Flexible Work In The Workplace

A form of part time work where 2 people share the responsibility of one job between them

Flexible work arrangements allow workers opportunity for flexible hours, ability to work from home, job

Firstly one must look at the division of domestic labour and conjugal roles. Conjugal roles refer to the roles performed by men and women in relation to housework, childcare and paid work. Traditionally men had the instrumental ‘bread-winning’ role which the women had the

Incorporating flexibility is required in all work plans as many occurrences could happen that derails you from your work/project [7]. An example of this, was whilst working in the procurement department, I had a project which consisted me researching into a new travel management system and to write a strategy for which company could offer Tarmac a competitive package. It heavily involved me communicating with other travel management companies, other departments to get data and then writing a detailed report of my finding of the most beneficial package to key stakeholders.

The report is based on responses collected from more than 1000 employers and 2000 employees, considered UK workforce only and was conducted in early January 2012. The report presents an in-depth view of the types of flexible working provisions offered by employers including part-time working, working from home, flexitime, compressed hours, career breaks/sabbaticals, mobile working, term-time working, secondments, annual hours and time off work in the community.

According to Statistics Canada, the amount of two parented full time working families has gone up 17% since the 1980’s. As a result of such an outcome, more employees in larger and smaller based companies are finding it harder to keep up with both risen work loads and home life necessities, which in turn have caused more absentees in the work place. The reason being for this is due to

My beliefs and view on the gender ideology towards work and family is more weighed on one side (Masculine) and partly on the other (Feminine). It is evident that the ‘Masculine’ gender is more dominant in our society and because of this; there is more expectation and responsibility for the masculine gender. However, there is a continual inclusion trend in which we are witnessing the feminine gender assume some roles of the masculine gender. But overall, the masculine effect is still dominant. I personally feel that there should be a good balance of work and family responsibility by the men. It is necessary that the ‘Men’ are mostly responsible for taking the role of the breadwinner of the family therefore, the working hours of the men would have to be met as required by the employer. For example, working 40 hours a week is the minimum in the US but varies in some other places. In a case whereby the man has to take an overtime shift just to meet the needs of the family.

Chief amongst these are that families have two goals: in raising children and establishing solid and stable adult relationships (Parsons and Bales 1955). The way families achieved these goals was by establishing specific roles for each member of the family, specifically the two parents. This structure, with a man in the workforce and woman at home, was very prevalent in the 1950s. In 1960, according to Phillip Cohen (2014), 65 percent of children lived in homes with married parents where only the father was employed. At this point, with a majority of children living in such situations, it seemed valid to define families using these households. However, this household structure quickly fell out of prominence: by 2012, only 22 percent of children lived in such homes. The most common household type — 34 percent — involved married parents where both adults worked. With families now being arranged in such varied ways, it is more difficult to generalize about family structures as you and Bales do, Dr. Parsons (Cohen 2014: 2-3).

Brief summary of information: Provides suggestions and options for employer on developing and managing equitable flexible work practices.

Employers should provide a flexible working environment for their employees as some employees have medical conditions for example diabetes which requires the person to eat regularly and carry medical equipment with them including medication and a blood sugar level machine to check their blood sugar levels regularly. They should also make it flexible for people who have children in child care centres, so those employees can leave work early as child care centres close at 6pm and in case and employees child is sick so they can go and collect their child and look after them. Employers should also provide a flexible working environment for employees so they can attend medical appointments as some specialist appointments require you to do preparation

Strategies that can be done to support the families are first, “employment training programs that are geared to traditionally higher paying jobs, second, offering employment training programs for jobs that gain higher wages, such as employment in office administration, health services, trades, etc. should be explored” (R.A. Malatest & Associates LTD, 2006. p. 56). In addition, employment and training programs should be increased to better meet the needs of families. Lastly, flexibility in working schedule “organizations should provide formal supports such as family-oriented policies and benefits (e.g. parental leave, ability to take time off and make it up later, flex-time, job sharing, sick child care, and flexible work arrangements), which give employees autonomy over their hours and their absence from work. Second, the organization can supply a number of informal supports such as a family-friendly organizational culture (e.g. flexibility around hours and location of work) and supportive managers, which may help employees, deal with work–life conflict” (Higgings, Dusbury, & Lyons, 2008. p. 31). If these strategies are being implemented, it will help single parent balance their work place and family domain and reduce the risk of unhealthy living among lone-parent families. In addition, it will increase the level of commitment they utilize for the organization and their families in a healthy

Across Australia there is a growing demand for more flexible work arrangements. A flexible environment can help employees improve a working environment and creating a flexible workplace is good for business. The advantages of a flexible working environment include: attract and retain skilled and motivated employees, creating greater staff loyalty and higher return on training investment, increased trust and respect, reduced stress levels and improved morale and commitment, increased management skills and finding creative ways to work, improved productivity. Taking on a flexible approach to work will help attract a diverse workforce including people with a disability. Introducing flexible work practices may at first appear difficult. But with

In addition, in the traditional families the mother usually bore the sole responsibility of the child caring. Modern parents now share this responsibility together because of social and work constraints. However, holidays which are not common in the traditional family, allow them to spend quality time with their children. Moreover in many modern families the father becomes a house worker, to provide for the needs of his children. As the statistics shown in the United Kingdom in 2001, 155 000 fathers were stay home husbands. All in all, the emphasis on nurturing children can be seen in traditional and modern families, alike.

The job market began to shift as the service economy began to grow; this expansion, in turn pulled labor from the family into the market. This shift left two options: (1) the domestic work has to be completed by various market settings (e.g., maid services and babysitters) or (2) the domestic work will need to be compensated by the families with a dual-couple working household. Hochschild notes that of all the women in the labor force 46 percent of them earn less than $10,000 a year. This completely eliminates option one for those in single-income households and even still, this luxury will depend on how much both partner makes. On the other hand, this leaves option two which adds on even more work to do once a person is home from work. Hence, option two is the source of conflict between work and family.

Flexible hours, you can leave early or call in sick depending on the circumstances, which favours several lifestyle