The skill profile of the employees and the provision of flexible working hours in the workplace: a multilevel analysis across European countries

This article investigates the relationship between the skill profile of the employees (i.e.the percentage of employees in highly skilled jobs) and the provision of flexible work-ing hours in the workplace (i.e. the proportion of employees entitled to adapt, withincertain limits, the time when they begin or finish their daily work according to theirpersonal needs or wishes). Analyses draw on the 2009 European Company Survey,conducted on a representative sample (N = 26,640) of European establishments in29 countries. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regressions are used to study to whatextent both workplace-level and national-level variables affect this relationship. Find-ings suggest a strong, positive and non-linear relationship between the variables underscrutiny, which is moderated, at national level, by both unemployment and tradeunion density rates