• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1-26
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• 2014

This study analyzes the effects of the three types of flexible work arrangements (part-time, flexitime, and reduced working hours for childcare) available in Korea on work-family conflict, facilitation, and job satisfaction for married working women ages 15-49. The study employs a panel analysis based on the first to the fourth data from the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women & Families (KLoWF). The major results are as follows. First, the availability of part-time jobs and reduced working hours to facilitate childcare is significantly related to work-family conflict for married women. If a married woman is employed in a part-time position or if reduced working hours for childcare are available, the conflict within the family caused by the job is reduced. Second, none of the three types of flexible work arrangements have a statistically significant influence on work-family facilitation for married women. Third, the availability of reduced working hours for childcare has a positive effect on the job satisfaction of married women. In conclusion, flexible working hours for women who are raising children are the main factor in reducing the negative effect of a job on a woman's family life as they contribute to work and family compatibility.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.57-70
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• 2022

In modern industrial capitalism, the relationship between the provision of work and the receipt of wages has become an important principle governing society. According to the labor contract, the wages provided by entrusting the right to dispose of one's labor to the employer are directly compensated, and human life should be guaranteed and reproduced with proper rest. The establishment of labor relations under free contracts represents a problem in protecting workers, and accordingly, the maximum of working hours is set as a minimum right for workers, and the standard for minimum rest is set and assigned. The reduction of working hours is very important in terms of the quality of life of workers, but it is also an important issue in efficient corporate activities. As of 2020, Korea has 1,908 hours of annual working hours, the third lowest among OECD 37 countries in the happiness index surveyed by the Sustainable Development Solution Network(SDSN), an agency under the United Nations. Accordingly, the necessity of reducing working hours has been recognized, and the maximum working hours per week has been limited to 52 hours since 2018. In this situation, various working hours are legally excluded as a way to maintain the company's value-added creation and meet the diverse needs of workers, and Korea's Labor Standards Act restricts flexible working hours within three months, flexible working hours exceeding three months, selective working hours, and extended working hours. However, in the discussion on the application of the revised flexible working hours system in 2021 and the expansion of the settlement unit period recently discussed, there is a problem with the flexible working hours system, which needs to be improved. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the problems of the flexible working hours system and improvement measures. The flexible working hours system is a system that does not violate working hours even if the legal working hours are exceeded on a specific day or week according to a predetermined standard, and does not have to pay additional wages for excessive overtime work. It is mainly useful as a form of shift work in manufacturing, sales service, continuous business or electricity, gas, water, and transportation for long-term operations. It is also used as a way to shorten working hours, such as expanding holidays through short working days. However, if the settlement unit period is expanded, it is disadvantageous to workers as the additional wages that workers can receive will not be received. Therefore, First, in order to expand the settlement unit period currently under discussion, additional wages should be paid for the period expanded from the current standard. Second, it is necessary to improve the application of the flexible working hours system to individual workers to have sufficient consultation with individual workers in a written agreement with the worker representative, Third, clarify the allowable time for extended work during the settlement unit period, and Fourth, limit the daily working hours or apply to continuous rest. In addition, since the written agreement of the worker representative is an important issue in the application of the flexible working hours system, it is necessary to secure the representation of the worker representative.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.23-39
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate empirically whether the expected effects of smart work in organizations were different between job types and positions. The development of information technology is demanding innovation of working style within the enterprise. There is a tendency to prefer the face-to-face working style in traditional organizations in the case of some positions or job types. However, many companies are carrying out smart work such as teleworking or telecommuting, flexible working time. But many companies still stick to their existing working methods. There is also the causal relationship between accepting attitudes toward smart work and expectation effects, depending on the position and the job types, even within the same organization. As a result of research, causal relationship analysis showed that the significant factors affecting productivity were teleworking and increasing work efficiency. The national social cost savings were influenced by the improvement of quality of life and flexible working hours. In order to activate communication within the organization, there was a positive effect on the increase of work efficiency. Only flexible working hours between the general manager and subordinates showed a significant difference.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.23-49
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• 2017

This paper is part of the dissertation for an MSc in Project Management and Innovation of Strathclyde Business School The research aims at understanding how IT-SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Information Technology Business) implement and use Flexible Work Arrangements and Flexible Working Hours (FWH/FWA) in their organisations. In-depth interview data was collected from managers and business owners of 31 companies whose needs for Work-Life Balance varied. Results show that many factors positively influence IT-SMEs to use FWH/FWA. For example, customers and partners working at different work-hours, traffic congestions between home and office, and the general stereotype of IT personnel. However, the results also found several concerning factors that may hamper the success of FWH/FWA implementation. They include the inadequacy of management skills in tracking, monitoring, and assessing employee's real performance, contextual factors for Thai IT-SMEs, i.e. conflict resolution culture, IT people's protocol of communication exchanges, and shortcoming of technology infrastructure. The findings also show that many companies that had used FWA eventually stopped. Thus, a four-phase cyclical framework called PLIC (Purpose-Limitation-Implementation-Consequence) has been developed as an approach to FWH/FWA implementation.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.97-108
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• 2021

Labor contracts appear in form as an exchange relationship between labor products and wages, but since they transcend the level of simple barter, they can be economically identified as "trading" and can be identified as "rental." From a legal point of view, a legal device that legally supports and imposes binding force on commodity exchange relations is a contract. Such a labor contract led to a relationship in which wages were received and a certain amount of time was placed under the direction and supervision of the employer as a counter benefit to the receipt of wages. Since working hours are subordinate hours with one's labor under the disposition authority of the employer, long hours of work can be done for the health and safety of workers and furthermore, it can be an act that violates the value to enjoy as a human being. The reduction of working hours needs to be shortened in terms of productivity and enjoyment of workers' culture so that they can expand and reproduce, but users' corporate management labor and production activities should also be compatible compared to those pursued by capitalist countries. Working hours can be seen as individual time and time in society as a whole, and long hours of work at the individual level are reduced, which is undesirable at the individual level, but an increase in products due to an increase in production time at the social level can help social development. It is necessary to consider working hours in terms of finding the balance between these individual and social levels. If the regulation method of working hours was to regulate the total amount of working hours, flexibility and elasticity of working hours are a qualitative regulation method that allows companies to flexibly allocate and organize working hours within a certain range of up to 52 hours per week. Accordingly, it is necessary to shorten working hours, but expand and implement the flexible working hours system according to the situation of the company. To this end, it is necessary to flexibly operate the flexible working hours system, which is currently limited to six months, handle the selective working hours by agreement between employers and workers, and expand the target work of discretionary working hours according to the development of information and communication technology and new types based on the 4th industrial revolution.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 2024

Background: As social distancing persists and interest in work-life balance grows, more companies are adopting flexible work policies. While there have been studies on sleep disorders associated with different types of work, such as shift work, research exploring the relationship between flexible work schedules and sleep disorders is still limited, particularly among Korean workers. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey, focusing on 31,243 paid workers out of a total of 50,538 participants. We defined flexible workers as those who set their own working hours. Sleep disorders were divided into three categories: 'difficulty falling asleep,' 'frequent waking during sleep,' and 'waking up feeling exhausted and fatigued.' Using scores derived from three specific symptoms, the Minimal Insomnia Symptoms Scale (MISS) was calculated to assess the prevalence of insomnia. We used chi-square tests to analyze demographic and job-related differences. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to identify any relationship between flexible work schedules and sleep disorders. Results: Significant differences were found between flexible and non-flexible workers regarding age, income level, education level, and job type. Flexible workers reported sleep-related symptoms significantly more often. The odds ratio for insomnia was 1.40 (95% CI 1.21-1.61). For males, the odds ratio was 1.68 (1.36-2.08). Conclusion: This study establishes a correlation between flexible work schedules and sleep disorders among Korean salaried workers. Potential causes could include changes in circadian rhythm, increased work demands, and extended working hours. To precisely determine causality and associated diseases, further research is required.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.20.1-20.7
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• 2023

The policy proposal by the current Korean government that proposes flexible overtime rules is causing social controversy. This study has explored the 612 experts' opinions on the occupational safety and health impacts of the policy using an online self-report survey. They expected short-term overwork (87.25%), overwork inequality (86.44%), irregular working hours (84.31%), chronic overwork (84.15%), long working hours (83.66%), and unpredictability of working hours (81.86%) as a result of the policy change. They also responded that the policy change would increase industrial accident deaths (87.25%), mental illnesses (87.09%), deaths due to overwork or cardiovascular diseases (83.84%), and accidents (83.33%). They disagreed that the government's flexibilization policy, while agreeing that the necessity of policies on regulating night work (94.77%), guaranteeing wages to eliminate overtime (90.36%), establishing working time regulations for the bogus self-employed (82.84%), and applying the 52-hour workweek system to all workplaces (76.47%). These expert opinions are consistent with previous research on the health effects of working hours.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.253-260
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• 2017

Due to dramatic changes in the trend of corporate management in economics, labor and government, companies are being asked to adapt creative and innovative organizational culture in order to keep sustainability. Under the circumstances, flexible working hour becomes one of very effective method for organization culture improvement. Recently, M company has introduced the new policy of working hours that employees can choose a couple of different time options depending on their personal situations. And it turns out to be very effective to work & life balance, increasing organizational vitality, improving efficiency of business and productivity, recruitment of core human resources, and prevention of deviation; both team and personal performance levels has significantly improved. Therefore, it is highly recommended to adapt flexible working policies for companies seeking for a long term, sustainable corporate vision.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.40 no.10
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• pp.2068-2079
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• 2015

Recently, interesting in flexible working has been increased, and some central government and large companies are conducting flexible working. With the conducting of flexible working, workers are able to get a convenience but the cost of managing is increased. In this paper, we suggest a method of reducing the cost and managing efficiently. Our study determines the position of the workers using indoor localization techniques through the Wi-Fi fingerprint and smartphone, and records the office hours. The previous time and attendance systems have to install attendance recording device(e.g. Fingerprint Attendance System, RFID Card Attendance System) and are needed to manipulate manually. Our system doesn't need to install extra devices, and also doesn't need to manipulate manually. Our system automatically records the office hours. Also most of previous time and attendance systems have another weakness. They only record data when workers start and stop work. But our system exactly records office hours for each workplaces. In this paper, We introduce an effective time and attendance system in variety flexible working. Our experiments shows that our system workers' detected office hours accurately. The accuracy of our time and attendance system was 98.7%.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.521-541
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the antecedent and consequential factors of satisfaction with the flexible working system. Organizational culture was examined as an antecedent factor, while job satisfaction, work performance, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and quality of life were examined as outcome factors. The data of 2,785 public officials who used the flexible work system in the Korea Institute of Public Administration (2022) data set were analyzed using SPSS 28.0. and PROCESS macro's Model 4. The main research findings are as follows. First, organizational cultures that respect individuality and cooperation, supports management, and aims for work autonomy all positively and significantly affect satisfaction with the flexible working system. When ranking the size of influence by the type of organizational culture, work autonomy, respect for individuality, and a cooperative organizational culture had a positive impact in that order, with work autonomy being the most influential factor. In addition, the public officials' age, job preparation period, self-evaluation of workload, and overtime working hours are significant antecedents of satisfaction with the flexible work system. Second, when examining consequential factors, a high level of satisfaction with the flexible working system affects job satisfaction (+), work performance (+), organizational commitment (+), turnover intention (-), and quality of life (+). Job satisfaction was an especially valid mediator between satisfaction with the flexible working system and other consequential factors, including work performance, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and quality of life.