So far in 2018, there are more than 44 million people in employment in Germany. The clear majority of them work full or part-time. But what ideas and regulations are new with regard to working hours?
Full-time is defined as working between 36 and 40 hours per week. The rule is to work 8 hours 5 days a week. If there is no overtime. With 1.7 billion hours of overtime in 2017, Germany is one of the leaders in terms of overtime.
However, too much work can have psychological as well as physical consequences. This fact has not been a secret for a long time. Already more than half of the employees complain about back and joint problems. Exhaustion is in second place. Third place goes to headaches.
But what can be done about it? Is it possible to reduce working hours by 20 per cent while keeping the salary the same? One study already says that about 18 million people in this country would like to give up working hours.
This is exactly what a New Zealand company tested for two months. They introduced a four-day week. A team of researchers from Auckland University monitored the trial. The only condition for the workers was that they had to meet their weekly work targets.
The result of this test was clear. The workers were more productive and satisfied than before. Stress levels also dropped sharply.
At first glance, it admittedly looks paradoxical. Some problems can be hidden in a four-day week. For example, personnel costs increase because more employees are needed. Nevertheless, researchers assume that savings are possible.
Another way to reduce the working hours of a full-time job is to introduce a six-hour day with full pay. Because people can be just as productive in six hours as in eight hours. Studies have already shown that many people can only really concentrate for a few hours a day.
Some companies have even tried a six-hour day. And with success. Their turnover increased.
But here, too, a major disadvantage is the higher personnel costs.
The second form of working time is part-time. You can find out morein the next article.
About the author
After graduating as an automotive engineer and industrial engineer, he began his career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development and marketing and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a world-renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing in Japan and South America and marketing strategy in North and South America.
In 1994 he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consultancy in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As managing director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
With his doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics, he ideally rounds off his fields of competence, especially with regard to personnel and management consultancy. The dissertation deals with the identification and proof of typical personality traits of engineers as well as the definition of development areas for a successful professional career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz".
At the same time, his focus is on building networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous further development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Within the last 20 years in personnel consulting, he has developed several brands that are still successful on the market today.
