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Every third employee incurs too much unpaid overtime
33 percent of full-time employees work longer hours
Overtime is no longer a rarity, instead, according to a special evaluation of the DGB index "Good Work 2015" more and more professionals spend more hours at their workplace, as it provides for their contract. As the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) reports, every third employee regularly works for longer than agreed, almost one in four comes to more than 45 hours per week. Of the full-time employees, 33 percent report excessively long working hours, one in six (17 percent) comes to more than 48 hours per week - and thus above the weekly working hours laid down in the Working Time Act.
One in eight full-time employees spends 55 hours or more a week at work, often without compensation for overtime. Almost every third person (32%) Employees with long working hours work very often or often unpaid, in the group of full-time employees with a maximum working time of 44 hours, this proportion is 11%. "Working 45 hours a week or more - many workers do not volunteer. There are legal maximum working hours, usually more than 8 hours a day are prohibited, "said DGB board member Annelie Buntenbach.
Overtime is essential for many employees, according to a recent DGB study. They work much more than what is provided for by contract, which causes stress and impairment of social life. (Image: alphaspirit / fotolia.com) Tourism industry hardest hit
Significant differences can be seen in the various industries. The report particularly affects workers in the tourism, hospitality and hospitality sector, where 63% of full-time employees regularly work overtime. More than every second employee in the transport and storage industry works longer (54%). In agriculture and forestry as well as in the field of energy, water and waste disposal with 47% above average prevalence.
The sectors with the lowest shares include financial and insurance services (23%) and health and social services (29%). Overall, women are less likely to work overtime because they are more likely to work part-time. Almost one in two women (48 percent) works less than 35 hours a week, while only one in twelve men (8 percent).
70 percent feel rushed
According to the report, working under time pressure is one of the key psychological stress factors, which affects working people with excessive working hours much more frequently than other full-time employees. According to the study, 70 percent of those who regularly work overtime feel "very often or often", while 49 percent feel this with 35 to 44 hours a week.
Of course, the extra-long working hours will not be without consequences, but will be at the expense of personal rest, social and family activities and thus severely disrupt the work-life balance. Sixty percent of those affected report that family and friends are short on workload, but only 28% of "normal" workers do. In addition to the rest breaks during the work are often limited (48 to 27 percent), also the proportion of those that can not turn off properly in their free time with just under 50 percent, significantly higher than in the control group (34%). Almost a third of employees (32 percent) who work more than 45 hours a week, also make use regularly still work home - so the value here is three times as high as for those who work 35 to 44 hours per week (11 Percent).
"Working without end" endangers the health and makes it difficult to reconcile work and private life. We need new rules so that employees can organize their working hours flexibly and independently, "continues DGB Managing Director Annelie Buntenbach. (No)