In 2019, 36% of French employees were subject to so-called “
atypical
” working hours, either evenings, nights or weekends.
The National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) has just unveiled a large-scale study which provides an overview of the exposure of employees to atypical working hours between 2013 and 2019. It shows in particular that it is the least qualified women who suffer most of the increase in atypical working hours, in particular on Saturdays and Sundays.
Executives, on the other hand, are spared, benefiting from a normalization of their working hours over time.
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Executives not very concerned
The institute cites in particular several developments that may be responsible for the development of atypical hours in the world of work.
Among them,
the “uberization
” of the economy, the aging of the population resulting in the increase in care needs for the elderly, or even the deregulation of working time and changes in consumption patterns.
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The first collateral victims of this development are the “ unskilled
” employees
.
In 2019, nearly half of manual workers and more than half of unskilled employees usually worked atypical hours.
Among executives, only one in six employees was affected.
The exposure of executives to these schedules even decreased by 18% between 2013 and 2019. In question, the more "
teleworking
" nature and the permanent contract status of most jobs held by executives, which may have constituted "
factors favorable to the implementation of company agreements aimed at promoting the reconciliation of working hours
".
INED also points to a significant disparity in women's exposure to these working hours, in particular between female managers and less qualified women.
The share of female executives subject to atypical working hours would indeed have decreased by 23% between 2013 and 2019, while that of unskilled female workers would have jumped by 11%.
Time constraints
Interesting additional observations complete the study.
Being a woman belonging to the “
employee
” category could in fact reduce the risk of exposure to atypical working hours compared to other socio-professional categories.
In question, the high concentration of men in jobs such as firefighters, police, or military, very subject to these unusual hours.
The opposite phenomenon is also observed for the worker category.
Being a woman would increase the risk of working atypical hours because "
unskilled female workers frequently work as
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INED also emphasizes greater exposure to time constraints for employees subject to atypical hours.
In 2019, 35% of these employees also had variable hours, likely "
to affect (their) well-being and (their) family organization
".
12% did not know their schedules in advance (compared to 8% of other employees), and 9% worked intermittent working days (3% of other employees).
Once again, it is unskilled female workers and employees who remain the most affected by these time constraints, more than men (11.2% compared to 5.1% for discontinuous days in 2019).
Between 2013 and 2019, the share of unskilled women exposed to unpredictable schedules jumped 18%.
On the other hand, as soon as one enters more qualified professions, women are much less subject to these constraints than men.
Over the same period, the share of female executives exposed to unpredictable working hours fell by 58%.