A. your order of tasks

Nein

When asked to explain why they selected their answers to this item, respondents argue along several lines.
Those who state that they are able to choose or change their order of tasks predominantly argue that their jobs involve a certain level of autonomy (about 70% of the cases in each country). These respondents think about their jobs in general when answering this item and not so much about specific tasks and activities. Therefore, the actual jobs of these respondents range from chambermaid (R139PL) to self-employed film maker (R192UK):

• “I work as a chambermaid. So it is up to me whether I first clean the room, the bathroom, or the patio.” (R139PL)
• “I make films. If I am in the process of an edit and am asked to shoot something else, I'll usually prioritise the shoot and delay the edit.” (R192UK)
• “I have several tasks to do and it is up to me to decide which to complete first. The order is not relevant, it is only important to get things done.” (R56DE)

This reasoning is provided equally often by employees and the self-employed.
Another line of reasoning among those who answer “yes” to Item A is that task order depends on the urgency or priority of a given task. This reasoning occurs in about 5% of the cases in each country and is mostly given by self-employed respondents:

• “Urgent matters are dealt with first.” (R406DE)
• “I give priority to what needs completing the fastest.” (R184UK)
• “Depends on the urgency.” (R1206PL)

Respondents who say they are not able to choose or change their order of tasks mostly argue that their work requires them to complete tasks according to a specific schedule (about 12% to 18% of the cases in each country):

• “I have to follow a duty roster.” (R83DE)
• “We have production plans to follow.” (R20UK)
• “I work at an assembly line. So, of course, it is not possible to change the order of tasks. For example, when I have to glue boxes together, I cannot close the lids first and glue the inside together afterwards.” (R104PL)

Surprisingly, this explanation is provided not only by employees, but also by self-employed respondents (DE: 2 respondents, UK: 4 respondents, PL: 9 respondents). It seems that these respondents do not interpret the item to refer to the general level of autonomy involved in their job but to a rather specific task or specific working conditions:

• “I have to design a working plan beforehand and then stick to it when carrying it out.” (R352DE)
• “You can't change anything or you wouldn't sell.” (R196UK)
• “The order is strictly determined by law and by the technical requirements.” (R98PL; Respondent installs fiber-optic networks)
• “In farming, you can’t start from back to front.” (R202PL)

Another surprising finding is that four respondents (DE: 2, UK: 2), who work as (preschool) teachers, say they are not able to change their order of tasks but that the order is dictated by the curricula or pupils:

• “I work with children. They require a fixed schedule which gives them a feeling of security.” (R68DE)
• “The curriculum and the child dictate the order.” (R247DE)
• “Bound by the curriculum.” (R24UK)
• “The day depends on the classroom timetable – no changing it around.” (R37UK)

Finally, a few respondents in each country (DE: 4, UK: 3, PL: 1) argue that the order of their tasks depends on their clients. This explanation is given by both employees and the self-employed:

• “If a client needs some help, then everything else has to wait. The client always comes first.” (R75DE; employee)
• “It is dictated by the clients.” (R37UK; self-employed)

It is important to note that two of these eight respondents answer “yes” to Item A, while the other six respondents answered “no”. Hence, when interpreting this item, the focus of the first two respondents is on whether their order of tasks changes from time to time, while the focus of the latter six respondents is on whether they are able to choose or change the order “as they please”.

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true