Working times in service sector differ considerably
Objavljeno: 27 April 2000
On 16-17 March 2000, the five trade unions which are due to form a new merged Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, Ver.di) in spring 2001 (DE9911225F [1]) held a conference dealing with the question "What working time does Ver.di want?" The unions concerned are: the Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union (Gewerkschaft Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr, ÖTV); the German White-Collar Workers' Union (Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft, DAG); the Postal Workers' Union (Deutsche Postgewerkschaft, DPG); the Commerce, Banking and Insurance Union (Gewerkschaft Handel Banken und Versicherungen, HBV); and the Media Union (IG Medien).[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/verdi-overture-five-unions-agree-to-form-unified-service-sector-union
In March 2000, the five German trade unions which are to unite to form a new Unified Service Sector Union held a conference on working time. In connection with the event, the WSI Collective Agreement Archive evaluated collective agreements in the 10 most important service sectors with regard to their regulations concerning working time. The survey shows that collectively agreed working times differ considerably.
On 16-17 March 2000, the five trade unions which are due to form a new merged Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, Ver.di) in spring 2001 (DE9911225F) held a conference dealing with the question "What working time does Ver.di want?" The unions concerned are: the Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union (Gewerkschaft Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr, ÖTV); the German White-Collar Workers' Union (Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft, DAG); the Postal Workers' Union (Deutsche Postgewerkschaft, DPG); the Commerce, Banking and Insurance Union (Gewerkschaft Handel Banken und Versicherungen, HBV); and the Media Union (IG Medien).
WSI survey
On the occasion of this conference, the Collective Agreement Archive of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (WSI-Tarifarchiv) evaluated collective agreements in the 10 most important service sectors with regard to their regulations concerning working time. As the table below indicates, the survey shows that collectively agreed working times differ considerably. Working weeks range between 35 and 40 hours, annual holidays between 26 and 30 days and annual working times between 1,533 and 1,771 hours. Overall, working time in east Germany is longer than in west Germany.
| Sector | Working week | Annual leave | Annual working time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | Hours | Working days | Hours | |||
| . | West | East | West | East | West | East |
| Banking | 39 | 39 | 30 | 30 | 1,700 | 1,700 |
| Deutsche Post AG | 38.5 | 38.5 | 28 | 28 | 1,694 | 1,727 |
| Deutsche Telekom AG | 38.5 | 38.5 | 28 | 28 | 1,686 | 1,686 |
| Printing industry | 35 | 38 | 30 | 30 | 1,533 | 1,664 |
| Retail trade | 37.5 | 38.1 | 28 | 27.5 | 1,664 | 1,696 |
| Wholesale trade | 38.5 | 39.8 | 30 | 29.5 | 1,693 | 1,754 |
| Public services | 38.5 | 40 | 28 | 28 | 1,686 | 1,752 |
| Paper processing | 35 | 37 | 30 | 30 | 1,533 | 1,621 |
| Transport services | 38.6 | 40 | 28.8 | 26.4 | 1,704 | 1,771 |
| Insurance | 38 | 38 | 30 | 30 | 1,657 | 1,657 |
* Average data where regional differences apply.
Source: WSI Collective Agreement Archive 2000.
The shortest collectively agreed working time is to be found in the printing and paper processing industry in west Germany, with a working week of 35 hours. This is followed by other sectors in west Germany, such as the retail trade with 37.5 hours per week and public service, wholesale trade, posts and telecommunications, each with 38.5 hours. As mentioned above, the average working time in east Germany is still higher - for example, the private transport sector and public services have a collectively agreed working week of 40 hours.
The WSI-Tarifarchiv points out that the various collective agreements guarantee a wide scope for flexible working time arrangements. The concrete rules on this point vary in shape and extent. While the upper limit for regular working time is fixed at 10 hours per day in the printing industry, the insurance sector allows an extension of 25% of weekly working hours - a weekly extension of up to 9.5 hours - and the wholesale trade sets the limit at 50 hours per week. A great variation can be also found concerning the reference period for maintaining the average collectively agreed weekly working time. The period ranges from six months to one year. Collective agreements in some sectors, like telecommunications and postal services - represented by Deutsche Telekom AG and Deutsche Post AG - provide for working time accounts (DE9803255F).
In most sectors no maximum for overtime work is laid down in the collective agreement. A few sectors have agreements in which a maximum working time is fixed and overtime is included. For example, the banking agreement includes a maximum daily working time of 10 hours and a weekly working time of 53 hours. Regulations on compensation of overtime with free time differ as well. While the provisions in the printing industry are very vague, other sectors like public services and telecommunications and posts have a regulation that overtime work is to be compensated, in principle, exclusively with free time.
Only a few sectors have explicit regulations for Saturday work. The collective agreement for the banking sector (DE0003244N) allows regular Saturday work for a trial phase of two years. In the paper processing industry, works councils and employees have, at least formally, the possibility of refusing Saturday work.
The opportunity to switch from full-time to part-time work and vice versa exists only to a small extent. In the banking sector it is possible for employees to change their working patterns as far as the organisational framework allows it, and employees who want to change have to announce their interest six months in advance. In some agreements, a minimum daily or weekly working time is fixed for part-time employees in order to guarantee that their working time is not divided into too many small blocks.
Partial retirement is regulated in most collective agreements. Payment during partial retirement ranges from the legally regulated 70% up to 90% of the last net income. In a single case, the post office giro bank (Postbank), pension entitlements for those taking partial retirement have been raised to 95%.
In recent years, there have been no further reductions in working time. Collective agreements in all sectors allow varied forms of flexible working time at plant level, but individual rights to arrange an employee's own working time are not very flexible.
Commentary
The WSI survey shows that collectively agreed working time arrangements in the overall service sector differ not only relating to the length of the working week but also to overtime and flexibility. Given that Ver.di plans to work out some basic guidelines on collective bargaining policy which are to be binding for all participating unions, it is obvious that they have to agree on a common working time policy as one important element. Since working time policy also affects aspects of gender equality, and a high proportion of women work in the service sector, it is important that Ver.di deals with the reduction of working time, part-time work and flexibility. The March conference might be the first step towards a common trade union attitude towards working times in the service sector, but in view of the differences it is obvious that further debates are necessary if Ver.di wants to unite different sectors in a collective bargaining strategy. (Alexandra Scheele, Institute for Economic and Social Research, WSI)
Eurofound priporoča, da to publikacijo navedete na naslednji način.
Eurofound (2000), Working times in service sector differ considerably, article.
