Unit 2 Working time - Image provenant de

Unit 2 Working time
In Japan they call it karoshi and in China it is guolaosi. As yet there is
no word in English for working yourself to death, but as more and more
people put in longer hours and suffer more stress there may soon be.
1. Average weekly working hours in Europe
hours
46
Have a look at
the statistics.
45
1.Saywho
worksthe
longestandthe
shortesthoursin
Europe.
44
43
41
2.Howcanyou
accountforit?
40
39
38
nd
Pol
a
blic
Rep
u
ch
rlan
ds
m
EU Labour Force
Survey for 2004
Cze
gdo
Kin
the
Ne
a
stri
ited
Au
Un
Irel
and
ion
Un
y
Ital
Eur
op
ean
in
Spa
n
ede
Sw
m
giu
Bel
e
Fra
nc
nm
ark
37
De
Zooming on
42
2. The long-hours culture in Britain
● Employees
working more than 48 hours a
week: 26%.
●People working 60 hours a week: 15%.
● Workers not using the full 60 minutes for
lunch: 65%.
●Average time for a break: 27 minutes.
● Workers using up their full entitlement to
annual leave: 44%.
●The
average British employee puts in a full
working day in unpaid overtime every week –
almost £ 5,000 in unpaid salary every year.
Trade Union Congress, 2007
Have a look at the statistics.
1.WhycanitbesaidthatBritainhasalong-hours
culture?
3. Extreme jobs
1. Givethedefinitionofan“extremejob”.
4. Whatisthesolution?
2. Whydopeopleenjoythesejobs?
5. “It’stheAmericanDreamonsteroids.”
Explainandcomment.
3. Whatarethenegativeconsequenceson
a.children,b.companies,c.extremeworkers
themselves?
20 twenty
© Éditions Foucher
Listen to the interview with Ann Hewlett who heads the Center
for Work-Life Policy.
Zooming on
4. Shorter hours
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), claims that while there are indeed more
people working over 48 hours a week in Britain than
in other EU countries, the number working fewer than
30 hours is also greater than in other countries. “The
average number of hours worked in the UK is actually slightly below the European average,” said Mike
Emmott, the CIPD’s employee-relations adviser. “The
UK labour market is characterised by far greater variation in working hours than other parts of Europe.
This is partly because we have more part-time workers
and because we are less governed by collective agreements.” […]
The CIPD also claims that most people who work
long hours do so out of choice1. […] “There’s a social
as well as an economic value to work and that is often
overlooked in the long-hours debate.” […]
The assumption in the work-life-balance debate is
usually that people want to spend less time at work
and more time with their families, but research suggests that this may not always be the case.
The Times, June 10th, 2007, by Mary Braid
1. par choix
Read the text and answer the questions.
1. Why does the CIPD question the idea that Britain has
a long-hours culture?
2. What makes people choose to work long hours?
REPORTING
“Do you believe that we live to work or that
we work to live?” Ask the question to friends,
relatives, school friends and teachers and report
the results of your survey to the class.
© Éditions Foucher
Words Apart
The work week La semaine de travail
advancement une promotion
the breadwinner le soutien de famille
a clerk un employé de bureau
to commute aller de la banlieue au bureau
contracting employer pour une durée déterminée
convenient pratique
to earn money gagner de l’argent
to earn one’s living gagner sa vie
full-time à plein temps
the labour force la main-d’œuvre
the minimum wage le SMIC
an opportunity une occasion
part-time à temps partiel
the pay la paye
qualified qualifié
skills des capacités
the staff le personnel
temp(orary) work l’intérim
a temp un intérimaire
the 35-hour working week la semaine de 35 heures
training la formation
a venture une entreprise
Employment L’emploi
be on the payroll être salarié de
competition la concurrence
competitiveness la compétitivité
to fire renvoyer
flexibility la flexibilité
to hire embaucher
the income level le niveau de revenus
job mobility la mobilité de l’emploi
job security la sécurité de l’emploi
labour costs le coût de la main-d’œuvre
a layoff un licenciement
on the black market au noir
overtime des heures supplémentaires
redundant au chômage économique
to resign démissionner
to sack virer
a salary rise une augmentation de salaire
shakeouts licenciements
a trade union un syndicat
unemployment le chômage
unpaid non payé
upward mobility la mobilité sociale
Free time Le temps libre
annual leave les congés annuels
availibility la disponibilité
a benefit une allocation
a break une pause
a couch potato un téléphage
a day off un jour de congé
entertainment les distractions
a hobby/pastime un passe-temps
holidays les vacances
idle oisif
leisure les loisirs
a maternity leave un congé de maternité
a pension une retraite
a pensioner un retraité
perks les avantages
to reduce hours réduire le temps de travail
to rest se reposer
to retire prendre sa retraite
a sickness leave un congé maladie
stay-at-home casanier, pantouflard
time off du temps libre
twenty-one
21
Unit 2
Working time
6.30 am Wake up. Shower. Start gett ing things
5
10
15
20
25
up and running in hot el kitchen to prepare
cooked breakfasts for the gues ts. The hotel is
normally full, with about 45 people staying.
8 am Guests start coming down. In between serving breakfast,
I’m in the dining room greeting them.
9 am Leave staff to fi nish serving and cleaning up breakfast.
Start to chec k people out of hotel.
9.30 am Grab a bite wh en I can.
10.30 am Finish chec king people out. Start gett ing ready for
lunchtime session – laying the tables, cleaning the bar, et c.
12-2 pm Lunch is served. I’m on my feet, in and out of kitchen,
interacting with guests, and serving. I eat lunch on the fl y.
2-3.30 pm I start to pull back a bit. I have an offi ce in the hotel
which is shared with the receptionist and my wife who does the
accounts. After lunch I start doing one of my key roles, wh ich
is marketing.
3.30-4.30 pm Walk the dog along the river. It’s an hour to clear my
head and look back over the day. But I’m always on call.
4.30-7 pm Continue with hotel administration.
7 pm Dinner with my wife, sometimes with the family.
8-11 pm We watch a bit of TV, unwind with some wine. Our
drinking habits have changed for the worse. Before, I would have a
glass of wine in the evening and now we tend to split a bottle.
11 pm Bed
Gerry Wilkinson, 53, owns and runs a hotel in Rhayader, Wales, said the process of mapping out how he spends each day has been a real “wake-up” call for him. He said that this
coaching process has given him clarity about what is not working in his life – such as being
available 24 hours a day seven days a week, and doing menial tasks around the hotel that keep
30 him busy constantly. He said that it was being available almost 100% of the time that is so
stressful to him. […] We discussed what he was willing to commit to doing immediately. He
said he would schedule a day for spending time with his grandchildren without interruption.
Also, he put on his calendar a day away for he and his wife to enjoy being together without
any mention of their business. He also committed to saying “no” to three things that he was
35 doing at the hotel. He said he would e-mail me about what happened on the days away and
what he has said “no” to doing.
The Times, December 18th, 2007, by Ginger Cockerham
FIRsT sTEPs
1. Lookatthepictureandreadthetitle.Say
whatyouthinkthearticleisabout.
22 twenty-two
2. Readthearticleandprovideinformation
aboutthemanmentionedinthetext:first
name,surname,age,placeofresidence,job,
hobbies,maritalstatus,wife’sjob.
© Éditions Foucher
Zooming on
Gerry’s working day
Zooming on
MOVING ON
Language at Work
1. Make a psychological portrait of Gerry. List the reasons
why he feels stressed.
1. Read these sets of words, then
listen to the recording to check your
answers.
dining / diner / dinner
bite / bit / bitten
lie / laying / lying
fly / flea / flee / fled
child / children
family / July / study
to unwind / the wind / wine
life / to live / live concert
write / written / writer
2. Choose the appropriate equivalent of the phrases.
a. “Grab a bite”
● bite
like a dog,
like beer,
● eat some food quickly.
● taste
b. “I’m on my feet”
● walking,
● standing,
● dancing.
c. “I eat lunch on the fly.”
● quickly,
● angrily,
● on
a plane
d. “I start to pull back a bit.”
● withdraw
or retreat,
demolish
or
destroy,
●
arrest.
●
e. “I’m always on call.
● I’m
always available when called,
always subject to payment,
● I’m always on the phone.
● I’m
f. “We unwind with some wine.”
● reverse
the winding,
● relax,
● get
excited.
3. Who do you think Ginger Cockerham is?
4. What are the consequences for Gerry of mapping out
how he spends each day?
5. List what he committed to doing at once.
6. As you see it, what are the three things that he should
say “no” to doing?
7. Translate
Translate into French from “We discussed what he was willing…”
(line 31) down to “…what he has said “no” to doing.” (end of the
text)
© Éditions Foucher
Writing (150 words)
Do you agree that the demands of running a business
18 hours a day seven days a week diminish the worklifestyle balance? How do you see your own work-life
balance in the future?
2.Fill in the blanks with “lie, lay, lain” or
“lay, laid, laid”.
a. Every night, he .... awake worrying.
b. He .... the table three times a day.
c. They’re .... a new carpet in the hall.
d. I’ll kill him if I .... my hands on him.
e. He .... all the blame on the staff.
f. The hardest part still .... ahead of him.
g. He should .... back and relax.
h. He’s .... money aside for retirement.
i. Because of falling orders, the company ....
off workers.
3.Fill in the blanks with “mustn’t” or
“don’t have to”.
a. You .... work so much, you can rest a little.
b. You .... leave at once. Dinner is at 8:00,
there’s plenty of time.
c. You .... drive so fast there’s a thirty m.p.h.
speed limit.
d. You .... tell Gerry what running a business
is like!
e. We .... say anything about his retiring. It’s
a secret.
4.Translate into French.
You don’t have to know what’s coming, and
it’s better not to, sometimes, Gerry. I want
you to be very careful over the next few days.
People may try to get things out of you, but
they mustn’t. Funny things are going on that I
mustn’t talk about, not even to you.”
5.Translate into English.
a.Faut-il que je vous laisse des arrhes ? Non, ce n’est pas nécessaire.
b.Il n’est pas obligé de faire ce travail
ennuyeux.
c. Tu n’es pas obligé de travailler tant si tu n’aimes pas ça.
d.Tu ne dois pas passer tant de temps au travail.
twenty-three
23
Unit 2
Working time
Business Contacts
1. Providing information
YOuR JOB
Youworkasarecruitmentconsultantatreed.co.uk,theUK’sleadingrecruitmentsite
launchedin1995.AstheUK’sbiggestjobsite,reed.co.ukfeatures350,000livejobsin
over700jobrolesacross38industrysectorsincludingtheprivate,publicandvoluntary
sectors.Thereare1.4millionvisitorsand1millionjobapplicationseverymonth.More
than65,000recruitersfromarangeofindustrysectorsuseandbenefitfromreed.co.uk.
YOuR TAsk
MarySouth,21,single,islookingforafirstjobaftergraduatinginaccountancy.
Usethedocumentsandpromptsonthesepagestoanswerthequestionsabouttemping
thatsheasksyou.
1. Whatarethebenefitsoftemping?
4. Whatadvantagesdoesreed.co.uk
2. What’sdifficultabouttempwork?
offertemps?
3. Whataretheregulationsconcerning 5. Whatskillsarerequiredtodo
workinghours?
temporarywork?
ACTING OuT
Inpairs,actouttheconversationabouttemping.
Document 1
Temping offers a host
of benefits
Document 2
Working time regulations in Britain
● A
● Giving you greater control over your working
life – you can choose if and when you would
like to work as well as for which companies.
● Allowing
you to work for different companies, industries, working cultures and experience management styles, all in a relatively
short period of time.
● Giving
you the chance to test yourself in
different working environments and work out
your relative strengths and weaknesses.
limit of an average of 48 hours a week which a
worker can be required to work, though workers can
choose to work more if they want to.
● A
limit of an average of 8 hours work in 24 which
night workers can be required to work.
● A
right for night workers to receive free health
assessments.
● A
right to 11 hours rest a day; a day off each week
and 4 weeks paid leave per year.
●A
right to an in-work rest break if the working day is
longer than 6 hours.
● Providing
the chance to develop new skills
through exposure to different systems and
processes.
● Providing
the opportunity to work flexibly
until you can make a decision.
for a desirable company when no
permanent positions exist. By getting a foot
in the door you will be well placed to apply
for a permanent position when one becomes
available.
www.reed.co.uk
24 twenty-four
© Éditions Foucher
● Working
Business Contacts
Document 3
An interview with Sara Horowitz, founder of Working Today,
an association for temps.
Document 4
Reed temporary worker benefits
● The
Reed Temporary Discount scheme offers discounts on
a wide range of products and services.
you no longer need to fax or post your timesheet to your local
branch, but can fill in your temporary booking details online.
● Reed
● Reed
Travel Benefit means that you will receive subsidies
towards your travel and food costs.
● Reed
offers all its Temporary Workers discounted insurance
services, including private medical insurance.
● All Temporary Workers with Reed are paid four weeks holiday
per year worked. The amount of accumulated holiday pay is
displayed weekly on your payslip.
● Most
of Reed’s clients use Reed’s innovative OnTime
timesheet and payslip management system. This means that
allows Temporary Workers to submit ideas to improve
our processes, procedures or services directly to our Executive
Chairman, James Reed. Cash rewards are available for suggestions.
● All
Reed Temporary Workers are entitled to receive free
training on the latest software and spreadsheet packages at your
local branch (Microsoft Office applications, including Word,
Excel, PowerPoint and Access).
www.reed.co.uk
Document 5
How to be a successful temp
There is no real secret to being a good temporary employee.
Temps are judged mainly by the same criteria that permanent
employees are. If you work hard and get your tasks done then
you will be well regarded and often asked to return for future
assignments.
Temping does, however, present some unique challenges that
require some thought and preparation:
● Make
sure you know who your boss is and the names of the
key members of staff at the company.
● Always
hour.
be punctual, especially given that you are paid by the
● Ensure
you maximise your time and learn as many new skills
in each role as possible. The wider your skill set the more temporary assignments you will be suitable for in the future.
● Don’t
sit around waiting for work to be given to you, if you
aren’t busy then ask for work.
● Similarly,
if you are unsure how to do something make sure
you get clarification on what you should be doing.
● Stay
focused on the tasks you have been given and don’t
spend your time chatting on the phone or surfing the Internet.
● And,
most importantly: always remember that you’re there
because the company needs you and your skills. It can sometimes happen that permanent employees have preconceived
ideas about temps that can be difficult to overcome unless you
remain confident in your abilities.
www.reed.co.uk
© Éditions Foucher
Prompts
If I were you I would look... Si j’étais vous je
chercherais...
You should try... Vous devriez essayer…
You shouldn’t mention... Vous ne devriez pas parler
de...
You could try... Vous pourriez essayer…
Why don’t you ask...? Pourquoi ne demandez-vous
pas... ?
What I advise you to do is... Ce que je vous conseille
de faire c’est de...
In my opinion, the best thing to do is... À mon avis
la meilleure chose à faire c’est de...
You’d (had) better go... Vous feriez mieux d’aller..
twenty-five
25
Unit 2
Working time
Business Contacts
2. Writing a cover letter
YOuR JOB
KatherineJaylives937W43rdSt.,#6C,NewYork,NY,10036.Sheisanexecutive
assistantwithsecretarialskillswhohasfouryearsofexecutiveexperienceatLambert
Warnerinademanding,fast-pacedmulti-taskingoffice.Shewastheonlyexecutive
assistantentrustedwithclientgreeting,tourleading,andotherhospitalityservices.
Asanadepteventplanner,shehasservedastheDirectoroftheLambertWarner
ChristmasBallforthelasttwoyears.
YOuR TAsk
KatherineJayisseekinganexecutiveassistantopportunity.Writehercoverletterdated
October15,2008,toHumanResources,BrahminEntertainment,10FourthAvenue,
NewYork,NY10001.
Document 1
Who needs a cover letter?
Everyone who sends out a résumé does! Even if the
cover letter never “came up” in conversation or wasn’t
mentioned in an advertisement, it’s expected that
you will write one.
It is regarded as a sign of laziness to send out a cover
letter that is not tailored to the specific company.
The cover letter gives you another chance to emphasize what you have to contribute to the company or
organization. Don’t give the person screening the
résumés a second to entertain the thought: “But
how can this person help US?” Your cover letter will
answer that question in your own words.
Document 2
What makes a good cover letter?
2. Through networking and researching, find out
exactly who is making the hiring decision and address
the letter to that person. Make sure the name is
spelled correctly and the title is correct. A touch of
formality is good too: address the person as “Mr”,
“Ms.”, “Mrs.”, “Miss”, “Dr.”, or “Professor”.
3. Write it in your own words so that it sounds like
you – not like something out of a book. Employers
are looking for knowledge, enthusiasm and focus.
4. If you need a little help with grammar, check out the
classic work on simple writing, Strunk & White’s Elements
of Style online. A good place to begin is Chapter 5:
“Words and Expressions Commonly Misused.”
26 twenty-six
5. Show that you know something about the company and the industry. This is where your research
comes in. Don’t go overboard, just make it clear that
you didn’t pick this company out of the phone book.
You know who they are and what they do: you have
chosen them!
6. Use terms and phrases that are meaningful to the
employer. This is where your industry research and
networking come in. If you are applying for an advertised position, use the requirements in the ad and
put them in bold type. Make sure your cover letter
contains each of these requirements and shows how
you measure up.
© Éditions Foucher
1. No spelling or typing errors. Not even one.
Business Contacts
REFERENCE DOCUMENT
Julia Smith
32B Mangrove Road
E97SN London
20 72 49 12 60
07 73 81 07 605
[email protected]
November 24th, 2008
Your name
Your postal address
Your details
Your email address
Date
The Nona Company
98 Percy Street
YO06P2 York
Dear Mr Crumpet,
Over the next six weeks I will be looking for a challenging position
with a design office. The position should run from May until September, and be one that builds upon my skills, interests and experience.
I am an undergraduate at Aston University studying for a B.A. in
European Studies and French. During the past 8 months as part of my
placement year, I have been working in Paris as a language assistant
in the sixth form at Lycée Jacques-Decour.
Thanks to this position I have been able to develop many professional qualities such as good communication and presentation skills.
I have earned a lot of praise for my work at Jacques Decour which has
lead to an extension in my duties allowing me to work at a higher level
than expected. My superiors evaluated my performance as excellent;
and the head of the English Department will be more than willing to
provide a reference.
I hope that after you have read my attached CV, we can meet to
discuss how I can contribute to your organisation.
Thank you for your time and consideration and I will contact your
office if I do not hear from you soon.
Company’s name
and address
Salutation
Briefly say what
job you are
applying for
and establish
a connection with
your reader
Make relevant
points about your
qualifications
Mention your skills
related to the job
Instigate the
reader to contact
you to set up
an interview.
Initiate action by
explaining what
you will do next
© Éditions Foucher
Your handwritten
signature
Julia Smith
Your typed name
Enclosure: résumé
Document
enclosed
twenty-seven
27
Unit 2
Working time
Keys to Success
Test Yourself
Jobs for the disabled
5
10
15
20
For 24 years, Pamela Post, a victim of a panic disorder called “agoraphobia”, has been
afraid to leave her house. She managed to find work for a time, at a company partly owned
by a man who also had a panic disorder. He gave her a private office in a house, to make her
feel at home and to shield her from the office bustle that could bring on attacks. But three
and a half years into the job, even those accommodations were no longer enough. […] “All of
a sudden the panic attacks got out of control,” Mrs Post said. “I don’t drive, so I didn’t know
what I would do.” After a year with no job, she came across Willow, an outsourcing company
that was starting a program to train at home workers to take calls for companies. Today she
works from home in Deltona, Florida, sets her own working hours and supports herself. And
the panic attacks have subsided.
Such arrangements are bringing jobs to thousands of people with disabilities. Fast computers and broadband connections have become so inexpensive and reliable that location is no
longer an issue for jobs like customer service. At the same time, an abundance of technology
is available to help disabled people to operate computers, like software that lets a blind person
use a keyboard instead of a mouse to navigate a program, and voice synthesizers that turn
text into speech. […] The market research firm IDC says that about 112,000 home agents
both disabled and not were working for outsourcing firms like Willow.
These jobs pay relatively well, from about $10 to $20 an hour. The wages are higher than
what agents get for similar work in India, where many companies have moved call centers,
but the costs are still at least 30 percent lower than hiring fulltime employees and providing working space for them. Now technology is helping managers hire disabled workers at
competitive wages because they can offer them tools that were not ready just a few years ago.
Computer technology is bringing jobs back home.
© New York Times, Saturday, March 11th, 2006, by David Joachim
28 twenty-eight
II. Traduction
Vousrédigerezuncompte-renduenanglais
de200motscomportantuneprésentation,
unrésuméetuneprisedepositionpersonnelle.
Traduisezledernierparagraphedutexte
enfrançaisde“Thesejobspayrelativelywell…”
à“…jobsbackhome.”
METHOd
1. Before starting to translate,
you must read the text carefully
without stopping at unknown
words.
Use the context to try and guess their meaning. Then answer these questions about the text: who’s speaking?, where?, when?, what about? TRANsLATION
2. When translating, use these
techniques:
• add extra words in French since English is more synthetic, especially for prepositions: people with  des gens qui souffrent de
• find French equivalents to idiomatic phrases: an abundance of  une grande quantité de • use a different grammar form when it is not possible to translate word for word: just how many  le nombre précis de
• be careful with false friends, words that look like French but have a slightly different meaning: to operate  se servir de, turn into  transformer en
• translate compounds starting with the last element: broadband connections  des connections à débit rapide.
© Éditions Foucher
Corrigé
page 190
I. Expression
Keys to Success
Exam Paper
Smart moms, hard choices
5
10
15
20
25
30
Much has been made of tensions between moms who work and their stay at-home counterparts. Next
month, a new anthology, Mommy Wars: Stay at Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their
Lives, Their Families, is sure to spark even more controversy and soul searching. The essays, penned by
27 female authors and journalists, describe the profound ambivalence all moms feel about their choices.
The decision to stay at home or not, says Mommy Wars editor Leslie Morgan Steiner, “is the issue that
defines the lives of most mothers.”
While the raw emotionalism of the debate is compelling, economists and sociologists who study women
in the work force complain that books like Mommy
Wars can obscure an important reality: most American women with children work outside the home.
Women who are most likely to stay home with their
children are younger than 24 and have obtained highschool diplomas, according to the U.S. Census. Older,
more educated moms are more likely to keep working. When women quit to raise kids, they rarely retire
for good. According to a report issued in December
by the Census, 75 percent of women with school-age
children are employed or looking for work. By the time
their children are 12 or older, that number rises to 80
percent. “The nature of the economy,” says Kathleen
Getson, a New York University sociologist, “means that
only a very tiny percentage of women very wealthy
ones,” can afford to leave the work force entirely.
Which is not to say that the landscape for working moms isn’t changing. While the number of US
working moms rose dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s, those numbers peaked at 73 percent in 2000.
Since then, the number of working mothers has dropped about 1.6 percent. But this shift doesn’t indicate
an “opt-out revolution” among affluent moms […]. Instead, it reflects a tough labor market […] since
men and childless women have left the workplace at similar rates. […]
Even contented stay-at-home moms like Angela Dixon, 31, of Collinsville, Ill., know that staying
home with the kids might not always be an option. After five years as a paralegal, she and her husband,
a truck driver, decided she should quit to raise their two kids. “If something happens to my husband, if
he can’t do it for us,” Dixon will become a paralegal again.[…] Right now, though, she’s not looking. She
says she already has the best job in the world.
Newsweek, March 6th, 2006, by Peg Tyre
I. Compréhension À rédiger en français
Après avoir dégagé l’idée principale de l’article, vous ferez un compterendu en 180 mots (±10%).
© Éditions Foucher
II. Expression À rédiger en anglai
1. Using the information given in the table, describe the situation of
working women in the world. Draw your conclusions (100 words).
2. Do you believe women have the power to make things change? (at
least 150 words)
Global employment trends
for women in 2006
Workers in the world: 2.9 billion
Working women: 1.2 billion
Women over 15 who work: 50%
Men over 15 who work: 70%
Women: 60% of the world’s working poor
Female unemployment rate: 6.6%
Male unemployment rate: 6.1%
Women in wage employment: 47.9%
Women earn 90% or less than their male co-workers
twenty-nine
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