LESSON 5

Level –L2A

Date : 1.12.2023

EX 2. Read what four people have to say about their working hours to practise and
improve your reading skills.

Before reading
Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation task

Match the definitions (a–j) with the vocabulary (1–10).

Vocabulary Definitions

1. ...... idle chit-chat

2. ...... maternity leave
3. ...... to bounce ideas off someone
4. ...... to wear someone out
5. ...... to clock in
6. ...... to make a concession
7. ...... paid on a pro-rata basis
8. ...... a freelancer
9. ...... a commute
10. ...... to be left to your own devices

a. a regular journey between work and home

b. to be allowed to decide what to do by yourself

c. to record the time you begin work

d. a period of time a woman takes off work due to the birth of a child

e. calculated according to how many hours you work

f. to make someone very tired

g. to give or allow something in order to end an argument or conflict

h. talk that is informal and irrelevant to work

i. a person who sells their services or work by the hour or day

j. to share ideas with someone in order to get feedback on them

Reading text: Work–life balance

Ronan

I work in a fairly traditional office environment doing a typical nine-to-five job. I like my job,
but it’s annoying that my commute to work takes an hour and a half each way and most of my
work could really be done online from home. But my boss doesn’t seem to trust that we will
get any work done if left to our own devices, and everyone in the company has to clock in and
out every day. It’s frustrating that they feel the need to monitor what we do so closely instead
of judging us based on our task performance, like most companies do these days.

Jo

I used to do a typical five-day week, but after I came out of my maternity leave, I decided that
I wanted to spend more time with my children before they start school. After negotiating with
my boss, we decided to cut my working week down to a three-day work week. This of course
meant a significant cut in my pay too, as I’m paid on a pro-rata basis. I’ve since noticed,
though, that my workload hasn’t decreased in the slightest! I’m now doing five days’ worth of
work in three days, but getting paid much less for it! I find myself having to take work home
just so that I can meet the deadlines. It’s wearing me out trying to juggle work with looking
after my children and my family, but I don’t dare to bring this up with my boss because I
think he feels as if he’s made a huge concession letting me come in only three days a week.

Marcus

I work for a global IT company, but because their headquarters is in the States, I do all my
work online from home. That means that I don’t waste time commuting or making idle chit-
chat with colleagues. I work on a project basis, and this flexibility is very valuable to me
because it means that I can easily take some time off when my children need me to go to their
school performances or if I need to schedule an appointment with the dentist. The downside is
that without clear office hours, I tend to work well into the evening, sometimes skipping
dinner to finish a task. It can also get quite lonely working on my own, and I sometimes miss
sharing ideas with colleagues.

Lily

I’m a freelancer and work for myself. This is great because I am in control of what I do and
how I spend my time. At first, I was working from home, but I found it really hard to
concentrate. There were just too many distractions around: housework that needed doing,
another cup of tea, my family members wanting my attention for various things. So I started
to go to a nearby café to work, but the Wi-Fi connection wasn’t ideal and I found myself
drinking too much coffee. In the end, I decided to rent a desk in a co-working space with five
other freelancers like myself. I liked getting dressed to go to work in the morning and being
able to focus in an office environment. The other freelancers do similar kinds of web-based
work to me and so it’s nice to have workmates to bounce ideas off as well.
. What do these words mean ? Match :

a)downside

b) pro rata

c) valuable

d) nowadays

e)idle

f) majority

g) subpar

h) attend

i) distraction

j) in charge

-in control

-most

-disadvantage

-visit

-diversion

-precious

-useless

-today

-substandard

-proportional

k) fairly
 l) headquarters

m) performance

n) on one’s own

o) nearby

p) decrease

q) trust

r) wera out

s) negotiate

t) workmate

-close

-alone

-go down

-agree

-colleagues

-relatively

- main seat

-show

-beleive

-tire

Task 1

Circle the best answer.

1. Ronan would prefer it if he ...

a. wasn’t left to his own devices.

b. could spend more time commuting and less time in t he office.

c. could work from home and be judged based on task performance.

d. could trust his boss more.

 2. Jo wanted to reduce her working hours because she ...
1. thought she would be more efficient and productive when she was at the office.
2. wantedtobringherworkhome.
3. wanted to go on maternity leave.
4. Wanted to spend time with her children.
3. Jo is unhappy with her three-day work week because ...
1. she didn’t realise how much the change would affect her economically.
2. She now has tto spend more time looking after her children and her family.
3. she has more deadlines to meet.
4. Her work load has remained the same although she’s reduced her hours.
4. In Marcus’s opinion, which of these is a disadvantage of working from home?
1. You spend a lot of time in the house.
2. It’s easy to get distracted by your family.
3. You tend to work later.
4. You end up eating more as you have access to the fridge all day.
5. Why did Lily not like working from home?
1. She found it lonely.
2. Her family didn’tl ike her working.
3. She didn’t have a good Wi-Fi connection.
4. There were a lot of distractions.
6. What solution did Lily find most suitable for her working needs?
1. Renting an office space to work from.
2. Working from a café.
3. Working for an employer.
4. Working for other freelancers.

Task 2
Are the sentences true or false?

1. Ronan’s boss thinks his employees will not be as productive if they work from home.
2. Ronan thinks that the performance of employees should be judged according to how
much time they spend in the office.
3. Jo is paid the same for a five-day work week as she is on a three-day week.
4. Jo feels exhausted trying to manage both a five-day workload and childcare.
5. Although Marcus sees the benefit in not having idle chit-chat, he misses interacting
with his colleagues.
6. Lily didn’t like working from the café because the coffee wasn’t very good.

Task 3.

Fill in the names of four people :

____is paid less for the same work

____sometimes feels lonely

____feels distrusted by his boss

_____tired working from a cafe

-______values having flexibility

_______has the typical working hours

___________sometimes doesn’t eat dinner

-------------couldn’t concentrate at home

----------commutes for 3 hours daily.

------------often works late in the evening

------ofetn takes work home.

----is afraid to talk to her boss.

--------doesn’t have a boss.

-------now earns much less money .

EX 2. Read the extract of a company’s trems and conditions for its employees. Choose
the correct heading for each section.

-Family and Health

-working hours

-Holiday

Terms and conditions of employment.

1.

The company opearates a sytem of flexitime. All employees must be at work during the core
hours of between 10 a m and 4 p m but they can start and finish work between the hours of 8
am and 6 pm. Employees must take their lunch break anytime between midday and 2 pm and
this should not be less than 30 minutes long. Pais overtime must be done outside of the
flexible working hours ( e g before 8 am or after 6 pm) and agreed in writing by your
manager. The company also allows home-working (where appropriate to the employee’s role
and responsibilities) for up to a maximum of eight hours on one day a week.

Requests to work from home must be made in writing to your manager.

2.
Full time employees receive 25 working days’ holiday (not including public hilidays) in a
calendar year. Annual leave for part time staff is calculated according to the number of days
worked per year. After five years of service, an employee can take an extra two days’ leave
per year. Managers may accept requests for additional leave dependin on your circumstances.
3.
Expectant mothers can take up to 52 weeks’ maternity leave at the following rates : 12 weeks
of full pay, 27 weeks of statutory pay and an addiitional 13 weeks of unpais leave. Fathers can
take ywo weeks off for paternity leave at any time beyweeen the child’s birth until eight
weeks afterwards.

For sick leave , employees receive full pay for a short term illness up to 28 days. For longer -
term illness, employees with over 24 months’ service receive statutory pay after 28 days. A
medical certificate is required from your doctor if you are absent for more than five days.

EX 3. Look for compound words in the text and match them to defintions 1-10 :

1. A system of working a particular number of hours each week or month but choosing
when you start and finish.
2. The times when you always have to work.
3. Time at work in addition to your normal hours.
4. Not working in your office but at your home.
5. The number of days off for holidays per year.
6. Extra days off
7. An official rate of pay according to the law.
8. Time off with no money.
9. Time off for men to spend time with a new baby.
10. All your normal salary.

EX 4. Using the terms and conditions in the text, what will be the manager’s reply ?

1. Can i start work earlier in the day so i finish by five o’clock ?

2. I’d like to finish work every day at three thirty. Is that possible ?
3. How long can i take for lunch ?
4. I worked until eight last night. Do i get paid anything extra ?
5. Janiuary 1st is a public holiday, but i sis a part of my normal holiday ?
6. Does everyone get the same amoint of annual leave ?
7. My wife i shaving a baby next month. Can i take some time off when it’s born ?
8. Sorry, i was off sick yeaterday. Do i still get paid ?

EX 5. Complete the sentences with phrases from the list :

FLEXITIME, OVERTIME, HOME_WORKKING, CORE HOURS, LUNCH BREAK,

PUBLIC HOLIDAY, PATERNITY LEAVE, UNPAID LEAVE, ANNUAL LEAVE,
STATUTORY PAY.

1. I work….n, so i can start and finish my working day whenever i like.

2. Our employees’…… …….. are betweeen ten and four, when they have to be in the
office.
3. Last week, i worked for 55 hours, so i did 20 hours …………
 4. I worked from home once a week because my company has a system of ……..
………..
5. With maternity leave, the firts 12 weeks are fully paid and then you receive 27 weeks’
………. …….., which is less.
6. I rarely take a …… …….. I susally keep working and eat my sandwich at my desk.
7. In many countries, 1st January is a …… …….
8. Nowadays, more fathers are taking ……… to help with a new baby.
9. Last year, i took six month…………. ………….. to travel around the world. It was a
great experince but i missed receiving a salary !

I need to take the rest of my…………. ………..before the end of the year or i’ll lose it.
TEXT READING :Flexible working
What are flexible working arrangements and why are some people against them? Can
companies benefit from offering flexible working arrangements to their employees? Before
reading Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises.
Preparation task Match the definitions (a–h) with the vocabulary (1–8).
Vocabulary Definitions 1. …… a mindset 2. …… supervision 3. …… employee retention 4.
…… to commute 5. …… to work remotely 6. …… to micromanage 7. …… to hang around
8. ……
a boundary a. to stay or spend time in a place b. to travel regularly between work and home c.
to work outside a traditional office environment, e.g. to work from home d. watching
someone to make sure they do something correctly e. to manage people through excessive
control and attention to detail f. a person’s way of thinking g. a real or imaginary line that
marks the limit of something h. an organisation’s ability to keep its staff and not have them
leave the company
Flexible working
Fred works for a traditional company that expects him to start at 8.30 a.m. and leave at 5.30
p.m. or later every day. Most of his work is done on a project basis and, as a manager, he is
responsible for the quality of work that is produced and for meeting deadlines. On most days
of the week, there is often extra work to be done on a project, and Fred stays late in the office
or brings his work home. Occasionally, when he finishes all his work before 5.30 p.m., he
finds himself hanging around, chatting with colleagues and waiting for the time he can
officially leave. With two small children at school, Fred has to use up his annual leave in
order to take time off when his children are ill, when he wants to attend their sports day or any
time the kids have a half-day at school. Fred also lives an hour’s drive from his office and
therefore spends two hours a day commuting. In the interest of increasing productivity and
making better use of his time, Fred suggested the idea of flexible working to his director. His
director, however, rejected his suggestion, saying that he saw flexible working as problematic
for the company. Fred’s director isn’t alone in this thinking. In many organisations, there is
still a culture in which the employee who arrives the earliest and leaves the latest is
considered the most hard-working, and many bosses still believe that they can’t trust their
employees to work remotely. They worry that there are too many distractions for workers at
home or that team working and communication won’t be as good if workers are physically
disconnected from each other. Some employers think management is about the close
supervision of employees to direct and control not just what is done but also exactly how it is
done. However, the nature of a lot of work today involves meeting deadlines, achieving
certain objectives and hitting targets. As most people who’ve worked in these kinds of
environments know, productivity is less about how many hours you spend in the office and
more about how well you meet those goals. Even though they’re outside the office, the remote
worker who is not meeting targets is quickly noticed. Micromanaging bosses don’t help
productivity either. In fact, research shows that controlling bosses can have a negative effect
on their employees’ performance. In contrast, giving employees the freedom to organise their
working schedule to fit with their personal life means they are working when they are best
able to engage fully with their work and are therefore more efficient and productive. Having
choices in their working environment and timetable creates responsible and motivated
workers who are likely to get better results, knowing they can meet the demands of both their
job and their personal life. Whether it is giving employees the right to work remotely, offering
job sharing or part-time working, or allowing non-fixed start and finish times, flexible
working is not just about practical working arrangements but also about a culture and a
mindset. For example, many remote workers find themselves working past their working
hours, partly because there is no commuting to mark the boundaries between work and
personal life, making it hard to switch off from work. Companies might need to consider
training both workers and management staff to help them better understand what flexible
working is, how to implement it and how to encourage a results-driven approach. Only then
can flexible working truly result in happier employees, increased productivity and better
employee retention.

Task 1 Are the sentences true or false?

1. Fred’s director doesn’t want Fred working remotely because he sees Fred making small talk
and not working when he’s in the office.
2. If Fred was allowed to work from home, he’d work less and spend more time with his
children.
3. It is easy for a manager to know if a remote worker is not working effectively.
4. Bosses who are very controlling get better results from their team.
5. Giving employees more flexible working conditions doesn’t really benefit the company.
6. People who work from home often end up working longer hours than when working in the
office

Task 2 Complete the sentences. remotely boundary hours freedom retention mindset
1. Working ……………………………… means that employees can use their commuting
time to work. 2. Flexible working gives employees more ……………………………… to
make their own decisions and they become more engaged with their work. 3. Remote workers
are more motivated and may work past their normal working ……………………………… .
4. If employees are happier, they are less likely to leave for another company. Flexible
working can improve employee ……………………………… rates. 5. One disadvantage for
remote workers may be that there is less of a ……………………………… between work and
personal life. 6. For flexible working arrangements to work well, staff who are used to
traditional ways of working may need to change their ……………………………… .