Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Die Welt- German Workers

Whether paid or unpaid: Every employee in Germany has done nearly 50 overtime last year, on average. The trend continues for years. The German Trade Union Federation (DGB) Calls on employers so, the number of unpaid overtime dismantle in Germany drastically.

DGB leader Reiner Hoffmann said the "world":.. "Overtime is harmful, but if they are already unavoidable, they must be at least paid a total of around one billion are done unpaid overtime per year in Germany of workers for years to make the employees more unpaid than paid overtime. This is unacceptable. " This "far more" would in companies without collective agreement unpaid overtime than done in companies with collective bargaining coverage.

According to DGB leader afford 16 percent of workers more than ten hours of overtime per week, "The conclusions are clear: reduced include overtime if they are of a perennial, but places must be created only way to guarantee that workers can work long hours, while healthy. remain."

Hoffmann complained that workers would have to pay more and more. "We know that the workload has increased substantially in recent years, through work intensification, work on weekends, permanent accessibility. This load leads to stress and disease." The trade unionists referred in this context to figures from the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which alone 2013, the loss of production was 59 billion euros by incapacity. "We need more collective bargaining coverage, less stress and less overtime," Hoffmann said.

Officially confirmed: the Germans work much

According to a new, official EU study of 'Euro Found' is no country in the euro zone, the difference between the collectively agreed weekly working hours and actual working hours per week as great as in Germany and the Netherlands. In Germany the collectively agreed weekly working time is 37.7 hours a day - actually worked but on average 40.3 hours per week.

The difference is 2.6 hours and is only surpassed in the Netherlands. There, the tariff hours per week is 37.1 hours a day - workers to work in practice, however, 40.1 hours a week. Especially little more work is Sweden (1.3 hours) and Denmark made against it in Belgium (0.5 hours) (1.5 hours).

According to new statistics from the EU Agency 'Euro Found' the euro zone will actually worked per week more than in Germany called with just 40.3 hours in almost any other country. Only workers in Portugal (40,4 hours) and Luxembourg (40,9 hours) work longer. The lowest actual weekly working hours have against Finland and France (both 37.3 hours) and Italy (37,9 hours). The average real weekly working time in the European Union is 39.5 hours.

Overlooking the collectively agreed annual working time relatively little work is done in Germany, however. The annual work volume is 1651 hours - less is only a year only in France (1559 hours) and Denmark worked (1635 hours). On average, the employees work in the European Union 1707 hours per year.Reason for the relatively low annual working hours in Germany is the high number of vacation days (30) and holidays (11). The highest tariff annual working hours have Hungary, Poland and Romania (all 1840 hours).

The tariff weekly working hours of workers partly strongly differ from each other according to EU figures, depending on the sector: Least therefore working employees in the banking sector at 37.6 hours per week (Germany: 39 hours).The average weekly working hours for the public sector and the metal industry in the EU is 37.9 hours (Germany: 35.3 in the metal industry and 39.3 in the public sector). The longest weekly working hours have employees in the chemical sector 38.2 h (Germany 37.7 hours) and in retail 38.4 h (Germany 37.6 hours).

1.06 billion unpaid overtime in 2014

According to the statistics of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency afford the workers in Germany since the beginning of this millennium regularly more unpaid than paid overtime. In 2014, 1.06 billion were unpaid overtime and paid 806 million hours overtime. In plain English: Average rendered the workers in Germany last year 27.8 21.1 unpaid and paid overtime.

However, even higher is the number of so-called transitory overtime, ie more hours worked, the go on a working time account and be compensated at a later time again.But for do not have in absolute terms. The proportion of transitory overtime at the overtime but is increasing, according to the Nuremberg labor market experts.

Unpaid overtime are particularly common among workers in managerial positions. The IAB researchers write this: "Executives do unpaid overtime, for example, to increase the performance of your team and the reputation." Employees with "extensive managerial duties" contributed most overtime: 14.6 per month. Even senior civil servants work unpaid over collective bargaining contains: You make monthly 9.6 unpaid overtime. Unpaid overtime particularly widespread in the service sector, the IAB.