So called “normal working hours” with regular daytime work from Monday to Friday are actually not that normal for a large share of employees. Many employers expect flexibility from employees such as shift and night work, overtime work, and availability during free time resulting in shortened rest periods and disturbed recovery. Research has shown that the organization of working time is related to employees’ well-being. However, on the one hand, intervention studies focusing on shift characteristics are still scarce (Axelsson, Sallinen, Sundelin, Kecklund, 2018). Thus, there is still a lack of understanding of how working time can be organized to improve work-life balance and to maintain health inspite of night and/or shift work. On the other hand, increasing flexibility is also expected from employees who do not work in relatively predictable shift systems. Not much is known on how these working time demands and their combinations affect the work-life balance, recovery and health of employees in different countries and different economic branches.

Thus, the aim of this symposium is to present and discuss findings on the effects of different aspects of working time on employees’ work-life-balance, recovery and health. In the first part of the symposium three working time intervention studies are presented. Schoenenberger and Ramez present findings from a study in which employees of an intensive health care unit changed from 8 to 12 hour shifts. In a chemical company, Strauß, Brenscheidt and Tisch present an intervention study comparing employees who changed from 12 to 8 hour shifts, to others staying in 12 hour shifts. Karhula et al. present findings from an intervention study in a public sector social- and health care department in which ergonomic working time principles were implemented. The studies present findings on different aspects of work-life-balance, fatigue and health. In the second part of the symposium, three studies using representative survey data are presented. Wöhrmann and Karhula conducted two parallel studies on health care/hospital workers in Germany and Finland using the representative German BAuA-Working Time Survey and the Finnish Public Sector Hospital Survey combined with objective working hour data. They present relationships of different working time dimensions on work-life conflict, perceived health, sleep difficulties, and fatigue. Backhaus, Brauner and Tisch examined the relationship of shortened rest periods between work days with psychosomatic health complaints and work-life balance using data from more than 6500 full time employees who took part in the BAuA-Working Time Survey. Finally, also based on data from the BAuA-Working Time Survey, Vieten, Wöhrmann and Michel examined the role of recovery experiences in the relationship of aspects of temporal boundarylessness such as permanent availability and working overtime with recovery state.

Using different study designs, these studies confirm that the organization of working time is an important factor when it comes to employees’ work-life balance, recovery and health. The results undermine the importance of working hour regulations and give indications to understand effects of changes in working time arrangements for organizations. Some contradictory findings provide relevant aspects for future research.

CHAIR
Anne Wöhrmann
Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Germany (BAuA), Dortmund, Germany
DISCUSSANT
Sandrine Schoenenberger
Lille Catholic University, Lille, France

IN THIS SYMPOSIUM

From 8-h shifts to 12h-shifts: What advantages for work life balance and rest? A longitudinal study in an intensive care unit.
Sandrine Schoenenberger, Damien Ramez
FLSH, Université Catholique Lille, Lille, France.
PERSEUS, Université de Lorraine, Metz, France.
l’Institut Catholique de Lille, lille, France

Work-life balance of shift workers transitioning from 12-hour shifts to 8-hour shift
Roland Strauß, Frank Brenscheidt, Anita Tisch
Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Dortmund, Germany

The effects of working time ergonomics intervention on ageing employees´ well-being
Kati Karhula, Tarja Hakola, Aki Koskinen, Tea Lallukka, Sampsa Puttonen, Tuula Oksanen, Ossi Rahkonen, Annina Ropponen, Mikko Härmä
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland.
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Working time and health care sector employees’ well-being
Anne Wöhrmann, Kati Karhula
Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Germany (BAuA), Dortmund, Germany.
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

Shortened rest periods and well-being of full-time employees in Germany: Evidence from the BAuA Working Time Survey 2017
Nils Backhaus, Corinna Brauner, Anita Tisch
Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Dortmund, Germany.
Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Dortmund, Germany

Temporal boundarylessness of work and recovery state: The role of recovery experiences
Laura Vieten, Anne Wöhrmann, Alexandra Michel
Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Dortmund, Germany