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The circadian system coordinates daily rhythms in lipid metabolism, storage and utilization. Disruptions of internal circadian rhythms due to altered sleep/wake schedules, such as in night-shift work, have been implicated in increased risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders. To determine the impact of a night-shift schedule on the human blood plasma lipidome, an in-laboratory simulated shift work study was conducted. Fourteen healthy young adults were assigned to 3 days of either a simulated day or night-shift schedule, followed by a 24-h constant routine protocol with fixed environmental conditions, hourly isocaloric snacks, and constant wakefulness to investigate endogenous circadian rhythms. Blood plasma samples collected at 3-h intervals were subjected to untargeted lipidomics analysis. More than 400 lipids were identified and quantified across 21 subclasses. Focusing on lipids with low between-subject variation per shift condition, alterations in the circulating plasma lipidome revealed generally increased mean triglyceride levels and decreased mean phospholipid levels after night-shift relative to day-shift. The circadian rhythms of triglycerides containing odd chain fatty acids peaked earlier during constant routine after night-shift. Regardless of shift condition, triglycerides tended to either peak or be depleted at 16:30 h, with chain-specific differences associated with the direction of change. The simulated night-shift schedule was associated with altered temporal patterns in the lipidome. This may be premorbid to the elevated cardiovascular risk that has been found epidemiologically in night-shift workers.

Risks associated with fatigue that accumulates during work shifts have historically been managed through working time arrangements that specify fixed maximum durations of work shifts and minimum durations of time off. By themselves, such arrangements are not sufficient to curb risks to performance, safety, and health caused by misalignment between work schedules and the biological regulation of waking alertness and sleep. Science-based approaches for determining shift duration and mitigating associated risks, while addressing operational needs, require: (1) a recognition of the factors contributing to fatigue and fatigue-related risks; (2) an understanding of evidence-based countermeasures that may reduce fatigue and/or fatigue-related risks; and (3) an informed approach to selecting workplace-specific strategies for managing work hours. We propose a series of guiding principles to assist stakeholders with designing a shift duration decision-making process that effectively balances the need to meet operational demands with the need to manage fatigue-related risks.

The present study investigates the effects of flexible working-time arrangements on cognitive work-to-home spillover for women and men in Germany. It analyzes (1) how schedule control, i.e. flexitime and working-time autonomy, and the lack of control, i.e. fixed schedules and employer-oriented flexible schedules, are related to work-to-home spillover and (2) whether these relationships are mediated by job pressure and overtime hours. The multivariate analyses based on the German Socio-Economic Panel Study in 2011 and 2012 show that employees have the most spillover with working-time autonomy and employer-oriented schedules and the least with flexitime and fixed schedules. Working-time autonomy is related to a higher cognitive work-to-home spillover, but only for men, and mainly due to overtime hours. Working-time unpredictability and unreliability seem to be reasons for higher spillover with employer-oriented schedules. This, however, is the case mostly for women, i.e., only women are likely to experience cognitive spillover with employer-oriented flexible schedules—above and beyond job pressure and overtime hours. Moreover, women, but not men, seem to suffer less with flexitime. This study provides evidence to show in which way distinct flexible working-time arrangements contribute to work-to-home spillover and reinforce gender inequality.

Abstract Risks associated with fatigue that accumulates during work shifts have historically been managed through working time arrangements that specify fixed maximum durations of work shifts and minimum durations of time off. By themselves, such arrangements are not sufficient to curb risks to performance, safety, and health caused by misalignment between work schedules and the biological regulation of waking alertness and sleep. Science-based approaches for determining shift duration and mitigating associated risks, while addressing operational needs, require: (1) a recognition of the factors contributing to fatigue and fatigue-related risks; (2) an understanding of evidence-based countermeasures that may reduce fatigue and/or fatigue-related risks; and (3) an informed approach to selecting workplace-specific strategies for managing work hours. We propose a series of guiding principles to assist stakeholders with designing a shift duration decision-making process that effectively balances the need to meet operational demands with the need to manage fatigue-related risks.

Purpose: Employees and their work during non-work time are affected bytechnology development, societal changes and other factors that havean inherent impact on the employees’ attitude towards work during nonworktime. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the upto-date research on employees performing work during non-work time.Design/Methodology/Approach: The main methodological approachused in the article is a systematic literature review of 18 scientific articlesfound in citation databases in WOS, Scopus, etc. The collected literatureis relevant as it encompasses both quantitative and qualitative analysesto gather insights on performing work during non-work time.Findings: The results imply that work during non-work time is a growingphenomenon among employees and public employees are no exception.Regarding the socio-demographic groups affected, findings indicatethat work during non-work time is particularly common for employees inmanagerial positions and for professionals in education, health and policeservices, as well as for employees engaged in remote work. They alsoconfirm that employees work during non-work time at different times ofthe day, at weekends, and during their annual and sick leave.Practical Implications: The article is especially relevant for public employeesdue to increased use of information and communication technology.As such, they are also exposed to intensifying work-related expectationsand requests/pressures for flexible work arrangements.Originality/Value: The originality of the topic is reflected in the underrepresentationof scientific research on the performance of work duringnon-work time among public employees.      

A conditional right to request flexible working arrangements (FWAs) has existed for most UK employee parents since 2003. However, there are growing concerns about access, particularly among fathers. Using nationally representative data from the 2015 UK Household Longitudinal Survey, this article examines fathers’ perceptions of the availability of hours reduction, schedule flexibility and working from home. Results show that almost one-third of fathers believe that FWAs that reduce working hours are unavailable to them, compared with one-tenth of mothers. There are no gender differences in perceptions of availability of schedule and location flexibility. Among fathers, those with lower education levels, in lower status occupations, working in the private sector and in workplaces that do not have trade union presence are more likely to believe that FWAs are unavailable. Therefore, even though most employees now have the right to request FWAs, a significant minority of fathers do not perceive FWAs to be available to them.

OBJECTIVES: Sleepiness is a specific aspect of fatigue and considered a key factor linking working time to health and safety outcomes, such as occupational injuries. Therefore, this meta-analysis synthesizes evidence on how specific work schedule characteristics relate to sleepiness. Specifically, we examine how sleepiness varies with: (a) shift type (eg, day versus night), (b) shift length, and (c) the number of consecutive shifts. METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature search across multiple platforms and databases. Only studies that measured sleepiness using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale were included. Mean effect sizes (Hedges` g) were calculated using random-effects models. RESULTS: The analysis included 48 studies (28 on shift type, 30 on shift length, and 13 on shift number). Compared to day shifts, sleepiness was significantly higher during night shifts and lower during afternoon shifts. Sleepiness increased with shift length during night shifts but showed no consistent pattern during day shifts. Furthermore, sleepiness was highest on the first night shift and decreased over subsequent nights, whereas it remained relatively stable across consecutive day shifts. Due to the low number of studies, results on shift length and shift number were limited or unavailable for afternoon shifts. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, this meta-analysis shows that sleepiness is most pronounced during night shifts, particularly the first in a block. These findings emphasize the importance of circadian and homeostatic factors in shift work. Therefore, shift schedules should be designed to mitigate these heightened risks, for example by allowing sufficient recovery time before and during the first night shift.

The notion of regular, full-time employment as one of the defining features of the U.S. economy has been called into question in recent years by the apparent growth of alternative or \"nonstandard\" work arrangements—part-time hours, temporary help, independent contracting, and other configurations. Identifying the extent of these arrangements, whether they are increasing and where they occur, is the first step to understanding their implications for the economy and the society. But such steps have been difficult to take because of the lack of appropriate data. Based on a national probability sample of U.S. establishments, the authors present estimates of the extent of these practices, evidence on changes in their use over time, and analyses that contribute to understanding why alternatives have come into play.

Many countries used short-time working arrangements (STWAs) as a response to the Great Recession of 2008–2009. STWAs are designed to protect jobs during short-term downturns by adjusting the work durations of employees. We study STWAs in France between 2007 and 2010. The objective of this paper is to describe the main characteristics of firms and employees operating under STWAs by using firm-level STW data sets and the French Labor Force Survey.

Kyle JE, Bramer LM, Claborne D, et al. Nat Sci Sleep. 2022;14:981-994. The authors have advised there is an error in Figure 1 on page 983 of the published paper. Due to an error that occurred inadvertently at the time of figure assembly the nighttime meals in the simulated night shift condition - which occurred at 01:00 after 7.0 hours of scheduled wakefulness on days 3, 4 and 5 - were missed in the schematic. The correct Figure 1 is as follows. Figure 1 Study design. Participants were on a simulated day-shift (top) or night-shift (bottom) schedule for 3 days (yellow = scheduled wake, black = sleep opportunity), then underwent a 24-h period of wakefulness under constant routine conditions (red), during which blood plasma was collected every 3 h. Clock time is indicated above.Abbreviation: M, meal. The authors apologize for this error and advise it does not affect the results and conclusions of the paper.