Definition

Job Sharing (or splitting) is an employment option that allows 2 or more people share the responsibilities of one full-time position. They usually work at different times during the day / week or alternate weeks, and may have a time of overlap to maintain continuity. Pay, holidays and other benefits are usually proportionate to the number of hours worked. Job-sharing is basically a form of part-time work that provides the organisation with the equivalent of one full-time employee while giving the job-sharing employees the ability to keep their careers on track while allowing more time for family responsibilities or other activities.

There are 3 basic types of job sharing arrangements:

• Shared Responsibility

In a shared responsibility arrangement, 2 employees jointly share the responsibilities of one full-time job. They perform the full range of tasks associated with the single position they fill. They are interchangeable in their areas of work. This is most suited where work is on-going as opposed to project-based.






• Divided Responsibility

In a divided responsibility arrangement, 2 employees share one full-time position and divide responsibilities, usually by project or client group. They perform separate tasks and provide back up for each other when necessary. This is most suited when the work can be divided according to project or client group.






• Unrelated Responsibility

An unrelated responsibility situation is when 2 employees perform completely different tasks. But for headcount purposes, they are counted as a single position. They generally work in the same division/department. No back up is required by either. In essence, these are 2 part-time jobs, and will not be covered in this section.





It is also important to note that, even within each form job sharing arrangement, there is a variation in the scope of duties which employees perform. The two extremes in the scope of job share duties will be employees who have no interactions in their duties and those who are jointly responsible for all duties. However, most Job sharing duties will fall between the spectrum of the two extremes in different variations; in which employees have their own individual duties but also have shared duties, both varying in a case-by-case basis.

Some common work patterns using a 5-day workweek include:

• Split days, e.g. mornings or afternoons
• Split weeks, e.g. 2.5 consecutive days each
• Alternating split weeks, e.g. 2 days on Weeks 1 & 3, and 3 days on
  Weeks 2 & 4
• Alternate weeks, e.g. 5 consecutive days followed by the next week off

Benefits to Employers

• A wider pool of expertise & increased skills for ideal post
• Increase productivity (less stress)
• Retain valued employees who may be seeking early retirement
• Provides a recruitment edge but low cost to introduce and maintain
• Improved coverage /continuity compared to other Flexible Work Arrangements

Benefits to Employees

• Reduced stress when workload is heavy
• Flexible option for return to work
• Employees on a career break
• Women returning from maternity leave
• Greater flexibility to cope with other commitments, e.g. caring for elderly parents
• Bridge gap between steady career job and retirement (aging workforce)