New work schedule: Danger for families or chance for flexibility?

New work schedule: Danger for families or chance for flexibility?

In Germany, the discussion about working time regulations is becoming increasingly intense. The current coalition agreement states that high standards of occupational safety should be maintained. The focus is on important aspects such as the freedom of employees to work longer hours without being forced to. Nevertheless, a new analysis by Bietigheimer Zeitung brings some Challenges to light that affect the compatibility of family and work. This emphasizes that predictability and plannability of working hours are crucial for the balance between professional and family life.

A YouGov poll shows that 38 percent of respondents support plans to set a maximum weekly working time. This could mean that employees would be able to work four ten-hour days and thereby enjoy longer weekends. At the same time, the authors of the HSI analysis warn that such a regulation could lead to a decline in paid work, especially for women. The average working hours of employees have changed in recent decades, from an average of 1,478 hours in 1991 to around 1,295 hours in 2023.

Family and career in balance

The challenges facing working parents — especially mothers — are enormous. In addition to their daily work, they often also have to fulfill family obligations; achieving a balance is particularly difficult for single parents and caring relatives. The Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) points out the complex distribution of paid and family work and, among other things, researches how child-friendly working hours can be designed.

The IAB's research deals with topics such as the labor market participation of mothers and fathers as well as the care and nursing of relatives. The results clearly show that a flexible working environment that supports work-life balance is of utmost importance.

Flexible working hours and their consequences

A reform of working time legislation is considered necessary to set a maximum weekly working time limit instead of a daily one. While trade unions and various political parties, including the Greens, SPD, Left, employers' associations, CDU and FDP, are calling for flexible working hours, the assumption that this flexibility is beneficial for female employees is perceived as misleading, Das reports [WSI].

However, the WSI authors warn of the risk that the compatibility of work and family life could be jeopardized if there are no clear regulations regarding compliance with working time limits. Flexible working hours could lead to a higher workload and put women in particular in a difficult position. It is required that compliance with such regulations must be in the interests of the employees and on a voluntary basis.

The tasks of the new federal government are clear: it must strengthen employees' sovereignty over working hours and promote projects to support the compatibility of family and work. This includes the implementation of the ECJ ruling on working time recording in Germany as well as measures to promote the collaborative division of labor in childcare.