Is Workplace Flexibility Good Policy? Evaluating the Efficacy of Age Management Strategies for Older Women Workers

Earl, Catherine; Taylor, Philip

doi:10.1093/workar/wau012

Cited by 49 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is a commonly expressed assumption that flexible forms of working are crucial to encouraging people to work for longer (OECD 2006: 98-101;Altmann 2015: 25). The reality is likely to be more nuanced (Loretto & Vickerstaff 2015;Earl & Taylor 2015). Survey data indicate a strong preference for working flexibly at the end of working life (Maitland 2010;Smeaton et al 2009;DWP 2010;.…”

Section: Labour Market and Demographic Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evidence to date is that women are more likely to request a change than men and are more likely to have the request accepted (Smeaton, Ray & Knight 2014). Enthusiasm for flexible work options as a solution for extending working lives should be tempered, however, by the reality that much flexibility is employer-driven -that is, zero hours contracts and shift systems -and may simply entrench or worsen poor employment conditions for older workers already disadvantaged by existing labour market circumstances (Earl & Taylor 2015;Loretto & Vickerstaff 2015).…”

Section: Flexible Employmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Achieving fuller working lives: labour market and policy issues in the United Kingdom

Phillipson¹,

Vickerstaff²,

Lain³

2016

Aust J Social Issues

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the United Kingdom there has been a shift away from policies promoting early retirement towards an emphasis on extended, fuller working lives. This article examines the nature of policy change in this area and prospects for individuals remaining in work longer. Pension ages for men and women are rising rapidly and by 2028 are likely to reach 67 years. Cash benefits for those out of work before state pension age are becoming harder to access and incentives for working beyond 65 are being enhanced. In this context, restrictions have been placed on the use of mandatory retirement ages by employers. Employees have also been granted the right to request flexible employment. However, a lack of coordinated policy up until now means that important challenges exist with regard to extending working lives. Ill-health and low levels of qualifications limit the employment prospects of many older people, particularly among those in the poorest segments. Likewise, retention rates of older workers may have improved, but prospects for recruitment in older age remain poor. Policies focusing on the individual have also not yet recognised the extent to which employment in older age is influenced by the household and wider family context.

show abstract

Section: Labour Market and Demographic Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Flexible Employmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Achieving fuller working lives: labour market and policy issues in the United Kingdom

Phillipson¹,

Vickerstaff²,

Lain³

2016

Aust J Social Issues

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Working longer could lead to higher health costs and worse health, especially for workers in stressful or physically demanding occupations (Coe & Zamarro, 2011;Neuman, 2007). Older workers, especially, value workplace flexibility, and if managers of older workers do not respond to those preferences (Earl & Taylor, 2015) work may be detrimental to their health. New forms of work organization that emphasize intensity and efficiency may be especially stressful for older workers (Fleischmann, 2014;Kulik, Ryan, Harper and George, 2014).…”

Section: Retirement's Effect On Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Distribution of Time in Retirement: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Survey

Ghilarducci

Webb

2018

Work, Aging and Retirement

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Hence, workplace flexibility for older workers was used to achieve organizational goals (i.e., improving performance through better applicants). While in the interview studies, there was general agreement of the value of flexibility for older workers (Atkinson & Sandiford, 2015;Beck, 2013;Earl & Taylor, 2015), it was also recognized that formal practices were difficult to implement, and therefore organizations primarily used informal flexibility i-deals rather than implementing formal practices. The disadvantage of informal practices is the risk of arbitrariness in making decisions, and the potential lack of understanding or willingness among less proactive older workers to negotiate informal agreements.…”

Section: Employer Perceptions On Workplace Flexibility For Older Workersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The disadvantage of informal practices is the risk of arbitrariness in making decisions, and the potential lack of understanding or willingness among less proactive older workers to negotiate informal agreements. Moreover, the use of flexibility by older workers was often related to reductions in income and retirement benefits as well as loss of status within the organization, which contributes to the idea of the use of flexibility to maintain organizational performance (Earl & Taylor, 2015). Finally, flexibility was also used by organization to cut costs, especially during the economic crisis (Beck, 2013), and therefore may also be used to force older workers into workload reductions, such that they would not have to be dismissed, but they would be affected through the loss of income and other benefits.…”

Section: Employer Perceptions On Workplace Flexibility For Older Workersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace Flexibility across the Lifespan

Bal¹,

Jansen²

2016

Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As demographic changes impact the workplace, governments, organizations and workers are looking for ways to sustain optimal working lives at higher ages. Workplace flexibility has been introduced as a potential way workers can have more satisfying working lives until their retirement ages. This paper presents a critical review of the literature on workplace flexibility across the lifespan. It discusses how flexibility has been conceptualized across different disciplines, and postulates a definition that captures the joint roles of employer and employee in negotiating workplace flexibility that contributes to both employee and organization benefits.Moreover, it reviews how flexibility has been theorized and investigated in relation to older workers. The paper ends with a future research agenda for advancing understanding of how workplace flexibility may enhance working experiences of older workers, and in particular focuses on the critical investigation of uses of flexibility in relation to older workers.Flexibility can be regarded as one the key concepts of the contemporary workplace (Bird, 2015). Organizations try to become more flexible and adaptable to ever changing economic circumstances (Volberda, 1996; Way et al., 2015), while employees are expected to be more flexible in how they approach their jobs and careers (Hill et al., 2008a). Moreover, employees are increasingly looking for more flexibility in how they balance their work with their personal lives (Allen, Johnson, Kiburz, & Shockley, 2013;Ferguson, Carlson, & Kacmar, 2015), and in how they develop their careers (Moen & Sweet, 2004). Finally, governments across the world have increasingly responded to these trends by declaring flexibility the keyword for the future workforce and workplace (Johnson, 2011). In all these instances the denotation 'flexibility' refers to a different object and consequently has a different meaning. 3It is not surprising that the increasing popularity of the allegedly multi-interpretational term flexibility has coincided with rapid demographic changes in the workforce, including the aging of populations across the world (Kooij, 2015;Zacher, 2015). These demographic changes have caused governments, organizations, and employees to take a different position in how work and careers are both conceived and realized when life expectancy will rise to 100 years and above. However, current retirement systems are largely based on people retiring at 65 years (Wang & Shultz, 2010). One of the more immediate consequences of the aging population is that the ratio of working vs. non-working people is declining rapidly, causing more non-working people to be dependent upon a smaller number of people in jobs (Johnson, 2011). As these changes have put greater pressure on the affordability of pensions in many countries worldwide, governments have been engaging in the process of stimulating longer careers and ceasing with financially supporting early retirement. However, whereas the need for people to work beyond retirement has increased...

show abstract

Is Workplace Flexibility Good Policy? Evaluating the Efficacy of Age Management Strategies for Older Women Workers

Cited by 49 publications

References 27 publications

Achieving fuller working lives: labour market and policy issues in the United Kingdom

Achieving fuller working lives: labour market and policy issues in the United Kingdom

The Distribution of Time in Retirement: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Survey

Workplace Flexibility across the Lifespan

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About