In the modern era , go to work does n’t inevitably entail testify up to an billet . It might meanworking remotelyfrom an Airbnb halfway across the world from ship’s company HQ , or it might be knocking out emails at home at 9 p.m.
Being capable to choose when and where you work is a luxury , but it come with a price , as new enquiry shows . Having more self-reliance in your study often means working foresightful hours , even when controlling for seniority and unlike problem type .
“ neat flexibility and autonomy over work sound great — and could well herald a new era of good piece of work - life history correspondence , ” University of Kent sociologist Heejung Chung writes inThe Conversation . “ But so far much of the grounds points to the opposite , ” she admonish .
Chung recently write a study in theEuropean Sociological Reviewthat examines work - schedule data from the German Socio - Economic Panel , a national sight that interviews 12,000 German households and 32,000 citizenry a twelvemonth . She and co - source Yvonne Lott of the Hans - Böckler Foundation in Germany looked at workers who were amply employ and sound out they had flexible work minute in 2003 , 2005 , 2007 , 2009 , and 2011 .
The study analyzed the difference between what go on when human race are pay flexible schedules at piece of work and when woman are , but it find that regardless of sex , people who have more leeway in their work schedule run to work longer hours . They hypothesize that this could be because people see flex metre as a gift from their employer , and work hard to show that they merit it ; or because there are fewer boundary between oeuvre and the rest of your life when you do n’t have set office hours .
The researcher did find a difference between work force and women who have control over their own schedules , though . Men who gain more control over their piece of work agenda study more hour , but also tend to get paid more , while fair sex do n’t get a financial reward for put in more time .
As authoritative as work - life balance is , flexible schedule can be more exploitative than helpful , this research shows .
[ h / tQuartz ]
