21世紀開始，台灣正式邁入了知識經濟時代，行業、職業特性轉變，使得員工工作時間的需求跳脫出傳統的固定工時與固定時段。我國政府遂於2000年修訂勞動基準法，使工時規範更具彈性化以符合人民需求與順應國際潮流。但是，台灣多數雇主仍然使用僵化的固定工時，使得員工無法享受工時彈性化的好處。此外，根據2005年瑞士洛桑管理學院公布的《世界競爭力年報》，台灣人在2005年的平均工時已超過2,300個小時，居全球之冠。因此，本研究意在探討台灣現行的工時狀況、影響員工工時長短的因素、比較藍領員工與白領員工工時長短與工時偏好的差異、了解員工對於工時彈性化的需求、探討提升工時彈性化的可行方法。 本研究以敘述性統計與邏輯迴歸為分析方法，第一部份採用主計處人力資源調查資料，研究結果顯示：1980年以後，台灣就業人員的工時呈現逐漸下降之趨勢，但男性工時仍多於女性工時。因為絕大多數雇主未採行彈性工時制度，所以多數就業人口的工時偏好與實際工時間有差距；尤其女性在此項差距上大於男性，因為她們必須兼顧家庭與工作。台灣就業人員中，1995年之前，25-49歲的男性為工作時間最長之工作者，50歲以上的男性次之，24歲以下之男性最短者。但是2000年以後，50歲以上之人的工時最多。男性學歷愈高者，工作時間愈短；男性自營作業者相較於其他受雇者，擁有較長之工作時間。但是女性則是年齡愈大者，工作時間愈短；學歷愈高者，工作時間亦愈短；女性自營作業者擁有較少的工時。 本研究第二部份以問卷抽樣調查北部地區白領員工，研究結果則為：北部地區白領員工的工時並未下降、男性員工工時仍大於女性員工、絕大多數白領工作者存在著實際工時與理想工時有落差的情況、女性白領員工的工時偏好差距大於男性、白領員工的工時長短受教育程度影響。 本研究第三部份介紹外國政府解決員工工時偏好與實際工時差距的方式，以供政府與企業工時政策的參考。 Since 2000 Taiwan has been moving towards the stage of knowledge-based economy and thus the structure of industries and occupations have been changing rapidly, and both employers and employees demand for a more flexibile work schedule in order to coup with the new economic environment. In response to these needs the government has revised the Labor Standards Law to relex the work hour regulations and thus make work hours more flexible. However, most employers in Taiwan still have the rigid and fixed work schedule. According to IMD, in 2005 employees in Taiwan had the longest annual work hours in the world. The purpose of this study is to investigate the present situation of work hours in Taiwan, factors affecting work schedule and pattern of work hours, comparing work hour preference between blue and white collar employees, employees demand for flexibile work schedule and work hours, and finally the possibilities of making work hour more flexible in Taiwan. This study is divided into three parts, by using data collected by government and supplmented by data collected by this writer via mailed questionnaires we first provide the descriptive statistics of these data and then logistic regression of these government and privately collected data. In the first part of this paper we analyze data collected by the government. The results show that work hours in Taiwan have been shortened since 1980, and males have longer work hours than females. Most employees expressed the gaps between their ideal and actual work hours. At the same time, the problem of working time preference of the female is more serious than the male. Before 1995, 25-49 year-old male employees worked the longest work hours, while since 2000 employees who are 50 years old and above have the longest work hours and older female workers have shorter work hours. In general workers male amd female alike who are better educated enjoy shorter work hours. Since white and blue collar workers have different preference towards work hours and since Taiwan is moving towards knowledge-based economy which means ther will be more and more white collear workers and there we sent out mailed questionnaires to a sample of white collar workers in the Notheren part of Taiwan in finding out the work hour preference of these white collar workers. In the second part of this study we analyze these mailed questionnaires and the results show that the work hours for white collear have not been decling in recent years and male white collar workers work longer hours than their counterparts, female white collar workers. There are gaps between white collar workers’ ideal and actual work hours also, and the gap is wider for females than for male workers. It is also interesting to find that better educated white collar workers would like to work more hours than the hours they currently have becausae there is an association between the length of work hours and the opportunity of promotion. In the third part of this study we discuss the ways in which Taiwan government can learn from foreign governments in closing the gap between idea and actual work hours of the employees in Taiwan.
