Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE), Germany’s retail federation, has backed calls for greater flexibility in Germany’s working time legislation, adding that the country’s existing daily maximum working hours are outdated and no longer suited to a digital economy.
The HDE was responding to the ongoing debate around reform of Germany’s Working Time Act, adding that the current framework is inflexible, and makes it difficult for workers to balance work and family life.
‘Scope for flexibility’
“The Working Time Act transposed the EU Working Time Directive into national law,” commented Steven Haarke, HDE managing director for labour, education, social and collective bargaining policy. “However, the scope for flexibility offered by the EU Directive was not fully utilised in Germany.
“The German Retail Federation (HDE) has therefore long been calling for the abolition of the daily maximum working time and a shift to a weekly maximum working time. This would create more flexibility in everyday work without increasing people’s total weekly working hours. This reform of the Working Time Act would also be in line with current EU law, which itself stipulates a weekly maximum working time.”
Electronic tracking
The organisation also warned against introducing what it described as excessive bureaucracy through mandatory electronic time tracking requirements.
“A highly bureaucratic and, moreover, anti-SME electronic time tracking requirement, on the other hand, must be strictly rejected, especially during an economic crisis,” Haarke added.
The HDE also called for a review of Germany’s requirement for an uninterrupted 11-hour rest period after the end of the working day, describing current standards as too inflexible for modern working arrangements. Read more here.
