There are numerous working models or working time models. Everyone knows the familiar ones: full-time, part-time or flexitime. But there are a few more that are often overlooked because they are less widespread or have a rather bad reputation. Today, we’re going to think outside the box a little and take a look at some rather neglected working models.
Staggered working time
We are all familiar with shift work, or have at least heard of it. In shift work, employees take turns every eight hours – the usual shift length – to continue the work of the previous shift. So there is never a standstill.
Staggered working hours are a form of shift work. However, the start and end of the shift are not aligned. Instead, they overlap. This means that a shift ends at 6 pm, for example, but the previous shift has already started at 4 pm.
The advantage of this is that employees can not only keep in touch with each other, but also keep up to date. In addition, shift work can be organized more flexibly than with conventional shift work. If one shift is not enough, but two or three is too many, this working time model is just right.
One disadvantage, however, is that staffing requirements have to be analyzed quite precisely, otherwise shifts may be over- or understaffed.
Working time account or traffic light account
Just as money is posted to a current account, working time is posted to a working time account. This working time model is used to compensate for overtime or fewer hours worked.
How high an “account balance” can be depends heavily on the company and the order situation. In larger companies, it is also possible to accumulate 100 working hours.
A period is defined in advance for the settlement. However, this may not exceed a period of 12 months, as it must take place within a financial year. This requires some planning. There are also regulations for remaining working hours when the account is closed.
Planning is therefore a disadvantage here. However, this is balanced out as soon as the model works.
The safe option is the traffic light account. Here, a kind of warning system is also integrated that sounds an alarm if too many hours are accumulated.
One of the biggest advantages of working time accounts is that they can prevent or at least delay short-time working. If the order situation is poor, employees can first balance the working time account. This can bridge the time until orders are available again.
Annual working time
Annual working hours are for companies that plan for the long term with their employees. The working hours are defined for the entire year. This means that employees are given a number of hours by employers that they must work during the year. Employees are then allowed to work these hours when it suits them.
An example of this is a hotel where employees work full-time during the high season, but hardly or not at all the rest of the year.
The salary is always paid out in the same amount over the year, regardless of how many hours have already been worked.
The only disadvantage here is actually the planning or calculation of salaries, as this has to fit the entire year and is determined in advance. If the plan does not work out, overtime is added, which has to be paid additionally. This can then become a financial problem in phases with a weak order situation.
Working life
If you really want to plan for the long term with your employees, you can also use lifetime working time. This involves setting up a working time account in which money, not working time, is collected. Part of the salary or special payments go into this account. When the employee goes on parental leave or takes a sabbatical, part of the money is paid out and the rest is used for social insurance, for example.
The advantage here is that the employer and employee are more firmly committed to each other. However, there must also be a financial guarantee that this working time model will work. The money in the account must therefore be available at all times.
KAPOVAZ
KAPOVAZ stands for capacity-oriented variable working time. There are no fixed working hours here, but employees are available on call. As a rule, a time frame of 4 days is set for this. Employees are therefore informed at least 4 days in advance.
Job sharing
In job sharing, employees share a full-time position. The distribution is determined in advance. It can be 50/50, but also 60/40 or 70/30. Working hours and remuneration are then determined accordingly.
The organizational effort is a little higher with job sharing, but you basically get two specialists for the price of one. However, the know-how must be equally distributed. As a rule, job sharing only works if the qualifications and skills of the two employees are more or less comparable.
Conclusion on working models
There are several working models and working time models. Some are special. Not all of them are suitable for every company or every industry. But almost all of them are worth a look. There are always advantages and disadvantages. But thinking outside the box can also serve purely as inspiration to learn a little from other models. In the end, it’s always about the individual.
