What Is a Flexible Firm?

Flexible working system refers to the system that employees can flexibly and autonomously choose the specific time schedule for work on the premise of completing a prescribed work task or a fixed length of work, instead of a uniform and fixed system of commuting time. In Europe and the United States, more than 40% of large companies have adopted "flexible working systems", including Xerox, Hewlett-Packard and other well-known large companies; in Japan, Hitachi Manufacturing, Fuji Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric and other large companies have also varying degrees Similar reforms have taken place. In China, more and more factories and enterprises are experimenting with this system. Starting in 2014, the central and local governments of South Korea will implement a "5-hour flexible working system" to allow employees to flexibly arrange working hours.

Flexible working system

Flexible working system refers to the system that employees can flexibly and autonomously choose the specific time schedule for work on the premise of completing a prescribed work task or a fixed length of work, instead of a uniform and fixed system of commuting time. In Europe and the United States, more than 40% of large companies have adopted "flexible working systems", including

1. Establish an autonomous organizational structure. In this organizational structure, in order to improve the work organization, the organization establishes a flexible working system so that employees can autonomously determine working hours and determine the speed of the production line. Like Swedish

Because each person's life needs different styles and habits, the traditional fixed working hours and the constraint that everyone works at the same time are a relatively rigid way. Maximum efficiency. In this sense, the flexible working system sees the position of people at work and pays attention to their needs, so its implementation has produced good results. Due to the popularization and application of flexible working system and the consequences of its incentives, it has become one of the important contents in the research of organizational development and change.

In Europe and the United States, more than 40% of large companies have adopted "flexible working systems", including

Smooth and efficient communication

Regardless of the method adopted, "communication" is undoubtedly the most important part of implementing a flexible working system. In particular, everyone does not work at the same time, so the definition of "responsibility" must be clearer.

Although the electronics and the Internet are very developed, you can't see the attitudes and expressions that may be reflected when people communicate face to face. These hidden factors are often important for supervisors' decisions.

Although the text communication through E-mail can sometimes offset some of the negative emotions that may occur during interpersonal communication, what is really important is not the convenience of communication tools, but that everyone is in a flexible working environment and has a plan for work Are the premises and goals clearly received.

Therefore, in addition to making good use of convenient e-mails, there must be a common time shared within the department. Especially for supervisors, they must have a good grasp and share of the status of all members within a common time, so that there will be no cognitive gap between employees.

Self-disciplined and pragmatic corporate culture

Under the flexible work system, if you want to balance discipline and efficiency, sometimes the best way is not necessarily to set another strict standard, but to form a "self-discipline" culture within the company, and use culture to influence and restrain employees. Behavior is most effective. Generally, the more self-disciplined behavior is, the more effective it is to design any precautionary system, in a highly competitive environment.

Although the flexible working system is based on human considerations and allows employees to have different work modes, after all, the company's operation still needs to maintain discipline. If the specifications are not clear, it will easily cause excessive management differences between departments. At this time, as a supervisor, it is best to have a set of standards, especially for personnel directors, and to clearly define the scope of flexible work, and remind supervisors not to make too much difference within the company department.

Consistent implementation of the system

For supervisors, it is important to avoid a "timely and loosely" attitude in management, because the flexibility of freedom tends to be "difficult to release". If you really encounter austerity management policies, supervisors must communicate. Be prepared, especially before you subjectively want to rectify employee behavior. Don't just arbitrarily announce new rules with thoughts or opinions from others. Communicate new ideas with employees and listen to their opinions to increase opportunities for new policy implementation. In fact, young employees, as long as you explain the truth behind the new system, the acceptance of new management ideas is usually not too low.

In addition, supervisors will also encounter the management problem of "the more capable people have the more opinions". Sometimes decision-making opinions are difficult to remain unaffected, so it is unavoidable to use special methods to solve them, but more importantly, the company's system After all, it is still the main body. Do not let personal problems pose management challenges. If the horizontal and vertical communication is unimpeded on weekdays, the bounce of employees will naturally be reduced.

Should "flexible work" be paid?

Zhang was originally the gatekeeper of an enterprise in Ningbo. After the labor contract expired in 2008, the two parties subsequently signed a labor contract, the contract period was from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2011, and the job was clean and hygienic. , Monthly salary of 850 yuan, including lunch subsidies, communication fees, bonuses, overtime wages and so on. Zhang's average salary for the twelve months before leaving was 988 yuan, and the actual salary amount after deducting overtime wages in each month was not lower than the minimum wage standard in Ningbo. The company originally provided Zhang with accommodation at the doorman's office. Later Zhang lived in a rented house, but he slept at the doorman the next night and engaged in simple door opening and closing, and checking alarms. On March 2, 2009, the company terminated Zhang's labor relationship with Zhang because of his incompetence, and paid Zhang an economic compensation of 2,523 yuan and an additional salary of 960 yuan in April. Zhang believes that during the work of the enterprise, the company arranged itself to perform cleaning work during the day and the door guard for 12 hours the next day, but the company only paid the salary for the cleaning work. Zhang asked the company to pay a total of 23,400 yuan as a night guard and 25% of economic compensation to 3,900 yuan. After Zhang's request was rejected by the Labor Arbitration Commission, Zhang filed a civil lawsuit with the court.

Regarding Zhang's lawsuit, the defendant believed that Zhang was sleeping in the guard room because he had nowhere to live. Zhang only opened the door occasionally at night to check the alarm, etc., and did not have security duties. In November 2008, the company lost 7,000 yuan due to the theft of the company. Zhang didn't notice it at the time, and the defendant didn't hold Zhang responsible for it because Zhang didn't have the duties of a guard. Therefore, Zhang has no factual basis for demanding to pay the guard.

The court heard that the plaintiff and the defendant had clearly stipulated in the labor contract the plaintiff's job position and salary, and the contract was binding on both parties. The plaintiff mainly engaged in sanitary cleaning in the defendant's unit. Sleeping on duty in the guard room at night was a simple subsidiary task. The plaintiff did not provide evidence to prove that the two parties had agreed to pay wages separately for the ancillary work, and the plaintiff did not claim wages for the work during the period of service. The claim is not supported. Accordingly, the court rejected the plaintiff's claim.

Analysis: The laborer provides labor according to the terms of the labor contract, and the employer pays labor compensation according to the terms of the labor contract. However, in practice, employers often adjust the specific work content of workers due to the needs of the company's production and operation. For example, temporary assignment of workers to "extraordinary" tasks, commonly known as "flexible work." "Flexible work" should be paid separately, which has become the focus of frequent disputes between workers and employers.

When the two parties have disputes over wages and salaries, they must explore the true will of the two parties to provide labor and obtain wages and salaries to determine the reasonableness of wages. In this case, the court held that the plaintiff's main job was to perform sanitary cleaning. The defendant only let the plaintiff sleep at the guard because the plaintiff had nowhere to live. The plaintiff only provided simple tasks such as opening and closing the door at night. The defendant also stole the company's property The plaintiff's negligence liability has not been investigated, and the plaintiff has never claimed wages separately for the work during his term of service. Therefore, the court held that the flexible work performed by the plaintiff was only ancillary work, and the enterprise should not pay separately.

Whether "stringing" injuries constitute work injuries

Liu is a pusher in the carding workshop of a Ningbo Textile Co., Ltd. The carding workshop where he works is adjacent to the clearing workshop. One day in March 2013, Liu went to the Qinghua workshop without being assigned by others to leave the carding workshop while he was in middle school. He found that the cotton grabber in the Qinghua workshop was blocked, so he cleaned the cotton grabber in the Qinghua pond by hand. After the blocked machine was cleared, it suddenly operated, causing Liu's right arm to be interrupted. Later, Liu was rightly injured. The upper limb was amputated.

After the accident, Liu filed an application for work injury to the labor and social security department. After investigation, the labor and social security department determined that Liu's injury was a work injury. Textile Co., Ltd. filed an administrative lawsuit against the labor and social security department's finding that Qinghuachi was not Liu's workplace at all, and there was no arrangement or entrustment by him to clean up cotton. Liu's private stringing of posts during work was a violation of himself Work discipline. In addition, the clear flower pond has a clear warning sign. Liu jumped into the fence without permission to clean the cotton grabbing machine by hand in violation of the operating rules, which does not meet the work place requirements in the work injury identification, and should not be regarded as a work injury.

The court heard that all areas where work tasks are performed should be identified as workplaces. In this case, Liu was motivated by the fear of damage to the equipment and causing damage to the company. When he took the initiative to enter the clearing pond to clean up the blocked cotton, he was injured and constituted an industrial injury. Therefore, the labor and social security department's work injury determination was maintained in accordance with law.

Analysis: The "Work Injury Insurance Regulations" stipulate that working hours, workplaces, and causes of work are the three major elements of work injury identification. However, the "Regulations" do not clearly define the scope of "working hours" and "workplaces" and the scope of "reasons for work", especially for some "flexible work" of workers, most of which do not originate from employment. The designation of the unit comes from the conscious responsibility of the workers as members of the enterprise. Laborers sometimes "do bad things with good intentions". For example, in the case of Liu's amputation of his right arm in order to clean up a blocked machine, the company will pay more for this. As for the flexible work decided by the workers themselves, is it because they are not in their workplace or their own scope of responsibility and are not considered to be work-related injuries?

The spirit of the legislation on the identification of work-related injuries in our country is to protect the right of medical workers, financial compensation and rehabilitation to the greatest possible extent for subjective non-malicious workers who have suffered accidental injuries or occupational diseases during work or work-related activities. The legitimate rights and interests of workers in a disadvantaged position compared to the employer. In the case where the relevant legal provisions of the industrial injury determination are too general and principled, and the enumeration is unclear, it should be understood as far as possible in the interests of the workers, so that workers can receive economic relief after being injured. Therefore, "working time" does not refer to the time between commuting to work. All performance duties and preparation time before and after should be regarded as working time. "Workplace" can not be limited to the work area of the worker. Work-related areas should be identified as workplaces.

Victims should be maximized

Analyzed:

In the above two examples, even from moral intuition, people generally think that the court's decision is fair.

However, some flexible jobs are often regarded as work-related injuries because they are remote from the relevance with the work, and often cannot be recognized by the public. For example, in the past few years, Li, an accountant of Dongba Middle School in Gaochun County, Nanjing, died suddenly after drinking with his superiors. The school intends to apply for a work injury case, which caused a public outcry at that time. The case was affected by public opinion, and Li eventually failed to enjoy work injury treatment.

The same thing is accepted by the public in South Korea. Communicating feelings with alcohol has become a part of Korean corporate culture. Some companies even encourage employees to do so to strengthen teamwork. However, drinking alcohol obviously harms the health of employees. Therefore, the Ministry of Labor of Korea has also included diseases caused by drinking alcohol at work as the scope of industrial accident insurance, and victims can receive compensation.

How should an injury be determined? There is indeed a cognitive "elasticity". Under normal circumstances, people can accept the interpretation that "regardless of working hours, place of work, or work reasons, the ultimate determination of ownership should be based on whether employees are performing their duties." Eating and drinking are similar.

It is believed that many people of China also have to accompany food and drink after work. Li accountant died suddenly due to work, and all the consequences were borne by his family, which was actually unfair.

It is expected that the law can improve relevant regulations as soon as possible, so that workers' "flexible work" can be protected in a wider range. After all, most of the people injured in "flexible work" are ordinary workers. Some of their injuries occurred when they actively performed their duties, while others were injured by involuntary and remote jobs.