In time we trust - En studie om anställdas upplevelser av förtroendearbetstid

Abstract

Flexible working conditions creates better opportunities for the employee to find a balance between work and leisure time. Non-regulated working hours, or “Förtroendearbetstid” in Swedish, is a work time agreement which means that the employer has trusted the employee to allocate the work time and determine where and when the work tasks are to be accomplished. This study aims to describe the employee’s experience of non-regulated working hours, as well as identifying the opportunities and challenges faced by the employee regarding this work time agreement. The study has been conducted using a qualitative method where six semi-structured interviews have been performed in an idea-based organization. Both the respondents and previous research show that non-regulated working hours gives more time for leisure and family in comparison to regulated work time agreements. The respondents experience that there is a clear line between work and leisure time, but they also describe that non-regulated working hours increase the risk for vague distinctions between work and leisure. The result shows that the employees appreciate the confidence they are given to allocate their working time. This, together with the increased freedom and flexibility in planning and carrying out their work themselves, are seen as the greatest advantages of the work time agreement. The disadvantages of the agreement is that it leads to unfair salary compensation, higher workload and poorer cohesion at the workplace. This paper shows that higher workload means increased working hours for the employees. In order to reduce the risk of burnouts, it’s important that the managers keep track of the workload of the employees. The respondents want the manager to control the workload and give them support. At the same time it’s important to keep a balance so the employer doesn’t interfere with the trust and freedom that the employee has received through the work time agreement of non-regulated working hours.