Overtime or fragmentation? Family transactions and working time during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

What changes affected the working time of employees required to work from home by the 2020 French health measures? Drawing on a qualitative survey of a municipal water company, based on interviews, direct observations, and questionnaires, the author shows how telework prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic restructured working time and redistributed the power of regulation. During lockdown periods, working hours were extended and work rhythms changed, with considerable variation depending on the family configuration: confinement with family was not conducive to extended working hours, instead tending to fragment them, whereas isolated teleworkers experienced the opposite effect.