Low-skilled women increasingly work on Saturdays and Sundays

Women’s exposure to “atypical” hours, in particular usual work on Saturdays and Sundays, increased between 2013 and 2019 for the least qualified while it decreased for managers, according to a study published on Wednesday April 27 by the National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED). “The share of female managers working atypical hours decreased by 23% between 2013 and 2019, while it increased by 11% for unskilled workers. Among men, social polarization is less marked. The share of managers fell by 14% while that of unskilled workers is stagnating”, notes the study, carried out from the Dares “Working Conditions” surveys.

In the study, an employee is said to work atypical hours “if he declares that he usually works according to at least one of the following methods: early in the morning (5 a.m. to 7 a.m.), late in the evening (8 p.m. to midnight), at night ( 0h-5h), Saturday, Sunday”. “On the one hand, policies for reconciling work and family in large companies have been able to contribute to improving the working conditions of the most qualified (…). On the other hand, low-qualified women are overrepresented in commercial professions where Sunday work has increased (saleswoman, cleaning agent, etc.) as well as in personal service professions (nursing assistant, home help, housekeeper), where atypical working hours are structural “, explains the study.

The derogatory use of Sunday work in question

In 2019, 36% of employees usually work atypical hours. This frequency, which places France within the European average, appears stable over the last decade. “However, while evening and night work fell slightly between 2013 and 2019, Saturday, Sunday and morning work (from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.) increased for certain categories of employees,” according to the study, who sees in it a consequence of the laws which have extended the derogatory use of Sunday work and favored the modulation of working time.

Women are now proportionally more numerous than men to work with atypical hours (37% against 35%). They work more often on Saturdays and Sundays. Men are still proportionally more likely to work early in the morning, in the evening and especially at night, but their exposure tends to be reduced. The association between atypical working hours and gender varies both according to socio-professional category and sector of activity.

“Unskilled female workers frequently work as cleaners while men are more often laborers in the construction industry where daytime and weekday hours are more frequent”, cites the study as an example. In addition to these atypical schedules, unskilled workers and employees also more often face discontinuous days (work periods separated by at least 3 hours) and unpredictable schedules (known a day in advance or less). According to the study, this group of “small fragmented times and unpredictable schedules” brings together 18% of employees.

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