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A survey on working time organisation in Luxembourg's public sector, published in October 1998, indicates a strong desire for more flexible working hours. It is above all women who seek different working time arrangements, being willing to trade off shorter hours for loss of pay.
On 15 October 1998, the Ministry of the Public Sector and the Ministry for the Advancement of Women published a quantitative analysis of 4,118 replies to a questionnaire that had been sent out to 21,000 state employees in June 1997, and which dealt mainly with the organisation of working time.
Full-time work is the general rule throughout the public sector. Almost 80% of staff in public sector institutions work full time, that is to say virtually all men and slightly over 60% of women. The incidence of full-time working rises with the age of employees' children: most of those who work part-time have children under the age of seven.
Some 45% of employees work overtime on an irregular basis. One person in three does so regularly, working usually one to 10 hours of overtime a month.
Over half the employees in public institutions say that they can travel between their homes and their places of work in under 20 minutes, while almost 40% take 20-40 minutes.
Under half of the respondents say that they are happy with their current situation at work. Those that are content are found especially among those aged over 40.
As for current working time arrangements, almost two-thirds of employees say that these still reflect the organisation of the public service in which they work, while almost half say that their working hours frequently fit in with their own individual needs for flexibility.
Men and women view their situations in a strikingly similar way. A little under half look on their situations as satisfactory in terms of flexibility, family and leisure time.
The survey reveals a clear preference for more flexible working hours. This is the first preference for over half of those wanting a new organisation of their working time. Under a third state a preference for reduced hours, and surprisingly, 16% are mainly interested in teleworking. Preferences for these priorities are evenly distributed between men and women. However, in terms of age there is strong support for flexible working hours among staff under 25 years old, whereas the reduced working hours option is more appealing to those over 40.
The possible individual working arrangements selected by the 60% of employees who opt for new models of work organisation are linked to the working week. The most popular model (40% of replies) is the four-day week. Under half are in favour of new arrangements based on the working day. Wishes in this respect are less clear-cut and vary between six and nine hours a day, with a preference for longer hours among men and shorter hours among women. The most commonly preferred model (25% of replies) is a seven-hour day.
Some 60% of those who are unhappy with their current work situation are prepared to exchange a "13th month" bonus payment for an individual "time-credit" scheme. Almost two-thirds of women are in favour of this option. Over half the employees favouring this scheme would like to be able to use time saved to take full and half days of leave.
For over a third of respondents, the main obstacle to introducing reduced working hours is loss of pay. Almost 30% also mention the organisation of the public service concerned, and over a fifth cite the views colleagues senior to them. The main obstacle for men is the organisation of the service, whereas loss of pay is a more common obstacle among women.
Over half of all employees cite the family as the main reason for working fewer hours; this reason is distributed equally among men and women.
Generally speaking, 38% of employees in public institutions would accept shorter working hours together with a proportional reduction in pay. For the most part, these are women, civil servants, and staff working in government ministries and departments and in education.
Almost 20% of those who responded to the questionnaire added additional personal observations. The tenor of these comments might be described as "to the point", the survey clearly being seen by the target group as an invitation to engage in dialogue. This qualitative part of the survey is based on a spontaneous manifestation of interest - it cannot be seen as statistically representative, and women are substantially over-represented (women account for almost 57% of respondents of his part of the survey although they constitute only 42% of employees in the public sector).
Some 70% of the replies in questions contain suggestions relating to changes in working time, that is to say flexible arrangements and various options based on shorter hours. Many proposals from women deal with possibilities for, and conditions of, shorter working hours (eg preparation for retirement, half-time working and part-time working), and are all based on flexible working time models. Suggestions from men tend towards different forms of flexible working time, and shorter working hours closely linked to an undertaking to create new jobs.
The ideas that come out of the survey contain concrete suggestions for new working time arrangements. The target group produces no single, standard model, but rather a range of ideas on working hours that reflect the different employee groups and services. Broadly speaking, there is support for more flexible working hours: core hours need to be discussed; working days could be longer or shorter; and overtime could be banked in a "time-credit" scheme.
To conclude, it is felt that the current schemes allowing shorter working time in the public sector (ie part-time and half-time working) are regulated in too restrictive a manner.
The survey was carried out before the law on reducing public sector pensions was adopted in July 1998 (LU9808173F). It has produced a large number of personal views which are now interpreted by the relevant Ministries as a "barometer of workplace opinion in the public sector, which is clearly in favour of dialogue on the matter".
Given that the response rate to the questionnaire was no more than 20%, reorganisation of working hours in the public sector is unlikely in the near future unless, following the elections scheduled for June 1999, the new government decides to act on the demands being articulated by women. (Marc Feyereisen, ITM)