Anställdas inställningar till arbetstidsförkortning : En empirisk studie av 882 anställda inom offentlig och privat sektor

The subject of shorter work days is a widely debated subject and its pros and cons are argued by politicians, scientists and media. The focus in these discussions is primarily on macro-economic repercussions and effects on employees’ health. The purpose of this study is to explain employees’ attitude towards management control through shorter work days. A literary study containing scientific articles contributed to a theoretical framework. To further examine employees’ attitude, a questionnaire was distributed and answers from 882 employees within the public and private sector were collected. The result of the study shows that the current situation at work did not affect employees’ attitude toward shorter work days and the strength of the explaining factors varied between job complexities. Among these differences, the importance of job satisfaction is notable as only jobs with a lower complexity took satisfaction in consideration when they formed their attitude towards shorter work days. As such, organizations needs to assess what influences job satisfaction and if management control through shorter work days will contribute to or hamper these influences. The attitude towards an implementation of shorter work days can further be explained by employees’ perception of how a shorter work day would affect their situation at work, the characteristics of their work and how an implementation would affect their personal life. Hence, the meaning of shorter work days and its importance differs among employees in different types of jobs.Validerat; 20160602 (global_studentproject_submitter