The primary changes that come with the new arrangement of working hours for shift workers is that the working week is reduced for 40 to 36 active working hours and wage formation will account for more factors than before. The new wage formation system emphasises increased shift premium and increased value for shifts outside the daytime work limits, as well as paying a special shift incentive that takes into account the diversity of shifts and number of attendances employees put in. The changes are intended to better meet the demands of shift work with regard to health, wellbeing and security and to better fulfill union requirements with regard to the higher demands of full-time shift work than regular daytime work.

The goal of the system changes to the working hours of shift workers is to promote better health and security of staff and increase their opportunities to integrate work and home life, so that shift work becomes more desirable. The changes are also intended to significantly reduce overtime, promote greater stability in staffing at institutions and workplaces that require attendance outside daytime working hours with better organization of working hours and services to the public.

The guiding light of this system change is: To improve the security of staff and clients, to make shift work more desirable, to offer a better balance between work and family life,  for working hours and salaries to take shift premiums into account and the value of worked hours to a greater extent,   to improve the mental, physical and social health of staff,  to improve the working environment , shorten work hours,  increase stability in staffing,  simplify the wage formation system and increase its transparency,  reduce the need and incentive for overtime,  increase efficiency in the utilization of funds, improve the quality of public services.    

Shift workers are, on the whole, required to work red days. Until the system change for shift work comes into effect, each employee has the option of receiving compensation for holidays (overtime on public holidays that are not worked) or a holiday of 11 days (88 hours) for full-time work in a year. It requires one calendar year to accumulate a holiday to cover the following year and the holiday period does not accrue for all red days in a year, but is calculated as the average of red days over a 400-year period.  The system change is intended to balance out the annual obligatory work hours for shift workers which are working regular shifts with the annual work obligation of day workers. This balancing out for the hours of work delivered will replace the holidays and holiday premiums. 

Yes, special holidays are paid at a 55% premium from 08:00 to 24:00 and at a 75% premium from 00:00 to 08:00 but public holidays are paid at 90% premium as before, with the exception of Christmas Eve from 16:00 to 00:00, Christmas Night from 00:00 to 08:00, New Year's Eve from 16:00 to 00:00, and the Eve of January 1st from 00:00 to 08:00 which are paid at a 120% premium. 

The value of working hours is set up in such a way that working hours outside the daytime working hours have a different value when calculating workload. Working hours that are paid at a 33.33% and 55% shift premium have a value of 1.05, so that for every 60 minutes, 63 minutes are counted towards the work obligation. Working hours that are paid at a 65% and 75% shift premium have a value of 1.2, so that for every 60 minutes, 72 minutes are counted towards the work obligation. The different value of working hours takes into account the security and health of staff. The lowest number of working hours per month is 138.7 or the equivalent of 32 hours per week. 

The purpose of the shift incentives is to reward staff that turn up often for work and work diverse types of shifts. This takes into account the health and security of staff and clients and the ability to integrate work and home life. The shift incentive is also intended to encourage the inclusion of security considerations when planning shifts and the appropriate duration of shifts, with the aim of improving the working environment and increasing the quality of public services. 

Shift incentive is paid as a percentage of the monthly salary for diverse shift work and the number of shifts during the pay period according to the shifts that are organized within the work obligation. The minimum number of compulsory working hours in each wage period, outside the daytime working hours (at a 33.33%, 55%, 65% and 75% premium), is 42 compulsory working hours. Shifts are divided into four types; day shifts, evening shifts (33.33% premium), night shifts on weekdays (65% premium) and weekend shifts (55% and 75% premium). The minimum number of working hours for each type of shift is 15. Each employee must deliver work within two to four types of shifts, 14 times or more to be eligible for the shift incentive.  The shift incentive ratio is based on the following table. 

Overtime is expected to decrease, work ratio for staff is expected to grow and thus deliver greater stability for employees and operations, culminating in an improved work-life balance.  Overtime for shift workers will be divided. Overtime is paid with hourly earnings, which is divided into Overtime 1 and Overtime 2. Hourly earnings in Overtime 1 is 0.9385% of monthly earnings whereas hourly earnings in Overtime 2 is 1.0385% of monthly earnings. Overtime 1 will be paid between 8:00 and 17:00 on weekdays and Overtime 2 will be paid after 17:00 on weekdays, on weekends and during certain holidays. Furthermore, Overtime 2 should be paid for work in excess of 38.92 hours per week. 

This will increase the value of each hour of work that each employee puts in. On the other hand, the system change will benefit staff in different ways, based on the number of hours worked outside of daytime working hours and the diversity of shift work.  Shift workers with a 100% work ratio will either retain their current salary or see an increase. Additionally, their working hours will be shortened by a minimum of 17.3 hours on average each month. Part-time employees will be able to increase their work ratio, at least proportionate to the shortening of the working week (approximately 11%) in order to support the basis of the system change. The expectation is that all part-time employees, who increase their work ratio and put in the same amount of work as before, will see a wage increase. 

The organization of working hours in each organizational unit must be considered when implementing the system change. It is important that a reform dialogue takes place regarding the organization of shifts, in order to fulfill the requirements of the operation after the shortening of the working week and thereby increase the value of the system change for staff.

The assumption is that those staff members who are not at a 100% employment will increase their work ratio by at least 11%. This way, the benefits are expected to extend to both staff and operations, i.e. staff will receive higher wages for the same amount of work as before and the operation enjoys greater stability and is able to partially compensate for the staffing gap that is created by shortening the working week of shift workers.

The aim of the system changes is to get more people to work a higher proportion of shifts than is currently the case and thereby reduce overtime. By increasing the shift premium, increasing the value of each hour of work outside the daytime working hours, paying out shift incentives for the number of attendances and the diversity of shifts, shift workers are being encouraged to increase their ratio of work and reduce variable overtime. The goal of the system change is also to make shift work more desirable to employees.  The assumption is that those staff members who are not at a 100% employment will increase their work ratio by at least 11%. This way, the benefits are expected to extend to both staff and operations, i.e. employees receive higher wages and the operation enjoys greater stability and is able to compensate for the staffing gap that is created by shortening the working week. In workplaces where most employees are at a 100% work ratio, there may be necessary to hire more employees. 

Yes, here on the page you will find a shift calculator that gives you the option to organize your shifts according to a shift schedule and salary criteria to give you an idea of how the  new working arrangement and wage formation system for shift work may affect your remuneration.

The working week of shift workers is reduced from 40 hours. per week down to 36 hours per week. The hours of work delivered by a shift worker were 173.33 hours per month on average and will be reduced to 156 hours per month. In addition, employees who work shifts outside of daytime hours have the option of increasing the value of each hour of work by 3 minutes per hour at a premium of 33.33% and 55% and 12 minutes per hour at a premium of 65% and 75%. An employee who is working full-time and works 50% of his working hours at 65% and 75% workload can shorten his workload per week down to as much as 32 hours per week or down to to 138.7 hours per month.

The value of each hour of work will increase for all shift workers with the system change. Should a shift worker be working a minimum of 42 hours of shift premium per month, outside of daytime working hours, their salary will be reduced slightly or remain the same. If an employee is working part-time and truly works outside the daily working limit to the extent of 42 hours per month and works the same amount of work as before, they will see a salary increase.

No. It is not possible to have the shortened work week paid instead.

Overtime is expected to decrease, work ratio for staff is expected to grow and thus deliver greater stability for employees and operations, culminating in an improved work-life balance.  Overtime for shift workers will be divided. Overtime is paid with hourly earnings, which is divided into Overtime 1 and Overtime 2. Hourly earnings in Overtime 1 is 0.9385% of monthly earnings whereas hourly earnings in Overtime 2 is 1.0385% of monthly earnings. Overtime 1 will be paid between 8:00 and 17:00 on weekdays and Overtime 2 will be paid after 17:00 on weekdays, on weekends and during certain holidays. Furthermore, Overtime 2 should be paid for work in excess of 38.92 hours per week. 

The revision of the working hours section of collective agreements is being made with the aim of increasing operational stability, reducing overtime, raising the work ratio of staff and thereby raising the fixed wages of employees. Through the revaluation and reallocation of values, the aim is to increase the incentive for staff to commit to a higher work ratio for the same/higher work effort than before.

Employees that are not fully employed are expected to deliver the same or possible a higher work effort than before with the corresponding increase in work ratio. This route is assumed to deliver benefits to both employees and operations, i.e. employees receive higher salaries and greater operational stability is achieved. Where most of the staff is employed at a 100% ratio, there may be a need to hire new staff. The hope is that through these changes, shift work will become a more desirable option.

Work is underway to design the systems with the aim of increasing transparency for management and staff alike The estimated completion date for that work is January 2021. 

Through this system change, new incentives for income generation are created, which all take into account the guiding lights of the project: Safety, health and balance. Dialogues on reform in the workplace are also encouraged, where staff and management may discuss whether the composition of shifts and the shift systems needs to be changed and, if so, how it may be implemented with the aim of achieving the project's overall goal. Whether the shift system is fixed or requested/optional, it may may differ between workplaces, and when coming to this decision, it is necessary to take into account the needs of the operations at each location and give staff members a chance to contribute their views. Research has shown that a requested/optional shift system is appropriate in most circumstances.

Participation in dialogues on reform at each workplace is mandatory. The new shift work system should work the same for all workplaces, and it is likely that many workplaces will need to make changes to shift plans or reorganize in order to implement the changes effectively. A script for a dialogue on reform will be made available on the website betrivinnutimi.is, where you will find examples of the types of questions that would be beneficial to address in such a dialogue. Both management and staff will receive training on how to conduct the dialogues on reform as well as other components.

Training for management, shift organizers and payroll staff is being prepared. This will include training for the new system functionality.