Deltid - en kostbar affære : hvordan vil vi kunne bruke økonomisk analyse som bidrag til beslutninger om å øke gjennomsnittlig stillingsstørrelser i pleie- og omsorgssektoren?

Abstract

In this thesis we have examined the part-time issue. Under the title: Part Time – an expensive affair. Is it possible to use economic analysis as a contribution to decisions regarding increase in employment sizes in the care sector? We have calculated the benefits of getting closer to fulltime positions and we have used economic analysis as a tool to calculate the potential saving opportunities. The basis for this calculation has been the accounting from a department of care for the elderly. We have seen that the savings are more or less linear and that it is possible to save about 30.000 NOK with each employee who quits, if other employees in the department can take over the position-percentage and the tasks from that employee. We also examined the opposing forces that are present, and which slow down the process to get more employees in larger positions, in spite of the fact that all the main stakeholders want to speed this up. The main challenge here is the desire to protect the employees’ own leisure time, especially the weekends. At the same time there are many employees who feel they have not been offered larger positions. The idea behind the study was to see if it is possible to use economic calculations to clarify a financial gain by moving more employees into larger positions - a gain which then could be used to make it more appealing to work in higher percentage positions, preferably in fulltime positions. In practice this means working extra weekends. Our survey shows that some employees in can be tempted to voluntarily work several extra weekend shifts, if they get paid extra. Our thesis shows that it is possible to use this financial gain to make it more attractive for individuals to work more weekends and thereby contribute to level the number of employees at work. But this does not solve the whole problem, and will only be one of several measures necessary to implement the employees’ increase in positions. An economic analysis will nevertheless clarify the gains that can be used to reward employees in different ways, and thus make an important contribution to achieving a broader and larger sum of measures towards a clearer full-time culture.