ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an examination of the long-term trends in working time, and in particular the shift from a generalised process of reduction towards greater differentiation and flexibilisation. It deals with a look ahead to the uncertainties facing industrial relations actors in what will certainly be a lengthy process of trial and error in working-time policy. A number of authors and institutions have, nevertheless, tried to use these different national sources to construct comparable tables on the annual duration of working hours. The main difference between the various industrial relations systems in respect of working time seems to be the existence or absence of a mechanism for generalising norms for wages, working time and social security provisions. In countries with strong unions and where collective bargaining plays an important role, unions have been able to demand and to achieve working-time reductions.
