Company policies with regard to the reduction of working time

The Netherlands WP/97/52/EN EUROPEAN FOUNDATION for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions ATOS Beleidsadvies and -onderzoek bv Gelderlandplein 75d 1082 LV Amsterdam Tel: 020 - 404 4042 Fax: 020 - 404 4676 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 1. THE SITUATION IN THE NETHERLANDS DURING THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES2 1.1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 2 1.2. THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM FROM THE SEVENTIES ONWARD ................................................ 3 1.3. THE APPROACH OF THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM ................................................................... 5 1.4. PARTICIPATION DEGREE AND MANPOWER ................................................................................. 6 1.5. ECONOMICAL DEVELOPMENTS ................................................................................................. 7 2. COLLECTIVE REDUCTION OF WORKING HOURS .......................................................... 9 2.1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 9 2.2. THE EXTENT OF THE REDUCTION OF WORKING HOURS ............................................................... 9 2.3. EFFECTS OF A 5% REDUCTION OF WORKING HOURS ..................................................................13 2.3.1. Re-staffing.....................................................................................................................13 2.3.2. Organisational consequences ........................................................................................15 2.3.3. Quality of labour...........................................................................................................16 2.3.4. Costs and benefits on an organisational level................................................................17 2.3.5. Summarising .................................................................................................................18 2.4. THE COMPRESSED WORKING WEEK ..........................................................................................18 2.4.1. Re-staffing.....................................................................................................................19 2.4.2. Organisational consequences of reduced working hours................................................20 2.4.3 Quality of Labour...........................................................................................................20 2.4.4. Costs and benefits on an organisational level................................................................20 3. PART-TIME WORK .................................................................