Unions Slam Proposed Extension of Standard Working Hours by Federal Government
Opposition to Reducing Regular Work Hours by Works Councils - Anti-Elimination of Standard Work Hours Advocated by Employee Representative Bodies
In a survey by IG Metall Coast among 418 works council leaders from various industrial and craft businesses in northern Germany, unions have criticized the black-red coalition's plans to broaden legal maximum working hours. The German Press Agency obtained the survey results which suggest that the government is off-base with its proposals to boost flexibility and maximize working hours.
The current federal government, comprising the Union and SPD, aims to introduce measures promoting flexibility, such as tax incentives for overtime pay and incentives for part-time work. Their goal is to enable a weekly rather than a daily maximum working time. They assure that occupational safety standards and existing rest period regulations will remain intact.
Resounding rejection of the eight-hour standard workday elimination
According to the survey, an astounding 89% of works councils categorically reject or find unnecessary the elimination of the eight-hour workday as the standard. Nearly all respondents (98%) are against removing a public holiday, and 96% reject the introduction of waiting days with unpaid initial sick days.
Three-quarters of the businesses already practice flexible working hours. Only 7% find flexible hours inapplicable in their business, while 17% deem them less applicable. Close to 80% of the works councils consider flexible working hours beneficial for both employers and employees.
Over 60% of the businesses have employees working up to ten hours per day, with 30% of the overtime initiated by employers and 22% by employees. More than two-thirds of the businesses currently use working time accounts for almost all employees, while 19% use them for many employees, and only 5% use them sparingly.
"Smoke and mirrors," says IG Metall Coast leader, Daniel Friedrich
Friedrich believes the federal government's plans are a distraction from genuine issues. "They're illusory mirages conjured by those carrying a significant burden for this country's economic stagnation." Friedrich argues that Germans work long hours, with work volume at an all-time high. He attributes the lower-than-average working hours per capita in comparison to other countries to a high part-time quota, particularly among women.
Friedrich emphasized the need for Germany to become more productive, not by eroding work protections or workers' rights but by investing in innovation, digitalization, and infrastructure. He also highlighted the necessity of an industrial policy that focuses on keeping value creation within Europe and Germany, instead of squandering it through inaction.
- In light of the survey results, policy-and-legislation regarding the extension of standard working hours in EC countries should consider the strong opposition from unions, particularly in Germany, as an indicator of the importance of maintaining the eight-hour workday and preserving existing rest period regulations.
- As political debates unfold and general-news headlines continue to discuss the proposed changes in working hours, it is crucial for the federal government to reconsider its plans for boosting flexibility through measures like tax incentives for overtime pay and part-time work, focusing instead on more productive solutions such as investments in innovation, digitalization, and infrastructure to increase Germany's overall productivity.
