Flextime plan

As flexible working hours working time solutions are known, which in terms of location and hours of work daily, weekly, monthly, or otherwise deviate from the so-called normal working hours.

" The beginning and end of the working day, including breaks and distribution of working hours on days of the week " subject, if a collective reference is available, in accordance with § 87 Section 1 No. 2 Works Constitution Act of participation of the works council. This entails that, in the organization of working time in general, for the interests of employees and the goals of the operation are taken into account. In the working time conflicts of interest between workers and the employer may occur. On the other hand, they may be depending on the extent and use of mutual interest.

Historical Background

In industrialized countries, flexible working hours, since the 1980s has become in collective bargaining and in the legislative process to an important point. This means that a reduction in working hours without working time flexibility practically can not be performed. The way and the background of flexible working hours are from country to country and different time-dependent.

In the former Federal Republic of the work was first extended directly after the Second World War in the early years because of the reconstruction of the economy and then shortened again since the mid- 1950s. Under the famous slogan " Saturday Dad belongs to me ," the five-day week in 1956 enforced by the unions. Until the early 1970s, the work continued to fall. In 1960, the annual working 2081 hours a year. Following the oil crisis of 1973, was reduced working hours agreed in large parts of the economy ( by degrading overtime and tariff reductions in working time ) to prevent mass layoffs (which is also partly succeeded ). In 1975, the working hours by 1737 hours per year. Until the mid- 1970s, the five-day week has prevailed in almost all industrial sectors.

After 1975, the trend was stopped to reduce working time initially, but increased from 1975 to 1985 the number of vacation days from 24 to 30 days, bringing the total annual working time has been further reduced slightly.

Through the collective agreement in the metal industry on working time reduction from 1984 in the former Federal Republic of Germany, the weekly working time after 16 years has been reduced from 40 hours to 38.5 hours. In that agreement, two other important regulations were balancing agreed:

• The first concerns the differentiation of working time.

• The second scheme is about working with a longer payback period.

Through this agreement, the reduction of working time has been made possible in exchange for two types of flexible working time. At the same time a part of the legislative power was transferred to the operating partner for the weekly working time of the bargaining parties. As a result, reductions in working time and flexible working hours usually were negotiated together in all industries. Since the mid- 1990s, the actual working hours of full-time employees have been rising again, and especially since the beginning of the new millennium, the pendulum under the heading of globalization strikes again in the other direction. There is a marked tendency to extension of working hours to observe usually without compensation.

Such an extension of working hours means a de facto but unspoken reduction in pay, which, given the between Germany and - if you want to say this - pay differences existing competing nations, however, if ever, provides only short-term relief, but otherwise is a step in a hopeless direction. The possibilities of flexible working time and thus the chances of lying in productivity growth have been far less used in recent years in many companies as this would have been legally and collectively possible. An extension of working hours, as is currently being discussed in many places and enforced, however, reduces the pressure to work on the productivity and thus wasted time and opportunities to improve the international competitiveness of Germany.

Working time reduction and working time flexibility

The more expensive the work is, the more it is the task of working time management, to avoid personnel idle. In other words, the resource is working as well as possible to use. In a system with rigid working hours, however, it is difficult to follow fluctuating capacity requirements. For weak order situation, it may be necessary to hire employees with less value adding work. In extreme cases, the presence of which alone must be paid. Under heavy load, however, not only must the extra hours but even these are also remunerated with a supplement higher for overtime. Both are highly inefficient from the perspective of the employer.

The technical development and the increasing capitalization of jobs also brings the need to decouple operating times of the generally shorter working hours. The operating times of increasingly expensive workstations should therefore be longer than the working hours of employees. Flexible working hours allow in this case, a more balanced utilization of technical installations in shifts.

The design of the plant and affects the working capacity planning and control quite considerably, as well as the organization of work, the personnel and supplies. It causes not in all cases, but often also an extension of time sovereignty of employees. Everywhere, then, where no fixed service times must be ensured, but is worked in contracts whose stock is subject to fluctuation, it is in the interest of the company, you can only then to have staff available when it is needed. For the employee, but this means a self-determined flexibility.

The flexibility of the employer's interest, the interest of workers to after stabilization and predictability of income, according to planning of retreats and self-determined flexibility according to personal needs or desires. In particular, parents with an adjustment of working hours is often only possible if also the part of the child-care facilities or the caregivers a corresponding willingness to be flexible is given. In that regard, flexible working hours include a greater time sovereignty of workers, they allow a better adaptation of working on personal wishes and requirements and can thus contribute to a better reconciliation of work and family.

The conditions for flexible working hours usually provide that the employee, unless he is unable to work sick for doctor visits the work itself compensates. This is at fixed working hours is not necessarily the case: In Germany for example, there except for incapacity pursuant to § 616 BGB then entitled to paid leave when the doctor is medically necessary at the relevant time, ie at about acute problems, or if the physician does not date offers outside working hours. As with largely flexible working hours normally are not entitled to paid time off, flexible work schedules lead to this effect to longer working hours of workers.

For the employee, flexible working hours mean, conversely, that private appointments as the authorities, artisan visits or appointments can be made in connection with the school, without the need for example, each Vacationing should be used.

Regarding the flexibility of working the Working Hours Act ( Arbeitszeitgesetz ) compared with the earlier working time regulations ( AZO) unlocks considerable leeway. The aim of the Working Hours Act is not only " to ensure, while working time the safety and health of workers " but also " to improve the framework for flexible working hours ". In large companies, often co-exist numerous solutions. So there several hundred working hours and shift models are often be encountered.

Flexible solutions

• Part-time work: the regular working time is shorter than comparable full-time employment.
• Marginal employment: Social Security Legal special case of part-time work, which is characterized in that the regular monthly salary does not exceed € 450.00 and occurs due to the social freedom.
• More work ( so-called overtime): Via the regular working time also realized working hours. Is participation obligatory in accordance with § 87 Section 1 Subsection 3 WCA.
• Shift Work: Working with offset position and different or the same duration.
• Flexi-time, location and duration of the working day can be freely chosen in the regulatory framework. A core time may determine the necessary attendance time.
• Job sharing: sharing of normal working hours to two or more persons who share in the division of labor utilization of jobs.
• Retrieval work: A specific allocation of working hours is not identified, in most cases no specific number of hours of work to be done but only the rate of pay per hour. The staff stands ready on short-term recall. This variant have German labor courts quickly discarded and the German legislator has 12 part-time and temporary employment law ( TzBfG ) to the extent regulated in § when the employee does not need to work if it is not notified at least four days in advance the location of the work. If no agreement over a certain duration of working time owed ​​in contract law applies a working time of 10 hours per week as agreed. The minimum labor input per day is three consecutive hours, unless otherwise (even shorter ) has been agreed. But are also permitted agreements, such as " five hours per week averaged over the year ."
• KAPOVAZ: capacity based short -changing working hours. The term was coined in the context of the flexibility of rigid work schedules. Unlike the retrieval work initially from a fixed predetermined number of hours in a period and an associated uniform fee was assumed. Today KAPOVAZ and retrieval work is most often used interchangeably.
• Partial retirement: stepped, periodic reduction of individual working as a " slipping " into retirement. The corresponding legal bases expire in 2009 and are in the discussion.
• Amorphous ( formless ) working hours or flexitime variable: The volume of working time is set, location and duration of working time can be freely selected by the employee and are not controlled by the company.
• Trust-based working time: Unlike the amorphous working volume of work is scheduled for the working time spent in location and duration of employment in coordination selectable. This attempts to avoid settling time.
• Self-directed work: individual working time at predetermined volume of work, for example in homework or telework. Subject to the work at home.
• Working time account: agreed form of recording and billing of prepayments and accrued, working hours per employee for specified compensation periods.
• Bandwidth model: using a predetermined extended period of time allowed the working week is indeed observed, however, in individual weeks according to the needs of the business longer worked ( without incurring obligation to overtime pay arises ) or shorter. If the period is extended to a full year, one speaks of annual working time models.
• Modular system: Individual employees or groups can choose their time models individually. Can opt for daily, weekly, monthly or yearly models.
• Working time: Group of employees, applies to the same working time model, which may be different from that for other employees of the same company.
• Production time: control, which is used in group work or target agreements and is calculated as ratio of target time to real time. If this ratio is greater than 1, does not correspond to the productivity of the group objective. There is not enough work for all group members available, the group regulates itself what will be done to still meet the objective of productive time.
• Sabbatical: Name for the granting of coherent, often longer -term recreational phases, for example, to compensate for time credits or unpaid time off from work.