Working time flexibility components of companies in Europe

Working time flexibility comprises a wide variety of arrangements, from part-time, overtime, to long-term leaves. Theoretical approaches to grouping these arrangements have been developed, but empirical underpinnings are rare. This paper investigates the bundles that can be found for various flexible working time arrangements, using data of the Establishment Survey on Working Time (ESWT), 2004/2005, covering 21 EU member states and 13 industries. Using factor analyses, the results confirmed that working time arrangements can be grouped into two bundles, one for the employee-centred arrangements, a second for the employer-centred arrangements, and that these two bundles are separate dimensions. We have also tested the stability of the factor analysis outcome, showing that although there are some deviations from the pan-Europe and pan-industry outcome, the naming of the components as flexibility for employees and flexibility for employers can be interpreted as holding rather stable. Lastly, we also find that there are three country clusters that can be found for the 21 European countries using the bundle. The first group consisting of the Northern European countries with Poland and Czech Republic, the second group the continental European countries with UK and Ireland, and lastly, the southern European countries with Hungary and Slovenia.