A working group set up by the federal and state governments has examined the need for changes to the Young Persons (Protection of Employment) Act. No major amendments are recommended, although the group suggests permitting Saturday work. The recommendations were based on findings from research into working time and the health risks of long working hours in the hotel and restaurant (Horeca) sector. The findings revealed problems with complying with the law’s provisions in the latter sector.
Introduction
The working hours of children (up to 14 years of age) and adolescents (15–18 years) in Germany have been regulated since 1960 under the Young Persons (Protection of Employment) Act (Jugendarbeitsschutzgesetz, JArbSchG). Employer organisations have frequently criticised the act for its rigidity, whereas trade unions say the act has been continually liberalised.
A new chapter in the act’s history opened in 2004 when the labour ministries of the federal states (Bundesländer) recommended its modernisation. The federal government and Länder set up a working group (Bund-Läender Arbeitsgruppe) to evaluate the need for changes. While the evaluation process was underway, debate was stirred by the 2009 governmental coalition agreement (in German) of the Christian Democrats and Liberals which stated that ‘training obstacles in the hospitality industry will be dismantled by making the Young Persons Employment Act more flexible’. The trade unions objected strongly to any liberalisation.
The debate was temporarily halted in May 2011 when the Bund-Länder working group released its final evaluation report (in German). The report’s results and recommendations on the issue of working time and young people are summarised below.
Working time
The evaluation involved three research studies. Two of these, conducted by researchers from AWIS-Consult, investigated the effective working time and related health risks of apprentices in their first year of vocational training (Grzech-Šukalo and Hänecke, 2011; Hänecke and Grzech-Šukalo, 2011).
The findings given below from the hotel, restaurant and catering (Horeca) sector come from about 850 written responses to a questionnaire and in 157 working time diaries (covering 1–2 weeks). All participants were trainees under 18 years of age. The research revealed considerable problems in this sector’s compliance with the act’s provisions.
The following practices were mentioned at least once in the working time diaries:
- working more than 40 hours per week (71%).
- working more than nine hours (48%);
- working a shift lasting more than 11 hours (19%);
- finishing work after 22:00 (17%).
During first year (3–8 months) of their vocational training:
- 22% of respondents had no Sunday off;
- 9.7% had breaks shorter than 30 minutes;
- 17% had no breaks.
The duration of daily work impacted on exposure to health risks, sleep and leisure time. However, the end of the daily working time was found to have the strongest influence. Long working hours (more than eight hours) until past 22:00 were found to increase the risk of musculoskeletal problems, disturbances in sleep patterns, headaches and poor job satisfaction.
The authors of the two studies recommended a maximum shift length of nine hours per day, and observance of the maximum 40 working hours per week laid down in the legislation for young people. Their working day should end at 22:00. The authors also suggest extending the protection of the act to trainees older than 18.
Report’s recommendations
The recommendations of the Bund-Länder Group (BMAS, 2011), which are based on the findings of the three research studies and on consultations with experts and social partners, meet the demands of both the trade unions and employers.
Neither a fundamental revision of the act nor an extension of weekly working time or later night working is recommended. However, the group suggests liberalising Saturday work and allowing more flexible adjustments of daily working time.
The recommendations are concerned with:
- maintaining the weekly working time at a maximum of 40 hours per week, five days per week;
- extending the daily working time by 30 minutes (that is, to a maximum of nine hours) provided the weekly total is no more than 40 hours;
- maintaining the standard time frame for working hours between 06:00 to 20:00 (or until 22:00 in the Horeca sector), with a reduction from 14 to 12 hours per day in the culture and media sectors, inclusive of breaks, and also applicable to young sportspeople and athletes);
- restricting shift workers to a daily maximum shift length of 11 hours (under the current law, collective agreements can allow 12 hour shifts);
- liberalising Saturday work (banned under the current law, although with exemptions for a considerable number of sectors);
- banning Sunday work but with exemptions extended to cover outpatient health care, animal care and new media forms (currently exempt are health and care facilities, restaurants, live performance, media, sports, agriculture and livestock breeding);
- making it obligatory to have two weekends off per month, with work on Saturday compensated for by having Monday off (under current law, two free Saturdays per month are optional).
The recommendations do not deal with the issue of extending the act to trainees older than 18.
The Länder are also asked to deal with the problems found in implementing the act’s existing provisions.
References
BMAS (Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales) (2011), Abschlussbericht der Bund-Länder-Arbeitsgruppe zur Überprüfung des Jugendarbeitsschutzgesetzes (230Kb PDF), Berlin.
Grzech-Šukalo, H. and Hänecke, K. (2011), Auswirkungen der Arbeit von Jugendlichen am Abend und in der Nacht (2Mb PDF), [Impact on young people of working in the evening and at night], Research project F 1964, Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, Dortmund/Berlin/Dresden.
Hänecke, K. and Grzech-Šukalo, H. (2011), Auswirkungen der Arbeit von Jugendlichen am frühen Morgen (2.2Mb PDF), [Impact on young people of working in the early morning], Research project F 1964, Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, Dortmund/Berlin/Dresden
Birgit Kraemer, Institute of Economic and Social Research, WSI