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The origin of International Workers' Day, celebrated yesterday in many countries, dates back to May Day 1886, when some 200,000 US workmen engineered a nationwide strike for an eight-hour day. The issues of working time continues to be relevant. The EU's working time directive states that its citizens must not be required to work more than 48 hours a week on average and in Australia, an employer must not request or require a full-time employee to work more than 38 hours a week unless the additional hours are reasonable.
Working-time autonomy, the practice that allows workers to control their work hours, is a controversial policy for worker empowerment, with concerns that range from increased shirking to excessive intensification of work. However, Michael Beckmann, in his article Working-time autonomy as a management practice, argues that it improves both employee and firm productivity.
Beckmann writes: “…empirical evidence suggest that such policies do not induce harmful overwork but boost firm productivity on average, unless incorporated into a system of family-friendly workplace practices. And even in that case, firms benefit from lower turnover and wage costs. In combining working-time autonomy with performance targets, managers should set realistic goals and avoid target ratcheting or stretch goals.” He also points out that working-time autonomy enables firms to improve their attractiveness as an employer.
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