Two managers at tyre manufacturer Goodyear in the French village Amiens regained their freedom on Tuesday after being held hostage by workers for more than 24 hours in a row over the factory’s closure.
This stemmed from employees refusing to adopt new working patterns. Reports around shift patterns and employment contracts are continuing to remain prevalent making working time change an increasingly important topic. Ed Miliband, Vince Cable, Bob Crow and Frances O’Grady have all been familiar commentators on the subject.
Working Time Solutions are holding a media briefing to explain how in today’s 24/7 society, working time change strategies can help to retain and create jobs, solve service level issues, provide alternatives to zero-hours contracts, improve work-life balance, increase productivity and profitability and last but not least, prevent ‘boss-napping’.
Working Time Solutions are a market leading workforce planning and management solution supplier. Clients include London Ambulance Service, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and Thames Water.
This media briefing is taking place on Thursday 30th January at the prestigious Work Foundation in London. Through taking just 90 minutes out of the office journalists will hear how working time change techniques can help to retain and create jobs in both public and private sectors, resolve key issues of staffing in the Fire Service, and expose the myths around zero-hours contracts. Furthermore, journalists will hear how working time change techniques can help with moving to seven day consultant care for the NHS and solving service level issues in A&E and Ambulance services.
Kevin White, Managing Director at Working Time Solutions commented that “The ‘art’ or ‘science’ of developing working patterns which meet the predicted demand for labour and satisfy work-life balance aspirations has developed to a remarkable degree in recent years. Computer modelling tools are now able to design solutions which do not rely on expensive overtime or additional staffing, and which minimise overstaffing”.
At this media event at the end of January Working Time Solutions will discuss why complex reform and re-organisation may not be the answer to service-level issues in A&E, consultant care and emergency services. Furthermore, delegates will gain an understanding of alternatives to zero-hours contracts. For example, organisations are increasingly implementing demand led rostering arrangements to manage fluctuations in demand. Staff work longer hours during the peak periods and shorter hours at quieter times. This prevents the need for zero hours contracts because such extreme flexibility in staffing resource is no longer required.
This briefing will enable journalists to provide readers with key background on this increasingly important topic and ensure copy is up to date and comprehensive.
Working Time Solutions is the largest and longest established workforce planning solutions provider in the UK. We offer consultation advice, specialist services and software solutions to enable organisations to implement working time change. Such applications transform organisations through improving workforce productivity, profitability and flexibility. Changes in demand are met, dependency on overtime and agency is drastically reduced and employees have much more flexibility about when they work.
