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The Impact of Collective Agreements on Working Time in Denmark
Author(s) -
Scheuer Steen
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8543.00137
Subject(s) - overtime , norm (philosophy) , working time , spillover effect , collective bargaining , collective agreement , working hours , labour economics , business , compensation (psychology) , demographic economics , economics , political science , work (physics) , microeconomics , social psychology , psychology , law , engineering , mechanical engineering
This article examines the impact of collective agreements on the working time patterns of private‐sector employees in Denmark. The expected effect would be a reduction in working hours and overtime and an increase in overtime compensation. On the basis of an individual‐level survey of 1720 employees, it is shown that there is a clear union impact on working time behaviour, but that it varies by subject area. While in some areas there is a near total spillover of rules from collective agreements (the collective agreement has become a social norm), in others there is a clear ‘union mark‐down’, and in still others collective agreements seem to make no impact at all.