BARTIME

The project 'The monetary rewards of working time dimensions in collective bargaining and in the working population' (BARTIME) is a two-year, EU-funded research project led by the WageIndicator Foundation. It aims to understand how various non-standard working time arrangements - such as evening, weekend, part-time, or on-call work - are monetarily rewarded in collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and across the workforce in 24 EU countries. Within BARTIME, the impact of working time on women and how this is addressed in CBAs is a cross-cutting theme. Three EU member states are not included because collective agreements are hard to find (Ireland, Malta), or are accessible for members only (Germany).

Goals of the project

BARTIME’s overall objective is met through three research objectives that aim to fill the knowledge gaps regarding the understanding of the monetary rewards of non-standard working times. BARTIME aims to contribute to the social dialogue in Europe by deepening the understanding of monetary rewards of non-standard working time arrangements and the related agreements in collective bargaining. Gender is a core dimension of BARTIME's research design - alongside age, occupation, income level, sector and country - and this was built into the data infrastructure itself: the Structure of Earnings Survey data used throughout the project's wage analyses includes gender as a standard variable, and the WageIndicator CBA Database codes every collective agreement against dedicated categories for gender equality provisions and work-family arrangements, alongside wages and working hours.

1. Mapping Collective Bargaining Agreements: To provide a comprehensive overview of standard and non-standard working time arrangements agreed in CBA's and the associated monetary rewards.

2. Analysing Workforce Patterns: To determine how common standard and non-standard working time arrangements and associated wage premiums are in the dependent labour force in Europe.

3. Quantifying Wage Income Impact: To measure the proportion of workers’ annual wage income that can be attributed to non-standard work hours in both bargained and non-bargained working time.

4. Check for equity risks across EU-wide quantitative work: whether part-time workers were being excluded from collectively bargained provisions in practice

Publications

The following publications have been produced as a result of this project.

Besamusca, J. (2025). How the standard disappeared from standard working time. A scoping review of l

Besamusca, J. (2025). Does the night shift still pay? A comparative analysis of pay-related working

Elias Moreno, F. & Besamusca, J. (2025). The Price of Non-Standard Hours: Evidence on Overtime, Part

Elias Moreno, F. & Besamusca, J. (2025). Overtime and Wage Adequacy in the European Union: Evidence

Elias Moreno, F & Besamusca, J. (2025). Europe After Hours: Mapping Non-Standard Working Time. BARTI

Besamusca, J. (2025). The Importance of Bargaining Working Time Arrangements: Key Insights from the

Lindma, E. L., Palikidis, A., & Rhôné, M. (2025). How do hotels juggle hours across Europe? Collecti

Working Time Tool

As part of the project, the WageIndicator team developed a Working Time Tool that maps the various shift systems and working time arrangements across Europe. Access the (Europe) Working Time tool

Newsletters

At WageIndicator, we really wanted to give this project strong visibility as it addresses key issues around working time and collective agreements that are highly relevant to workers, employers, researchers, and policymakers across Europe. By actively highlighting it through multiple newsletters and targeted mailings, we aimed to ensure the findings reached a broad and diverse audience, and support greater transparency and understanding of working time arrangements. In total we sent 10 newsletters; 7 CBA Newsletters, 2 General Newsletters, and 1 Living Wage Newsletter. Furthermore we also sent 4 mailings to promote the BARTIME event. You can find all the newsletter issues linked below.

🚀 Two Major Collective Bargaining Events in Europe + New CBAs with AI Clauses Inside
Feeling Drained by Work? Research Says You’re Not to Blame
Dive Into CBA Trends in Europe’s Service Sector: Reports & Events Now Live
Curious About Pay for Non-Standard Work Hours in Europe? Join the BARTIME Expert Meeting on Feb 18!
Learn About Compensation for Overtime Work and Weekend Shifts!
How is 🤖 AI at work addressed in collective agreements?
CBA Database Presented at ILO Conference | BARTIME and BARSERVICE Projects Approved
This Dutch Investor Makes Living Wage a Must + Who's Still Paid Overtime?
📢 Fresh Research on Gender Pay Gap & Overtime Pay Plus Must-Attend AI & Gig Work Events
Where have Minimum Wages increased this month? WageIndicator General Newsletter August 2025
Last Chance to Register: Virtual Conference on Working Time Challenges in Europe on 26th November
🎤 First Speakers Announced! Join Europe’s #1 Conference on Working Time Challenges
Don’t Miss Europe’s #1 Event on Working Time Challenges!
Participate in our discussion on non-standard working hours across Europe!

Events and presentations

Session at the ILO's RDW 2025 Conference: Does the Night Shift Still Pay? The Labor Market Outcomes of Collective Bargaining on (Premium) Pay for Working Time.

BARTIME presentation - by Janna Besamusca

Standard Working Hours World Wide - by Kea Tijdens, Gabriele Medas and Iftikhar Ahmad

Presentation RDW Geneva - by Janna Besamusca and Ferran Elias

Wage Theft in Indonesia - by Dela Feby, Lydia F. Hamid and Muhammad Fakhri

Conference: Collective Bargaining and Working Time Challenges in Europe

Associate partner

Institute Syndical Europeen (ETUI) | Brussels, Belgium

Co founded by the European Union

We thankfully acknowledge funding provided by the European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Project No. 101126498.
Disclaimer: The information and views set out in this page are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.