Individual Working-time Adjustments between Full-time and Part-time Working in European Firms

We draw on Sen's capabilities approach to advance the debate about choice and constraint in relation to part-time work. We argue that it is important to go beyond a state-level comparison and focus on the policy implemented by employers at the organizational level. We use a European survey to identify which employers permit their employees to make individual-level adjustments between full-time and part-time working, and the firm-level characteristics associated with operating such a policy. The analysis reveals that employer policy varies markedly across countries and within countries and we argue that this is an important social conversion factor which shapes the capability which an individual employee has to adjust their hours between full time and part time at their place of work. State policy clearly matters, but firm-level characteristics and other situational features also impact on the social conversion factors which shape an individual's working-time capability. The sector, establishment size, presence of a trade union, gender and skill composition of the workforce all had a significant influence on whether employers permitted individual-level working-time adjustments. The firm's organizational working-time practices and culture toward safeguarding work-life balance had an additional and independent effect, as did broader aspects of working-time scheduling in place.