In France, Germany and Great Britain, large-scale food retailers have increased working-time flexibility by the use of part-time work and precarious forms of employment. There are however considerable differences between countries in the proportion of part-timers, in weekly working time and in the variability and predictability of work schedules. On the basis of case studies carried out in each of the three countries, the authors argue that the management of working time is heavily influenced by the domestic division of labour as well as by the prevailing legal and institutional norms.
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