As the old saying goes, “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” but everyone forgets the other stimulating quote on work to worker relations, “Nine to five may earn one much money, but nine to two can save one from worry.” It has become a common stigmata in today’s society for honest workers to be churned through an overly-demanding economic machine commonly known as the 40 to 50 hour work week. This outdated contraption of misleading reward has surrounded and held the American people in its tight hold. In a society where productivity is measured by the hours one clocks in at the end of the day, the reality is that by lowering the hours in a workweek, one would be encouraging a stronger and healthier working …show more content…
Across the blue seas of the Atlantic, and even here in America, companies and governments have already begun to experiment with and implement the shorter working week for numerous of its working citizens and employees. Many European countries, including Sweden, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Germany have already taken several steps toward adopting a smarter and more balanced version of the standard, 40 to 50 hour work week (Coote). With these new adjustments, the European leaders hope to encourage good working habits and growth among its staffers. Although several governments in Europe and other parts of the world have already started instituting the shorter work week, many American companies are beginning to follow the trail in the sand. Among these companies include the online technology school Treehouse, the service company KPMG, and a web application company called Basecamp (Sahadi). In a recent interview with the Treehouse Company CEO Ryan Carson, Ryan revealed that after implementing a shorter, more flexible working week for him and his employees, he saw a number of profound effects that the change had on his business and its employed workers. When asked for a reason as to why he began and continues the daring concept, Ryan stated that “The quality of the work, I believe, is higher. Thirty-two hours of higher quality work is better than 40 hours of lower quality work.” To acknowledge the success of businesses that have adopted the shorter working week in our own society, such as the Treehouse Company, is to take steps toward establishing a higher and healthier precedent that all of America’s current and future employers can follow. It is with these examples that the Magna Carta of the weekly working period can be rewritten to support an increase in flexibility, accessibility, and
Miller, G. (2010, October 12). Twenty Something Finance . Retrieved April 12, 2011, from The U.S. is the Most Overworked Developed Nation in the World – When do we Draw the Line?: http://20somethingfinance.com/american-hours-worked-productivity-vacation/
In today’s society you either have to work hard to live a good life, or just inherit a lump sum of cash, which is probably never going to happen. So instead a person has to work a usual nine to five just to put food on the table for their families, and in many cases that is not even enough. In the article, “Why We Work” by Andrew Curry, Curry examines the complexities of work and touches on the reasons why many workers feel unsatisfied with their jobs. Barbara Ehrenreich writes an essay called, “Serving in Florida” which is about the overlooked life of being a server and the struggles of working off low minimum wages. Curry’s standpoint on jobs is that workers are not satisfied, the job takes control of their whole life, and workers spend
Previous generations have a strong belief of keeping work and home life separate; that work is for work and home is for play (Rampell, 2011, para 21). Today’s professionals do not seem to abide by similar beliefs, constantly crossing the borders of one into the other. While many recognize this as an issue that could result in employees being less productive, it has actually resulted in them accepting that their work may run late into the evening or even into the weekend. I agree with this completely in that I grew up being taught that business is business and personal is personal; you leave your home life at the door. But now times have changed, and my weekends are no longer dedicated to my home life, but for work, because I attend classes during the week. Also, in my line of work in the Allied Health industry, it is a requirement to work off hours. Long gone are the days of working nine to five, Monday through Friday; technology and the demand of wanting affairs done and done as soon as possible, has made it so the “work week” is now 24-7. “Jon Della Volpe, the director of polling at Harvard Institute of Politics, said, ‘Some experts also believe that today’s young people are better at quickly switching from one task to another, given their exposure to so many stimuli during their childhood and adolescence’” (Rampbell,
Americans have little to no time off each week. According to the article, “Overworked America: 12 Charts That Will Make Your Blood Boil”,some countries give workers 37-48 hours off each week. Other countries give workers 24-36 hours off each week.Americans in comparison have barely any hours off(Gilson).Even on the weekends , Americans find their lives consumed by work. A survey given to employed email users showed that 50% of them checked their work email on the weekends and 34% check work email while on vacation(Gilson).Americans cannot find a medium between their work lives and their personal lives.
People will argue that having a low-paying job and freedom is better than a high-paying job and a 60-hour workweek. However many including myself, don’t share the views of Hal Niedzviecki’s essay’s “Stupid Jobs Are Good to Relax With”. Having a higher paying and longer hours provides much more income and allows for a lot more financial freedom. This freedom can help bring much more happiness into your life compared to the lower paying workweek. Hal Niedzviecki mentions many benefits to the easy jobs with low-paying workweeks in the following statement
Given that rotating shift work can lead to exhaustion and decreased mental efficiency, individuals working under
Shift Work: The introduction of shift work mainly depends on safety and productivity of the workers being maintained. However, evidence suggests that safety and productivity of workers may decline at night shifts with more hours on duty between breaks. The shift work system can be improved by introducing more rest breaks (Folkard & Tucker 2003).
The separation of employees' work life and personal life is no longer clearly defined by a 9-5 schedule, time spent in the office or proximity to coworkers. The advancement of technology has blurred the line between work life and personal time. This blurring and overlapping of work and personal time has created a new environment to which company provided benefits much adapt. The evolution of benefit programs must support employees combined work/life overlap and must encompass both areas. There are no longer benefit programs defined by the traditional package of health coverage, dental, vision, vacation, life insurance and 401K program. Employees want and need more from their benefits programs including incentives to attract them to programs, motivate them to use the benefits and ensure healthy choices are adopted in their households. As Dave Rahill, President of Mercer's Health & Benefits business, states in the February addition of On the Clock, "This challenge puts even more pressure on employers to deeply understand and communicate the value of various benefits to their employees so they can make smart choices" (Guillaume, 2013). Employers must broaden their focus beyond just the employee to include the entire family to ensure improvement of employees lifestyles. This paper will discuss the evolution of employer benefits toward a focus in healthy living via incentives provided to employees to ensure their utilization beyond the work environment. Through analysis of employee utilization of both traditional and wellness benefit programs at Conversant the current incentives leading that utilization are evaluated and recommendations for improvement. Evaluation of Conversant’s incentive program designed to drive employee be...
We live in a world that is constantly bounding forward. In that push for innovation, working long hours often overshadows what it takes for a person to maintain a healthy lifestyle. How can we expect to advance as a society if we are not taking care of our own health first? In order to achieve successes beyond what we ever have before, it is necessary for every person to be operating at maximum capacity. Companies that implement nutritional plans and allow their employees to exercise during work hours see improved health of their workers, happier employees, and a spike in business productivity. There is always a presence of the drive to “be better” in business, and this can only be grasped if every individual takes the time to address the basic
Work reform, as interpreted by the employer, is a modern concept that has at its core increases in efficiency and effectiveness and a content and stable workforce. Work reforms are a means to an end; the end being increases in efficiency, production, and profits in a volatile global market. Depending on which method is used, the goals are to motivate their workers to gain their compliance. By paying more attention to a workers values, attitudes, and psychological needs, etc. a company can set the foundation for a more militant workforce and perhaps circumvent unionization. A company can try to create a “corporate family”, for example, via a corporate culture to try to facilitate this type of reform. The implementation of a corporate culture is an attempt to get workers to “buy in” to the firm’s overall goals (Krahn, Lowe, Hughes, 2011 p. 244-248). Key themes include workers as human beings, organizational cultures, constant adaptation, co-operation, creativity, flexibility, work teams, doing more with less, continuous learning, flatter organizational structures, customer-service, and participative management, etc. The goals and motivations for work reform as it pertains to a workforce differ from those of firms. Workers see changes such as enhanced on the job decision-making, increased autonomy, a decrease in monotonous and arduous tasks, and more input into large company decisions(that will ultimately affect them) as positive. Other changes that workers would embrace are pay increases and the addition of family friendly work policies such as more free time, and on-site daycare. Since a number of large manufacturing and service firms are unionized, a motivation and goal for work reform, in this respect, would be for a co...
It’s shocking, but it’s also consistent with a Seminal Time theft survey conducted by Robert Half International, which found that employers lose about 4.5 hours per week per employee. While every employer has to deal with time theft, it’s especially challenging for companies with a distributed workforce. When you have employees in different locations, even different countries the problem can be compounded. Different cultures view time differently. So, even if you hire carefully and manage scrupulously, chances are you have some percentage of workforce theft in your midst, and that likely includes time theft”. (Donskey
Working in today’s society has changed in the last few decades. The economy and technology are the main reasons for this change. The type of job and environment where one works has also changed. The fact that many people work from home via the internet has drastically changed the workforce and the environment surrounding it. With this change comes new demands, expectations, and opportunities for employers.
Potter, E. E. (2003). elecommuting: The Future of Work, Corporate Culture, and American Society. The Journal of Labor Research, 73-84. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b5f994a5-e115-4b78-a998-d0ba810aec0d%40sessionmgr111&vid=5&hid=106
Research indicates that long working hours contribute largely to stress and stress related diseases. Currently, employees are being put on pressure by the organization in order to achieve the set goals. Nevertheless, the employees are willing to work for longer hours in order to earn more money to satisfy their increasing needs (Gullotta et al., 2003:23). On the other hand, the organizations have been compelling their subordinates to work for longer hours as a way of punishment or increasing the possibility of achieving the set goals within the stipulated time. This aspect has increased the number of depressed people in the population. With many people being unaware of how to deal with depression, they are turning to smoking. As a result, long working hours have been associated with smoking behaviors (Burke & Cooper 2008:46). The most affected people are the young people. This behavior has increased the number of people suffering from cancer and other respiratory related diseases in the world. In addition, it has increased the number of people suffering from heart and lung diseases.
In Today’s world, the composition and how work is done has massively changed and is still continuing to change. Work is now more complex, more team base, depends greatly on technological and social skills and lastly more mobile and does not depend on geography. Companies are also opting for ways to help their employees perform their duties effectively so that huge profits are realized in the long term .The changes in the workplaces include Reduction in the structure of the hierarchy ,breakdown in the organization boundaries , improved and better management tactics and perspectives and lastly better workplace condition and health to the employees. (Frank Ackerman, Neva R. Goodwin, Laurie Dougherty, Kevin Gallagher, 2001)