WORKING TIME
| GERMANY |
| ARBEITSZEIT WORKING TIME |
Working time signifies the span of time from the start to the finish of work (excluding breaks ) during which employees must at least put their labour at the employer's disposal at the workplace . It may, however, be established by collective agreement , works agreement , custom or the contract of employment that periods of time for changing clothes, for instance, count as part of working time. The time limits within which work is permitted are specified by restrictions on working hours. In addition, numerous subsidiary concepts are of relevance to the more precise definition of working time; business travel , flexitime , maximum working hours , on-call , overtime and overtime exceeding maximum working hours , part-time work , rest on Sundays and public holidays , rest periods , shiftwork , short-time working , stand-by , travel-to-work time .
Since what is due under the contract of employment is not the actual product of work but the effort to perform, working time is one of the most important criteria for quantifying what employees provide in return for the remuneration paid to them. It also governs the level of output and labour productivity within the establishment. In addition, it is important as an instrument in distributing the total employment available in the national economy as a whole amongst a given number of individuals. Calls for shorter working hours are connected with this aspect of working time. In the associated flexibilization of working hours, an attempt is being made to accommodate both the need on the part of companies to achieve the most efficient possible utilization of their plant and the wish of employees for less rigid working hours.
The actual timing of working hours, and hence also in practice their length, is subject to the co-determination right of the works council . It is in any case possible for the length of working hours to be fixed via a works agreement provided that the right to do so has been reserved by collective agreement. Special regulations apply for career public servants ("Beamte"); in principle, however, they too have a working week of 40 hours. Ergonomic methods used in studies on working time are of decisive importance in setting rates of pay for piecework .
Please note: the European industrial relations glossaries were compiled between 1991 and 2003 and are not updated. For current material see the European industrial relations dictionary.