Working Environment and Organisation of the Work

Syllabus

Thematic definition of exercises: 1. Introduction to Working Environment and Organisation of the Work. Work task, workflow and division of labour The introductory exercise will begin with a brief introduction to the organisation of work. They will receive introductory information on the characteristics and meaning of work organization, the content and functions of work organization, the tasks and objectives of work organization - in the economic, psychophysiological and social spheres. About the different inputs and outputs of the work system and the different forms of division of labour. Students will be introduced to the problems of work organisation so that they have a better idea of what they can expect from the subject. Also, the students are illustrated the sequence in the following exercises. The prerequisites for successful completion of the course will be identified and then sent to their email addresses. They will also be given a list of topics that they will then work on in pairs and the presentation will be in the last four weeks of the semester. At the end of the first meeting with the lecturer, the students will individually express why they have chosen the specialisation Personnel Management. 2. Workplace design Students will individually solve a work system as a basic element of an organization according to a specific assignment. They will discuss in detail the inputs and outputs of the work system, which will then be presented by some of them in front of the other students. Finally, the teacher will evaluate the analysis of the working system. The students will individually and then in a team design a suitable model for a specific job They will discuss its basic items and the possibilities of its construction. 3. Determination of labour consumption standards Work shift , its structure. The different times within the shift time - normative time - working time, time of generally necessary breaks and conditionally necessary breaks; time losses - personal losses, technical-organisational losses and losses due to natural events. Snapshot of the working day and snapshot of the work operation, its different forms, preparation of the snapshot. Determination of daily standardised performance. New techniques for determining labour consumption norms. Students will use specific snapshots of the working day to learn to identify individual activities and inactivities during shift time. Proper understanding and then correct labeling is the basis for proper labor norming calculations. Once correctly labeled, they will calculate examples. They will also learn to calculate the worker's employment rate. Students will solve examples from a snapshot of a work operation. Then, the examples will combine the snapshot of a workday and the snapshot of a work operation and students will be able to calculate the daily normalized output for a specific job. 4. Determination of labour consumption standards Written work - calculation of an example of daily standardized output for a specific job. Writing a written paper is a condition for taking the exam - it is worth 20 points. In case of failure, the student repeats the paper. 5. Work in a classical group and in an autonomous working group (teamwork) Group and individual. Objective conditions of the work process essential and determining for the formation of a work group Basic sociological phenomena in the group - social facilitation, social laziness, conformity, pluralistic ignorance, social obedience. Social processes in the group in which these phenomena are manifested - group polarization, group communication, groupthink. Basic dimensions of work groups - group size, homogeneity/diversity, autonomy with respect to work organization. The exercise will focus on the discussion of the model of individual behaviour in the work environment. Then, the basic dimensions in forming an effective classical work group and an autonomous work group will be individually addressed. At the end of the exercise, they will jointly compile the basic factors for the effective functioning of these groups. 6. Work environment and its importance in work organisation. Ergonomics Factors influencing work performance. The essence of ergonomics, its importance for the employee, the enterprise and the whole society. Basic factors and criteria of a suitable working environment. Creating a working environment with the application of ergonomic knowledge. Workplace layout, types of workplace. Impact of legislation on the working environment. Different types of offices. Work chair, work table, work equipment from an ergonomic point of view. The exercise will focus on the link between ergonomics and physical factors of the working environment. The group will concretise selected physical factors of the working environment by using examples of basic types of work - manual work, administrative work, professional/specialist work and managerial work. In doing so, they will also give suggestions for ergonomic equipment and workplace layout. Students will work in four groups - the first group will make suggestions for manual work, the second for administrative work, the third for expert/specialist work and the fourth for managerial work. In the last part of the exercise, each group will present their conclusions. 7. Basic physical factors of the working environment Noise in the workplace, negative effects of noise on the human body and consequently on its performance, permissible limits for different types of work. Possibilities of noise elimination. Optimal lighting of the workplace, principles of proper lighting. Microclimatic conditions in the workplace - temperature, dustiness, humidity. Range of optimum and permissible temperatures for the seasons of the year (winter, summer) for each type of work. Workplace colour - colour in terms of international safety standards and colour as a psychophysiological stimulus. 8. Occupational health and safety Factors of the working environment that affect the safety and health of employees. The meaning and importance of OSH and fire protection in the workplace. Occupational accidents, their definition. Safe work, principles of work accident prevention, prevention of work accidents. State of technology and machinery. Legislation governing occupational safety and health. Bodies responsible for occupational safety and health. Obligations of the undertaking and employees. 9. Organisation of working time Basic dimensions of working time conditions. Statutory provisions in the field of working time conditions - statutory, established and designated working time. Working arrangements, distribution of working time - equal, unequal and working time pool. Shift work and rest arrangements - protection of employees and observance of working time. Shift organisation, its forms - interleaved and rotating shifts. Problems of night work. Students will analyse the various options for the distribution of working time, accepting the legal necessity of observing the regime of work and rest within the working day, week, fortnight and reference time. The exercise will be collective. The tutor will be in the role of coach. Students will then individually solve a specific example of shift rotation, handing in their solutions to the tutor who will evaluate them for the next exercise. Non-standard work arrangements in a global, European and national context. The role and potential of non-standard work arrangements for increasing workforce flexibility. Advantages and disadvantages of the application of different non-standard working arrangements. Their different options for non-standard working arrangements - part-time, job sharing, home office (telework, telecommuting, teleworking), compressed working week, extended shifts, on call contract, flexible working time - day, week, fortnight, lifetime. The tutor will assign specific situations for individual teams of students who will choose appropriate non-standard working arrangements. 10. Time management Time management as an important tool in the work organisation system. The main causes of lack of time from mismanagement and poor organization of work. Subjective causes of lack of time. Time management techniques. Pareto rule, necessity of prioritization. The helicopter view, deciding priorities from a perspective. The "Eisenhower principle", importance always takes precedence over urgency. ABC analysis. Students will use specific tasks to present different time management options according to personal preferences. 11. Individual and collective labour relations Partnership and employee participation. Collective bargaining law. Impact of the Economic and Social Council (tripartite) on collective bargaining. Principles, objectives and implementation of collective bargaining. Collective bargaining procedure. Types of collective agreements - company collective agreement, higher-level collective agreement. Contents of the collective agreement. Compliance of legislation with international standards (ILO standards, regulations, EC directives). Collective bargaining in the context of the organisation of work. Students will play a role-play. A group of students will be selected for the employer's side (management representatives) and another for the employees' side (trade union representatives). They will present the process of collective bargaining in a specific company. 12. International organisations and their impact on the organisation of work The International Labour Organisation, its history and the basic documents related to the organisation of work. Legal profile and institutions of the European Union: European Council, European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the European Union, its various formations. Supranationality of EU law. EU secondary law. Legally binding documents for individual Member States - regulations, decisions, directives. Non-binding documents - recommendations and opinions of EU bodies. Non-binding EU programme documents - EU Green Paper, EU White Paper. Discussion based exercise, exploring the level of knowledge of the essentials that concern every EU citizen. 13. Personnel activities of line managers in the system of work organization. The cultural and social context of the work organisation system. Employee induction and onboarding, assignment of work tasks, transfer of information, work supervision, conflict resolution, ongoing employee evaluation. Data protection, implementation of GDPR. Equal opportunity. Managing Difference. Bullying and harassment. Sexual harassment. Smoking, alcoholism and drug use. Complaints handling. Disciplinary procedures - their different stages. Basic grounds for immediate termination of employment.