is negatively related to female employees' fertility intentions, and female employees' fertility intentions are positively related to wellbeing; female employees' family â work conflict is negatively related to female employees' wellbeing; husband's flexible work stress is negatively related to husband's share of housework; husband's share of housework moderated the front, rear and overall mediating effects by the fertility intention. When formulating policies, the managers should consider not only the direct effects of policies, but also the indirect effects that policies may have on other family members of employees. Managers should develop management policies during an epidemic that are more responsive to the actual needs of employees during an epidemic. The management of female employees should give due consideration to the family status of female employees and the enterprises should recognize the importance of childcare for female employees.
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COVID-19 , Family Conflict , Child , Humans , Female , Intention , Pandemics , COVID-19/epidemiology , FertilityABSTRACT
Introduction: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teleworking suddenly became a reality for many individuals. Previous research shows that there are contradictory consequences of telework on well-being: while workers have the opportunity for self-directed work, intensified work behavior as well as longer hours being worked might occur at the same time. We expect that the effects of telework vary over time and may be able to explain these contradictions. Moreover, from the perspective of the job demands-resources model besides job resources, personal resources may be relevant. The aim of this study is to investigate how the mental well-being of workers unfolds over time after the onset of the pandemic and the role of telework in this process. Additionally we seek to identify the impact of available job resources and personal resources in this extraordinary situation. Methods: Data were collected online from 642 participants in Germany beginning in March 2020, with 8 weekly followup surveys. Mental well-being was measured using the WHO-5 well-being index. For personal resources we looked at occupational self-efficacy; job resources were flexible working hours, job autonomy, and social support. Job demands were telework and work intensification. First we used a group-based trajectory analysis approach to identify different well-being trajectories. Second we applied multinomial regression analysis to identify T1 predictors of well-being trajectory group membership and their interactions. Results: We found three groups of mental well-being trajectories: low, medium, and high. Their progress through the investigation period was rather stable: we observed only slight improvements of mental well-being for the high well-being group and a slight deterioration for the other two groups. Only the job demand work intensification and the personal resource occupational self-efficacy had a significant relationship to group assignment. Additionally we found interactions of telework with work intensification and occupational self-efficacy indicating a buffering mechanism of telework on the consequences of high work intensification; and low occupational self-efficacy. Discussion: Telework appears to be a useful resource that buffered high work intensification and compensated for low personal resources during the pandemic. Since data were from self-reports of a convenience sample we can't assume generalization of our results nor absence of common-method bias.
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Ongoing trends towards more flexible work arrangements (FWA) have been accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis. Whilst research has shown the overall benefits FWA can have, limited research has explored whether use and benefits of FWA are equal across differentiated organisational contexts and genders. We suggest that individuals working in their family's business face less organizational constraints that typically hinder employees from taking advantage of FWA. It could be suggested that these workers may make higher use of FWA than individuals in regular employment because of their entrepreneurial status and nepotistic privileges. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to explore if family members working in their family's business, work under favourable boundary conditions which enable them to more freely make use of and benefit from FWAs. Utilising representative data from the German Family Panel (pairfam), our comparative analysis based on propensity score matching, suggests that family members working in their family's business (N = 337) do make greater use of FWA than those in regular employment. Counter to common assumptions, the findings reveal that FWA leads to higher workloads for owner-managers but not for family employees. Furthermore, families working in their business show no differences in how they divide household tasks compared to regular employed families–yet they perceive that division to be fairer. This study extends knowledge by introducing family ownership and kinship ties as important boundary conditions to existing theories on FWA, such as life-course theory. It also provides new insights into the commonly assumed consequences of FWA use. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
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As more businesses have newly adopted or expanded flexible work arrangements (FWA) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the current study aimed to investigate whether flexibility backlash (e.g., workers' negative perceptions of promotion opportunities and work-to-life conflict) occurs in response to the use of FWA. Moreover, we tested if perceptions of flexibility backlash vary across subgroups of employees (i.e., as a function of gender, family responsibilities, and race), as well as their intersection. Using a lagged dataset of N = 414 currently employed U.S. workers collected at three-time points during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that FWA use was not significantly associated with the subsequent perception of career opportunities, and no group differences were found in this relationship. Similarly, no main effect of FWA use on work-to-life conflict was found. However, among workers with more family care responsibilities, greater FWA usage was associated with more work-to-life conflict. Further, intersectionality analyses revealed men with greater family responsibilities and men who are racial minorities perceived more work-to-life conflict as they used more FWA than their counterparts. We discuss these findings through the lens of diversity in light of the ongoing need to reduce the backlash associated with the use of FWA. © The Author(s) 2023.
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Current research on negotiated individualized flexible work arrangements focuses on highly paid, skilled professional workers. We refer to this as "flexibility through privilege,” the ability to obtain "flexibility I-deals,” due to high labor market power. Yet as work-life tensions grow across occupations globally, most individuals need increased access to flexibility. As the COVID-19 pandemic illuminated, work-life equality, the ability of workers to have equal access to, opportunity to use, and benefit from flexible working arrangements is a rising form of job inequality. We examine how existing flexibility i-deals can be reconceptualized more broadly to include collectively bargained arrangements across many occupations, and flexible working forms. Our essay advances understanding by (1) broadening notions of the typical employee and occupation involved;(2) expanding negotiation processes beyond an organizational sphere of control;(3) identifying new forms of negotiated flexibility such as control over work-life boundaries and technological availability;and (4) addressing not only employer-employee mutual benefits, but larger societal interests concurrent with new tensions and unintended consequences of mainstreamed implementation. We propose the term "collective flexibility” as the collective right of workers to customize their work schedule, place, workload, boundaries, connectivity, and employment mode with their employer and other stakeholders to benefit employers, employees, and society. We offer a future research agenda. Expanding how we frame and study what a flexibility i-deal is with a collective approach regarding how they are accessed, negotiated, maintained, and who they serve may enhance their potential as a lever for social change to advance economic, social, and health employment rights.
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Purpose>This study aims to examine the impact of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) on employees' perceived productivity, quality of work and organisational commitment (OC) with a special focus on the United Arab Emirates. It also analyses the mediating effect of employee happiness on the relationship between FWA and employees' perceived productivity, OC and perceived work quality.Design/methodology/approach>A quantitative, non-experimental correlational study was used for this research project. The study yielded numerical data, which were analysed using a deductive approach. The analysis aimed at exploring the relationships between the constructs, which were viewed as variables;these relationships were considered correlations, mediation and moderation. The sample comprises employees currently working at different public and private sector organisations, representing all major service industries in the UAE. Nine questions were used to assess the flexibility at work and six out of the nine questions were used to measure the level of FWAs using the Likert scale.Findings>FWA has a significant and positive association with the employees' perceived productivity, quality of work and OC. It was confirmed that happiness plays a mediating role in the relationship between FWA and employee outcomes. The facility allows employees to manage their personal and professional lives with ease using their preferred work method. This ability promotes employee satisfaction. In conclusion, managers and employees around the world should view FWAs as a positive tool to enhance employee productivity and OC, particularly in an emergency like the Covid-19 pandemic.Research limitations/implications>The participants' honesty was a limitation, which could raise questions on the validity of this study. This limitation arises when the self-report method is used for data collection. Use of multiple instruments could be another limitation.Practical implications>Organisational leaders can use FWAs to improve employee outcomes. When an organisation grants flexible work options to employees, it implies that the organisation trusts its employees to complete the task. This factor motivates all employees to work with dedication, which is particularly true if the employees are creative people and wish to work on their preferred time and place.Originality/value>This study is significant because the findings will allow managers to assess the benefits of using FWAs to improve employee productivity, particularly in the service sector. It combines the aspects of perceived productivity, OC and perceived work quality, as well as employee happiness to assess the role of FWAs in organisations. The study also investigates the influence of FWAs in improving these employee outcomes. Based on the literature review, this study on FWAs is the first of its kind in the UAE, the country using a truly multinational workforce coming from more than 100 countries and cultures.
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The construction industry plays a significant role in developing a country's economy. However, the success in this sector largely depends upon the performance of its human resources engaged in different functions. The rapidly developing countries like Malaysia are primarily focusing on improving their infrastructure, ultimately giving rise to a boom in the construction industry, though still, not many studies focused on performance management via a modern working environment. Nonetheless, the present COVID-19 pandemic has driven industries to implement new/modern working methods, but it has yet to be assessed whether the new practices have changed job performance. Dwelling on that, this study explores the modern working possibilities, including flexible work schedules, sabbaticals, and telecommuting, as critical factors affecting employee performance engaged in the construction industry. The data was collected via a survey in Malaysia and then statistically analyzed Structural Equation Modelling. The findings suggest flexible work practices and sabbaticals as critical factors deemed to improve employee performance especially during the recent pandemic of COVID-19. Furthermore, telecommuting is identified as another assertive factor affecting construction performance. Thus, this study will serve as the baseline to further explore the role of these important performance attributes on construction as well as other industries. © 2022, University of Cienfuegos, Carlos Rafael Rodriguez. All rights reserved.