Work and Health: experiences of public servants in the context of deflexibilization of the working hours
Productive restructuring. Flexibilization. Working hours. Psychodynamics of work. Work experience. Health at work.
In the last decades, the process of productive restructuring has reorganized the production and management systems of work organizations, prioritizing the institutionalization of flexible labor relations to meet the volatile demands of neoliberalism (HARVEY, 2008b). An important feature of this scenario that has been gaining space in the legal instruments of the capitalist countries, as well as in the academic literature, is the flexibilization of the working hours. Scientific research on the impacts of flexible working hours on workers' health has led to different results, depending on the organizational context, which provide us with evidence on significant gains in quality of life and on elaborate forms of exploitation and precariousness of work. Moreover, empirical studies dealing with the inverse, that is, of the process of “deflexibilization” of working hours, were not found. Considering this lack of scientific work, the present research aims to understand the experiences of the technical-administrative servants in education of the Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG) in the context of deflexibilization of working hours. As a theoretical guidance, Christophe Dejours' scientific approach of Psychodynamics of Work will be used, given its advanced understanding of the centrality of work in human life, as well as the role of work organization in promoting worker's health. To reach this objective, a descriptive and explanatory case study will be carried out, following the strategy of methodological triangulation of a quantitative and qualitative nature. In the quantitative phase, data collection will be performed through the application of the Protocolo de Avaliação dos Riscos Psicossociais no Trabalho (FACAS, 2013). Subsequently, in the qualitative phase, the data will be collected in focus group sessions of 6 to 10 participants, guided by a thematic script. The analysis of the quantitative data will be realized using univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics, and qualitative data through content analysis (BARDIN, 2016).