3.4 Online Services and Working Patterns

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Introduction

• An increased amount of online services has increased the amount of flexible working that organisations offer

What is flexible working?

• It is a working pattern that can be decided by the employee and it is not the normal working hours.

Examples

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Part-time Working

Working from Home

Job Sharing

Compressed Hours Moving from branch to branch

Flexible working hours (Flexitime)

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Part-time Working

• People work for a limited number of hours.

Benefits for Employers

Problems for Employers

Problems for Workers

Benefits for Workers

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Benefits for Employers

1- Part-time workers can be hired during busy times of the day

2- Helps retain and attract staffDue to online services many employees have lost their jobs, so what some companies have is that they have reduced the amount of hours they work instead of completely getting rid of them. This way staff that is already trained to do the job will remain, so no money has to be spent on training new staff.

3- Part-time jobs could be done in hours that favour the employee.

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Problems for Employers

1. Extra costs may be involved when retraining of the staff is required.

2. There may be problems when trying to organise dates for training (because workers are part-time and everyone will have a specific time that suits them).

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Benefits for Workers

1. They can organise their life outside work more easily

2. Workers can continue doing the job they are more used to doing

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Problems for Workers

1. They are less likely to receive in-work training like their full-time colleagues.

2. They also earn considerably less per hour compared to a full time worker.

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Job Sharing

• It is when 2 people share a job that would actually be done by only one person.

• Each of the 2 are paid on part time basis; together they do a full time job.

Benefits for Employers

Problems for Employers

Problems for Workers

Benefits for Workers

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Benefits for Employers

1. The 2 people who job share could have different skills, knowledge and experience so the employer can get the skill of 2 workers at the price of one.

2. Employees will work for only a few hours so they will be more fresh and creative.

3. If one of the employees is ill or away, half the job still gets done.

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Problems for Employers

• More money might be needed to be spent on buying a new desk and associated equipment for the second person.

• There might be additional training costs included

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Benefits for Workers

• Same benefits as for those in Part-time working

• Workers enjoy work more because they have someone to talk to about their problems.

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Problems for Workers

• Manager may not want a certain job to be shared.

• Workers may not get job satisfaction because something that was once theirs now has to be shared with someone else[

• People who are job sharing need to be very organised be; especially when handing over.

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Flexible Working Hours

• It gives workers more choice about what time of the day they work.

• They can work the same number of hours per week but at different times.

• It increases recruitment and reduced the number of people leaving the company for another job.

Benefits for Employers

Problems for Employers

Problems for Workers

Benefits for Workers

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Benefits for Employer

• Businesses can open for longer during the day.• They can match busy and not-so-busy times • It will lead to a reduction in absenteeism and

improved punctuality.• Employees work harder when they choose the

time at which they are going to work.

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Problems for Employers

• It might take the manager longer to organise the system

• They need to make sure that essential working hours are covered.

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Benefits for Workers

• They can organise their working life to suit their personal life.

• Travelling to and from work could be cheaper if it is not done during peak hours.

• If they stay late to finish a job; they can take time off the next day.

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Problems for Workers

• It puts extra pressure on some workers when they are told to work when other workers are not prepared to work (Or they are just not bothered to work at that time)

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Working from Home (Teleworking)

• This is when employees spend most or all of their time working at home.

Benefits for Employers

Problems for Employers

Problems for Workers

Benefits for Workers

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Benefits for Employers

1. Less money spent on renting or buying offices.

2. There are some workers who have commitments at home and so they can’t leave; employers by allowing teleworking let these employees continue working at home without taking constant leave.

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Problems for Employers

1. It must be ensured that technical support available to the teleworkers

2. Contact must be maintained between the employee and the employer

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Benefits for Workers

1. They can manage their work and personal life more easily.

2. They don’t have to live very close to where they work.

3. They can save transport cost and time.

4. They can work the hours that suit them.

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Problems for Workers

1. For a few people it may be difficult to work without any social contact

2. They don’t see their manager very often so they don’t need to impress them as often either.

3. You can’t always find office space in the house easily.

4. There may also be distractions in the house where you are trying to work. These distraction could include:

a) Friends and relatives may drop by

b) Young children in the house

c) Pets

5. Keeping documents confidential and secure may be difficult when travelling from home to work.

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Compressed Hours

• This is when workers work the same number of hours but over a shorter period of time.

Benefits for Employers

Problems for Workers

Benefits for Workers

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Benefits for Employer

• By giving extra time off it helps keep workers who might otherwise take time off.

• Since some workers work longer; companies can operate for longer hours.

• Absenteeism is less of a problem.

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Hours

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Benefits for Workers

1. They are able to earn the same amount of money but in a shorter amount of time.

2. They will have the opportunity to have a ‘long weekend’ if all the work is complete

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Hours

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Problems for Workers

• Because they are working over time; after their job finishes they might be too tired to enjoy their free time.

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Hours

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Ability to Work from Branch to Branch

• Companies now have centralised computer systems, so it does not matter which office the employee work from as they will be able to access the network.

• Employers have the opportunity to move the employees from branch to branch depending how busy the office us,