HRM/People Study Note Home | Latest HRM Resources from the tutor2u Blog | HRM/People Revision Quizzes

Flexible working - job sharing

Author: Jim Riley  Last updated: Sunday 23 September, 2012

Flexible working - job sharing

Job sharing involves dividing a single full-time job between two people who share the responsibility, pay and benefits.

Jobs can be shared between two people on a:

- Daily basis, with one sharer working mornings and the other afternoons

- Weekly basis, with sharers working half a week each

Another method is for sharers to work alternate weeks.

When deciding how to split a job, several factors should be considered:

• The flexibility of the job sharers

• The need for any overlap (e.g. an hour to "hand-over" the current issues of the job)

• Travel costs (for example, if these are significant, the use alternate week sharing may reduce costs through the purchase of weekly tickets)

Advantages of job sharing

Job sharing has several advantages:

• Job sharing allows businesses to recruit skilled, experienced workers who may not be available for or willing to do full-time work

• It allows one position to be filled by two people with different but complementary experience

• It provides some continuity if one sharer leaves or is absent

Disadvantages of job sharing

• Job sharing involves some additional administrative and training costs and extra time spent on supervision and communication

• Where job sharers have managerial responsibilities staff may find it difficult or confusing to work for two people

• Some job sharers may feel that they are achieving proportionately more than a full-time employee and that they are being inadequately paid

Add your comments and share this study note:

Search tutor2u

Related study notes

HRM Strategy
HRM introduction
HRM objectives
HRM influences
Hard & Soft HRM

Organisational Structure
Org charts
Delayering Span of control
Centralisation & decentralisation
Matrix structures

Motivation at work
What is motivation?
Theory - Maslow
Theory - Herzberg
Theory - Taylor
Theory - McGregor
Financial motivation
Pay Package
Time rate
Piece rate
Commission
Performance pay
Share options
Job rotation
Job enlargement
Delegation & empowerment

Recruitment & Training
Recruitment intro
Internal / external
Job descriptions
Interviews
Job analysis
Job advertising
Person specification
Training - intro
Induction training
On-the-job training
Off-the-job training

Workforce planning
Workforce planning
Flexible working
Benefits & issues
Labour supply
Workforce roles & workload
Annual hours
Job sharing
Temporary staff
Teleworking

Communication
Overview
Barriers
Benefits
Employee Representation

Download for Android

Download for IOS