The Advantages of Voluntary Overtime Paid Work - Literature review Example

?Hey, Paulo!!! I would like you to work on the organization of your paper a bit more. You have great ideas; and your topic sentences are fantastic. Here’s my comments and thoughts for you: The Advantages of Voluntary Overtime Paid WorkThe paper seeks to determine the advantages of overtime voluntary paid work over mandatory overtime or part-time work. These advantages are discussed in relation to part-time work and mandatory overtime work. The paper uses the existing literature to support these advantages. Studies have exhibited that the use of voluntary overtime workers is more productive than the use of mandatory forced overtime or part-time workers, maintains employee well being, reduces staff turn over and is more cost efficient. Good! So these are your 3 main sections of your paper. According to Barry and Wilkinson (2011), voluntary overtime is a regular and positive practice in the various industries. Voluntary overtime increases the productivity of workers, maintains employees’ wellbeing, reduces staff turnover, and it is more cost efficient than part-time employment. Good! Okay, so you discuss these next, right? In the next couple of paragraphs, you discuss these right? I could be able to see that these are the topics for the next paragraphs. maintains employees’ wellbeing, reduces staff turnover, and it is more cost efficient than part-time employment For example, overtime is a common practice among medical facilities in the United States, where nurses are the majority of medical facilities’ employees who works overtime. You should consider using more in-text citations – where did this example come from? One of our sources? Or would one of your sources agree with it? Then use an in-text citation here. It’s not uncommon for research papers to have in-text citations in almost every other sentence. This is looking good so far. Nurses who voluntarily work overtime provide better care for the patients compared to mandatory overtime or part-time nurses. A clear indication of the positive impact of voluntary overtime over part-time or regular time work is that overtime workers tend to be engaged, especially when work is voluntarily provided to them. Most employees admit that wages have an impact on their work performance. Studies have demonstrated that higher wages earned result in a sense of achievement, ownership, and satisfaction in the work completed. Okay, so the next paragraphs will be about achievement, ownership, and satisfaction, right? It’s like sorting out your laundry; the evaluators will want to see clear, separate piles of thoughts like you indicate in your, excellent topic sentences. Your piles are your paragraphs, right? So, I want to see a paragraph on achievement. And another one one on ownership, and then the last one on satisfaction in work. Does this make sense/ Employees who are available by choice to work for overtime hours augment their productivity, lead to an excellent job recital, and reduce staff turnover through retention of employees (Barry & Wilkinson, 2011).Voluntary work helps in maintaining the employee’s health more than forced overtime work. Use of voluntary overtime enhances the wellbeing of workers; on the other hand, involuntary overtime causes burnout among employees. Voluntary overtime increases employees’ satisfaction and reduces stress among employees; as a result, it helps in maintaining the health of the workers. As Cameron (2012) observes, employees who work on voluntary overtime tend to have natural self-motivation within them, which enhances their productivity and job satisfaction. Employees and employers attain more benefits from voluntary overtime than from involuntary overtime. Numerous studies have established that long working hours and shift work raise the odds for employees to be fatigued, injured, stressed, and suffer from medical ailments. However, voluntary overtime tends to lower these effects, but involuntary overtime increases same. The Advantages of Voluntary Overtime Paid Work The Advantages of Voluntary Overtime Paid Work The paper seeks to determine the advantages of overtime voluntary paid work over mandatory overtime or part-time work. These advantages are discussed in relation to part-time work and mandatory overtime work. The paper uses the existing literature to support these advantages. Studies have exhibited that the use of voluntary overtime workers is more productive than the use of mandatory forced overtime or part-time workers, maintains employee well being, reduces staff turn over and is more cost efficient. According to Barry and Wilkinson (2011), voluntary overtime is a regular and positive practice in the various industries. Voluntary overtime increases the productivity of workers, maintains employees’ wellbeing, reduces staff turnover, and it is more cost efficient than part-time employment. For example, overtime is a common practice among medical facilities in the United States, where nurses are the majority of medical facilities’ employees who works overtime. Nurses who voluntarily work overtime provide better care for the patients compared to mandatory overtime or part-time nurses (Bae, Brewer, and Kovner, 2011). A clear indication of the positive impact of voluntary overtime over part-time or regular time work is that overtime workers tend to be engaged, especially when work is voluntarily provided to them. Most employees admit that wages have an impact on their work performance. Studies have demonstrated that higher wages earned result in a sense of achievement, ownership, and satisfaction in the work completed. Employees who are available by choice to work for overtime hours augment their productivity, lead to an excellent job recital, and reduce staff turnover through retention of employees (Barry & Wilkinson, 2011). As observed by Prywes (2000), voluntary overtime workers have natural motivation within them, and this enables them to work hard to achieve their own goals and purposes of the company. Workers who voluntarily work overtime set their goals, which they seek to achieve. The achievement of these goals is reflected by the excellent work performance. . Employees and employers attain more benefits from voluntary overtime than from involuntary overtime. According to Cameron (2012), the natural motivation enables workers to be committed to the job and once an assignment is accomplished they associate themselves with the assignment. Workers who choose to work overtime dedicate their time and effort to the assignment assigned to them. This commitment enables them to perfect the activities, which will lead to a quality product and service. This commitment enables the workers to reduce defects while producing a product or offering a service, and the reduction in these defects leads to high quality services and products. Workers are satisfied with the job they have accomplished, thereby, owning the work. Voluntary work helps in maintaining the employee’s health more than forced overtime work. Use of voluntary overtime enhances the wellbeing of workers; on the other hand, involuntary overtime causes burnout among employees. Voluntary overtime increases employees’ satisfaction and reduces stress among employees; as a result, it helps in maintaining the health of the workers (Barry & Wilkinson, 2011). As Cameron (2012) observes, employees who work on voluntary overtime tend to have natural self-motivation within them, which enhances their productivity and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is reflected in the reduction of the rate of staff turnover. Numerous studies have established that long working hours and shift work raise the odds for employees to be fatigued, injured, stressed, and suffer from medical ailments. However, voluntary overtime tends to lower these effects, but involuntary overtime increases same. Providing voluntary overtime to workers enhances the productivity of the employees; this enhances the performance of the company. Voluntary overtime work increases employees’ motivation and job satisfaction. This self-motivation enables workers to put extra effort in their work to achieve their objectives along with company’s objectives. Self-motivation enhances workers’ creativity. This enables workers to develop better ways of doing things, which saves time and improves productivity. The additional income earned out of voluntary overtime work motivates employees to put extra efforts in their work, thereby improving productivity. The most excellent way to overtime is to voluntarily offer it to workers; making overtime mandatory tends to result in excessive overtime and work pressures. This increases the number of defects, reduces creativity, increases burnout, increases staff turnover, reduces the time for organizational enhancement and self-education, and reduces productivity among employers and workers. On the other hand, voluntary overtime has few side effects on quality, applicability, functionality or other project, service or product attributes (Cameron, 2012). As Prywes (2000) notes, the following are the keys to achievement in employing voluntary overtime; first, voluntary overtime taps into employee motivations such as a possibility for growth, achievement, personal life, work itself, and technical supervision opportunity to augment the amount of voluntary overtime that workers are willing to work. When a company presses for overtime, it reduces its productivity and workers’ motivation more than it achieves it in overtime. According to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, mandatory overtime leads to augmented stress on the job, physical and mental fatigue, less patient comfort that may contribute to mistakes and “near-misses” with prescriptions and case associated procedures. Voluntarily overtime nurses provide better medical care services to patients since the nurse is self-motivated. For example, during emergencies such a mass casualty situation, nurses offer medical care assistance to the victims regardless of hours worked or even whether the voluntary work will be paid or not (AACN, 2003). Overtime pressure and motivation are inversely related. A company loses output faster in motivation than it gains it in additional hours, and this reduces total output. Increased work hours through overtime and other external pressures places more pressure on employees and affect their motivation (Prywes, 2000). Numerous studies have exhibited that motivation strongly influences productivity among individuals than any other factor. Motivation determines work output and the effectiveness and quality of work completed. Little or no motivation leads to low productivity, which also directly affects the regular working hours. Research conducted by Guest and Conway (2004) supports this, and it indicates that optional overtime can augment the amount of work completed every week and improve motivation. Research shows that additional four to eight hours a week augment output by 10% to 20% or more. Voluntary overtime workers provide high quality work on the tasks assigned to them as compared to part-time workers. This emanates from the fact that full-time employees tend to have more experience in completing the work assigned than part-time employees. In various situations, there are differences between the operations department and the senior management of an organization concerning overtime. Senior management tends to prefer full time employees to work for overtime hours, whereas the operations department prefers part-time workers. Part-time employees are not reliable, and their productivity is not a meaningful input towards the firm’s productivity (Barry & Wilkinson, 2011). According to Graaf (2003), overtime is considered as a way of buffering service systems against the uncertainty of demand and supply. It is noted that scheduled overtime offers numerous advantages, which are more than those advantages of part-time scheduling policies. Part-time employees may have less experience and may be restricted in the types of the assignments they can perform. Barry and Wilkinson (2011) observe that part-time workers tend to have less commitment to the job than the full time employees. The rate of absenteeism among part-time workers may be greater than that of full time workers; this affects their productivity. According to research, when companies hire part-time employees, the productivity of the company diminishes significantly. There is a clear indication that voluntary overtime workers provide high quality work on the tasks assigned to them as compared to part-time workers. When full-time employees are offered the voluntary overtime, they complete a high quality work since they are more experienced than part-time employees. In addition, these workers perform the tasks assigned to them out of self-motivation. In addition to the enhancing productivity of the workers and the quality of the tasks performed by workers, voluntary overtime offered to workers delivers flexibility to the management of a company. Voluntary overtime provides flexibility in the selection of the functions to be performed and formation of the team of employees to work additional hours. Proper planning and flexibility in overtime decisions might be employed to accelerate the schedule or lure skilled employees without compromising productivity (Cameron, 2012). Guest and Conway (2004) conducted an analysis of the labor practices in the United States. The analysis found that the use of overtime does not reduce productivity and that overtime may be applied as a tool of recruitment. Most individuals seek part-time jobs or voluntarily work for overtime with an aim of increasing their disposable income. High wages influence the motivation and productivity of employees. Employees evaluate the benefits that will accrue to them as a result of working extra hours (Cameron, 2012). Conversely, employers compare the costs of hiring and training new part-time employees and offering the overtime pay to the current worker. In most cases, the former can be regarded as greater than the latter. When candidates are searching for jobs, they take into consideration the amount of income they will get out of that job. Rational employees will tend to prefer jobs with high wages and high job security (Barry & Wilkinson, 2011). When full-time workers are offered overtime paid work, they are more efficient and productive than part-time employees. The additional monetary earnings out of the overtime pay motivate these workers. Studies have shown that part-time workers tend to give more emphasis on the job in which they earn more income than other jobs. As a result, part-time workers give greater effort to the job that offers higher income. Full-time employees, who are provided with overtime pay at their option to work for additional hours, tend to be satisfied with their job and do need another job (Barry & Wilkinson, 2011). During interviews, there is an observation that applicants have developed an enthusiastic interest of analyzing corporations that offer the largest number of working hours per week, which translates to earning more money. Job applicants prefer to work in those companies and trades that offer higher wages. Various companies tend to offer higher wages depending on the number of hours worked and the employee’s occupation. The level of wages earned by employees tends to influence their level of loyalty to the job. Higher wages from a single job reduce the rate of staff turnover through the reduction of the need to look for another job. Therefore, offering overtime work voluntarily to full-time workers helps in retaining these employees since they are earning more income from a single employment (Cameron, 2012). Most employees in the U.S. hospitality industry are hourly workers. The hospitality industry experiences a high rate of staff turnover due to high rates of dissatisfaction among hourly workers. Low pay is one of the factors contributing to the high rate of dissatisfaction. Companies have, therefore, developed strategies to encourage retention of hourly workers, where voluntary overtime paid work is one of the strategies. Hourly workers make their decisions on the companies and trades to work in depending on the level of wages and number of working hours. Various human resource managers observe that when overtime is reduced, employees may resign or reduce their productivity (Cameron, 2012). There have been numerous attempts to enact overtime legislation. There has been intensifying legislation aiming at overtime pay in order to decrease labor expenditure without considerations of employment productivity. They have been the introduction of various bills in the United States, with an aim of providing protection to patients through limiting the number of overtime hours nurses may be needed to work (Cihon & Castagnera, 2010). There are numerous laws regarding overtime work, which specify the limits, hours, and continuous work days that may be provided to hourly workers. There has been ignorance of the overtime pay regulations since their foundation in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. There are also some suggestions of not paying overtime workers or transformation of overtime employees to employees with a fixed weekly rate (Bae, Brewer, & Kovner, 2011). Hart (2004) observes that overtime is not always costly; in some cases, it is more economical to plan overtime than to offer the work to additional workers. A company may reduce its operating cost through offering voluntary overtime work to full-time employees instead of hiring part-time workers. The firm may save the training and insurance coverage costs associated with part-time employees. There are provisions of suggestions on how to convert workers working overtime to salary based workers. There are also suggestions on ways of reducing labor costs and the need for firms not to violate the Federal Wage and Labor Hour Law requirements. Numerous labor unions are using their collective bargaining agreements to address matters associated with overtime. This has an impact on employers who force overtime through intimidation with disciplinary measures when employees refuse. Hart (2004) explores the various ways a company can employ to lower its operating costs. When an organization offers overtime work to full time employees, it lowers the training costs since full time workers do not need to be trained again. However, when a company hires part-time employees, it has to incur training costs. The capability of voluntary overtime paid work to lower the rate of staff turnover enables a company to lower its recruitment costs. According to Cameron (2012), when workers work for overtime, the additional amounts paid above regular wages are excluded from financial disclosure. This lowers the profits reported in the financial statements, thus lowering the tax liability of the company. Insurance costs may be reduced because the overtime, if correctly documented, does not offer the corporation additional requirement for insurance due to exposure. Companies may save on costs of employees’ insurance coverage when using overtime. Some industries could be highly affected by the payments of insurance premiums. Insurance premiums are determined by the overall number of workers within an organization. When a worker works overtime, these hours are exempted from the insurance premium burden and thus lower insurance premium costs of the company. These insurance contributions are for funding pension and medical programs such as Social Security and Medicare programs, which are under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (Hart, 2004). Bae, Brewer, and Kovner (2011) conducted a study of employees working overtime with regard to nurses in the United States. The study compared unrewarded and rewarded, involuntary and voluntary overtime employees on individual and work traits, fatigue, and job satisfaction. Voluntary overtime employees were satisfied and not fatigued, even without rewards. These findings may lead to a conclusion that overtime work controls and rewards are significant for the wellbeing of employees. The research indicated that the utilization of voluntary overtime improves the wellbeing of the workers while involuntary overtime generates stress, lack of satisfaction, and burnout of workers. In an article published in 1989, in the Journal of Occupational Health and Safety, the writer indicated that once a shift surpasses twelve consecutive working hours, he or she starts experiencing severe fatigue. An employee can still have the capacity to perform regular assignments, but his or her brain impressions show a pattern of phase one alpha slumber. Mistakes made in this juncture are often substantial because the employee tends to perform tasks opposite the right action. There is increasing evidence that extended working hours and excessive overtime may be hazardous to health of employees, resulting in augmenting rates of job injuries and workers’ fatigue (Beckers, Taris, & Geurts, 2008). As Holley, Jennings, and Wolters (2011) observe, employers should be cautious when workers are working too much on off-clock hours; this should be the case despite the reasons. The problem with pressing for more overtime than employees are willing to work is that when motivation starts to decline, it negatively affects both the overtime and regular hours. Prywes (2000) asserts that approximately a third of the labor force in U.S works more than 40 hours per week. This augment in overtime work may have unfavorable impacts on employees and their families. The practice of mandatory overtime among nurses overlooks the accountabilities nurses may have at home with family members including children among other obligations. Although the growth of overtime work assists in maintaining a healthy growth of the U.S. output, it has harmful social costs. It affects the workers, their families and society at large and in many cases, customers, patients, and employers. These risks may lead to augmented risk of injuries and accidents; secondly, they may cause greater chronic exhaustion, stress, and associated diseases; thirdly, they may lead to diminished family time and parenting; and lastly, they can reduce the quality of services and goods. Employees who work overtime face a higher risk of illness and injury. For example, a study which was conducted in Chicago in 1995, demonstrated that approximately 1,720 medical facility patients and other 9,548 have been injured out of errors made by registered nurses across United States (AACN, 2003). AACN considers that mandatory overtime is an unacceptable means of addressing the employees’ shortages in hospitals since it can position nurses and patients at a bigger risk of being implicated in medical errors. It argues that instead, nurses must be given an opportunity to decide whether working off-clock hours will influence their capability to provide effective care to patients. The nurses should have the choice of refusing from overtime tasks and not being forced into working beyond their ability to offer optimal care. This stand of the AACN confirms the fact that voluntary overtime affects the productivity of workers. A survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation established rampant sleep deficiency, with one-third of respondents reporting below seven hours of slumber per night. 63% of the respondents were sleeping less than the recommended eight hours for better health, safety, and performance (Guest & Conway, 2004). Conclusion The analysis showed numerous advantages of using voluntary overtime paid work instead of using mandatory overtime or part-time workers. After careful analysis of the impact of providing worker’s overtime, the understanding reached is that voluntary overtime is a valuable tool to improve employees’ productivity and retention. The studies used in the paper strongly support these advantages of voluntary overtime paid work. Offering voluntary overtime to employees boosts their productivity; this is beneficial in increasing the productivity of the company. Voluntary overtime work augments employees’ motivation and job satisfaction, thus decreasing the rate of staff turnover. Voluntary overtime employees offer high quality work on the duties given to them as compared to part-time workers. Part-time employees tend to have less dedication to the job than the full time workers; thus, full time employees offer high quality services. Employees’ choice of working overtime hours is based on the financial earnings to be gained from the overtime. Use of voluntary pay work may help a company to reduce its operation costs. Excessive overtime work may have unfavorable impacts on employees themselves and their families. References Barry, M., & Wilkinson, A. (2011). Research handbook of comparative employment relations. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing. Bae, S., Brewer, C.S., & Kovner, C.T. (2011). State mandatory overtime regulations and newly licensed nurses’ mandatory and voluntary overtime and total work hours. New York: Elsevier. Retrieved from http://www.rnworkproject.org/wp-content/uploads/Mandatory-ovettime-article.pdf Cameron, S. (2012). Handbook on the economics of leisure. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. Cihon, P.J., & Castagnera, J.O. (2010). Employment and labor law. New York: Cengage Learning. Graaf, J.D. (2003). Take back your time: Fighting overwork and time poverty in America. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Guest, D., & Conway, N. (2004). Employee well-being and the psychological contract: A report for the CIPD. London: CIPD Publsihing. Holley, W.H., Jennings, K.M., & Wolters, R.S. (2011). The labor relations process. New York: Cengage Learning. Hart, R.A. (2004). The economics of overtime working. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Prywes, R.W. (2000). The United States labor force: A descriptive analysis. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). (2003). Mandatory overtime. Columbia: American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.org/wd/practice/content/publicpolicy/mandatoryovertime.pcms?menu=practice Read More