Work hours mismatches among the employed are common. About 7 percent prefer fewer than their current work hours even if it means less income, while another 25 percent want more hours and income, virtually the same as in 1985. Overemployment is higher for women, whites, married, parents of young...

One of the costs organizations may incur is those associated with controlling employees’ work hours and schedules. This chapter examines the empirical association between long work hours, ability to control their work timing and their self reported experience of adverse physical health. One...

Would replacing the conventional work week with a four-day option benefit economic performance and well-being? In the framework of economics, the question is whether work week reform can make some individuals better off without making other individuals worse off in ways that do not hamper other...

This paper addresses the on-going controversy regarding whether to allow private sector employers to substitute compensatory (comp) time for premium pay for workers' overtime work hours. It employs data from a unique survey that actually asked over 800 workers their preference for pay vs. future...

This research explores the relationship between three different dimensions of work hours with individuals’ reported level of happiness — its duration, mismatch with preferences and flexibility over its timing. Using pooled data from the US General Social Survey (1972-2012) and two of its...

This chapter focuses on flexible working time arrangements and presents flexible work schedule practices as they vary among individuals, organisations and nations, explaining reasons for observed variations. It highlights the need to focus on specific types of flexible work options; distinctions...

Work hours and scheduling matter for the well-being of those employed throughout the state in Illinois, perhaps now more than ever. Before Chicago implemented the Fair Workweek ordinance (FWW) in July 2020, we issued a large-scale, geographically, and demographically representative survey of...

Contemporary labor economics has focused far more on preferred labor supply, and much less on whether workers are able to get the hours they truly desire, or that even when one’s labor supply could be considered voluntarily provided time and effort, it could lead to unanticipated adverse...