Outsourcing - the use of eternal labour to undertake a specific job or contract

Advantages:

• Saves the time and money cost of hiring someone new to the company
• Reduces costs by not having permanent workers
• A business can be more flexible in how many people they hire depending on their needs

Disadvantages:

• Workers might do a worse quality job as they are not part of the business

Flexi-time - this is when an employee has a certain amount of time they need to work for the business in a week, but when these hours are up to the employee to decide.

Advantages:

• Business may save some money as it retains staff that would otherwise leave because the hours don't suit them
• Higher employee motivation

Disadvantages:

• More costly system to run
• Office spaces have to be open for longer which could increase costs

Job Sharing - this is when two employees do the same job but split the total time needed for that job between them. For example having one person working in the morning then handing over to a person that works the same position in the evening.

Advantages:

• Employees are able to work the hours or days that suit them and therefore a business can gain all the staff it needs
• If one of the job sharers is absent some of tasks are covered by the other one, and can even do overtime if it's for a short period of time.

Disadvantages:

• There are additional administrative costs of employing two people instead of one
• Careful planning may be required to ensure the job sharers are consistent with each other in how they approach a task
• If they have managerial responsibilities and have differing leadership styles, this may confuse the staff under their supervision

Remote Working - this involves allowing the employees to work away from the business premises.

Advantages:

• Many business have found that productivity increases as there are less distractions than at the workplace
• Allowing employees to work at home saves time they would use to commute into work
• A lower level of absenteeism has been recorded

Disadvantages:

• It is harder to check the employees are actually working
• There is the initial setup cost of providing the necessary technology

Zero hours Contracts - this is when employers hire staff with no guarantee of work, staff only work when they are needed by the business.

Advantages:

• Reduces the administrative costs of employing labour on a full-time basis
• It is more cost efficient for employers as labour is only hired and paid when needed
• It may be cheaper than using agency staff
• It is easier for employees to have breaks between jobs

Disadvantages:

• No certainty of employment
• There is no guarantee of job security for employees
• There is no certainty of hours worked and therefore the amount of total pay will vary
• Employers cannot be certain offers of employment will be accepted

Compressed hours - this is when an employees hours get compressed from the average of 5 working days into 4, this means that they work longer hours on the four days to have the same weekly hours as if they were working 5 days.

Advantages:

• Working one less day potentially reduces commuting costs for employee
• It may ease congestion on the roads
• It allows employees greater flexibility
• It may enable employers to reduce costs
• Staff morale may improve due to ‘extra’ day off
• Productivity may increase

Disadvantages:

• It means a longer working day for employees
• Productivity may fall as the working day is longer
• A greater loss of production if staff have a day off

Annualised hours - this is where employees work a total number of hours for the year as a whole, with flexibility as to when these hours are undertaken.

Advantages:

• It allows the employers to use the workforce when needed
• There is no need for employers to pay expensive overtime rates, therefore reducing costs
• Allows employees flexibility

Disadvantages:

• Being ‘on-call’ may be restrictive for employees
• There is some uncertainty when the employees matt be called
• The opportunity for employees to do overtime is usually lost
• There is additional administrative cost for employers to calculate using this system