Since COVID-19 pandemic, flexible work arrangements have been in vogue. People have started to rethink their way of living and especially their way of working. The well-being of employees has become a priority in this fast-changing economy. Improving well-being includes finding balance between personal and professional lives, which can be achieved through different flexible work arrangements. In this thesis, we explore the specific model of the four-day workweek (4DWW). The 4DWW can be implemented with condensing the same number of hours of a 5-day workweek in 4 days or simply with the reduction of the number of hours worked in total. In this thesis, we choose to focus on a reduced number of working hours, as we believe a condensed version of a 5-day workweek in 4 days would not be sustainable and would possibly lead to burn-out.  The 4DWW has received a lot of attention in the 1970s, but only as a condensed version of the five-day workweek and has come back in the literature since the Covid-19 pandemic. It has mostly been studied during a trial run of a few months, measuring its impact only while being under study. The Hawthorne effect shows that data can be biased while being under study, and the fact that the 4DWW is observed only for a few months can make the analysis seem out of time. We wanted to dig deeper and observe the influence of the 4DWW when it has been implemented for several years. This study investigates the influence of the 4DWW on employees and the organizing of work in the long run, paying attention to changes that are persistent after several years of implementation and stretch beyond the ones that are mainly present in the beginning.  The 4DWW is a flexible work arrangement that can have different purposes such as improving well-being and increasing productivity. The aim of the study was to analyse the influence of the 4DWW on both levels, the individual employee level and the level of the organization as a functioning dynamic between employees. Our thesis aims to observe how the well-being and productivity of employees are influenced by the 4DWW, and how the coordination can be adjusting to this fast-paced work rhythm, focusing on the collaboration and the surveillance at work. This thesis gains perspective on this subject and aims to expose practical implications for employees and their ways of working together to inform and broaden people’s minds and theoretical knowledge about flexible work arrangements, especially the 4DWW concept.

In light of the global shift to remote work that was prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic - the relevance and use of Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM) significantly escalated across all sectors. However, the most recent comprehensive literature review on the topic by Ravid et al. (2020) pointed out significant gaps in how EPM is perceived by knowledge-based employees. In line with those defined gaps, we raised two research questions, regarding what the perceptions of knowledge-based workers are towards the implementation and dissemination of EPM techniques, and whether the workplace context (home/office) has an effect on knowledge-based worker’s perceptions towards it. In this paper, we take a critical approach relying on a theory-based typology of EPM characteristics and build on the organizational control theory by elaborating on the technology-mediated control concept. We follow the constructivist grounded theory approach developed by Charmaz (2008) and the data was collected via 20 semi-structured interviews. The key findings of this research showed similarities as well as differences in how knowledge-based employees perceive EPM in contrast to other types of workforce. While overall the perceptions on EPM are negative, they can to some extent be alleviated by introducing a justifiable purpose, being transparent, allowing control over monitoring, and setting clear limits. Moreover, we provided insights into the perceptions of knowledge-based workers in response to EPM within the context of working from home. In such a context, knowledge-based workers show more resistance to EPM techniques and higher expectations of privacy, transparency, and appropriate data handling. Lastly, the authors provided avenues for further research including cross-cultural perspective, access to data, and ethicality and legality of EPM.

Submitted by Rossana Sarra (rossana.sarra@gmail.com) on 2017-03-22T11:20:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FUNDAÇÃO GETULIO VARGAS_revised.pdf: 3643922 bytes, checksum: 6f52b8b7b68ceef34dad9f4d8b756340 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2017-03-22T14:18:14Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FUNDAÇÃO GETULIO VARGAS_revised.pdf: 3643922 bytes, checksum: 6f52b8b7b68ceef34dad9f4d8b756340 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-22T19:44:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FUNDAÇÃO GETULIO VARGAS_revised.pdf: 3643922 bytes, checksum: 6f52b8b7b68ceef34dad9f4d8b756340 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-14 / How should organizations react to nowadays working context? Should employees’ behavioural surveillance be embraced and adopted by companies? What could be the implications of these practices? This study, based on an input-process-output model, seeks to investigate how monitoring employees may affect their attitudes towards the organization, more in specific, the focus will be on one variable: workers’ trust towards the organization. The research further proposes to determine whether the four organizational justice constructs significantly moderate the relationship between perceived monitoring and organizational trust. This research applied a quantitative research method, consisting of the analysis of responses obtained to a previously developed survey. Regression analysis was used in order to understand the relationship between monitoring in the workplace and trust towards the organization and to clarify the role played by the four dimensions of organizational justice. Inconsistently with the hypotheses developed, the results indicate that monitoring employees cannot be considered a factor, which negatively impacts the trust towards the organization. Likewise, the organizational justice domain does not significantly moderate this relationship: the four different organizational justice constructs reported statistically insignificant scores of interaction on the main relationship. Finally, the implications of the results are discussed with respect to clarifying possible explanation for the obtained outcomes and propose solutions to improve future studies in this area. / Como as organizações devem reagir ao contexto atual de trabalho? A vigilância do comportamento dos trabalhadores deve ser adoptada pelas empresas? Quais poderiam ser as implicações dessa prática? Este estudo, baseado em um modelo input-process-output, busca investigar como os empregados de monitoramento podem afetar suas atitudes em relação à organização. Especificamente, o foco será em uma variável: a confiança dos trabalhadores na organização. A pesquisa propõe ainda determinar se os quatro constroem da justiça organizacional moderam significativamente a relação entre o monitoramento percebido e a confiança organizacional. Esta pesquisa aplicou um método de pesquisa quantitativa, consistindo na análise de respostas obtidas a um questionário previamente desenvolvido. A análise de regressão foi utilizada para compreender a relação entre monitoramento no local de trabalho e confiança na organização de expor o papel desempenhado pelas quatro dimensões da justiça organizacional. Inconsistentemente com as hipóteses desenvolvidas, os resultados indicam que os empregados de monitoramento não podem ser considerados um fator que afeta negativamente a confiança para com a organização. Da mesma forma, o domínio da justiça organizacional não modera significativamente essa relação: os quatro diferentes constroem de justiça organizacional relataram valores estatisticamente insignificantes de interação na relação principal. Finalmente, as implicações dos resultados são discutidas no sentido de esclarecer possíveis explicações para os resultados obtidos e propor soluções para melhorar futuros estudos nesta área.

More than a century ago in their definitive work “The Right to Privacy” Samuel D. Warren and Louis D. Brandeis highlighted the challenges posed to individual privacy by advancing technology. Today’s workplace is characterised by its reliance on computer technology, particularly the use of email and the Internet to perform critical business functions. Increasingly these and other workplace activities are the focus of monitoring by employers. There is little formal regulation of electronic monitoring in Australian or United States workplaces. Without reasonable limits or controls, this has the potential to adversely affect employees’ privacy rights. Australia has a history of legislating to protect privacy rights, whereas the United States has relied on a combination of constitutional guarantees, federal and state statutes, and the common law. This thesis examines a number of existing and proposed statutory and other workplace privacy laws in Australia and the United States. The analysis demonstrates that existing measures fail to adequately regulate monitoring or provide employees with suitable remedies where unjustifiable intrusions occur. The thesis ultimately supports the view that enacting uniform legislation at the national level provides a more effective and comprehensive solution for both employers and employees. Chapter One provides a general introduction and briefly discusses issues relevant to electronic monitoring in the workplace. Chapter Two contains an overview of privacy law as it relates to electronic monitoring in Australian and United States workplaces. In Chapter Three there is an examination of the complaint process and remedies available to a hypothetical employee (Mary) who is concerned about protecting her privacy rights at work. Chapter Four provides an analysis of the major themes emerging from the research, and also discusses the draft national uniform legislation. Chapter Five details the proposed legislation in the form of the Workplace Surveillance and Monitoring Act, and Chapter Six contains the conclusion.