OConnell & Associates, a firm of architects, has three levels of professional staff: principals (managers), who manage all aspects of the architectural job; senior architects, who are responsible for the main designs; and junior architects, who provide technical support. The firm has recently introduced a flexible working hours scheme (i.e., where staff can decide on the work hours that suit them the best) to replace its fixed working hours (i.e., 9am-5pm) policy.

Budgeted costs (i.e., based on fixed-hours policy) for five architectural jobs done over a recent period are as follows:

600	Principal-hours at	105	per hour		63,000
1,800	Senior-hours at	75	per hour		135,000
3,600	Junior-hours at	25	per hour		90,000

Actual hours worked (i.e., under flexible-hours scheme) and the actual rates per hour to complete the five jobs are:

295	Principal-hours at	108	per hour		31,860
2,360	Senior-hours at	70	per hour		165,200
3,245	Junior-hours at	30	per hour		97,350

Required:

1. Calculate the total direct labour rate and efficiency variances for the five jobs.
2. Calculate the total direct labour mix and yield variances for the month.
3. Based on the variances that you have calculated in a) and b), comment on the firms decision to introduce the flexible working hours scheme.