Analysis of the strain on employees in the retail sector considering work-life balance.
Many companies currently strive to support their employees' work-life balance through appropriate measures in order to improve employees' loyalty towards the company and to recruit new employees. In this context, flexibility in the area of working times is a measure that can influence employees' private lives immensely. This is why the individualisation of working time arrangements has been accorded high importance in current discussions on work-life balance. In this area, best practice examples can be found showing how working-time arrangements can improve the situation of the employees. It should be noted, however, that there is not one single perfect working-time model. A working-time model must always be adapted specifically to the actual situation of the company and the employees. Therefore, a targeted analysis of the challenges facing the company and the demands on the employees is essential for the creation of an appropriate working time policy. In particular, the employees' working-time preferences must be appropriately taken into account. Owing, however, to a combination of organisational complications and legal data protection restrictions, it is for the most part impossible to meet these working-time preferences in their entirety. This paper, which is based on an employee survey, illustrates the strain on employees in the retail sector and identifies different types of working-time preferences.
ifab-Institute of Human and Industrial Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; formerly University of Karlsruhe), Kaiserstrasse 12, Karlsruhe, Germany. gert.zuelch@kit.edu
Gert
G
Zülch
Patricia
P
Stock
Daniel
D
Schmidt
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003132:Commerce / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult