In 2010, when I was given the opportunity to move back to Germany after almost twenty years living in the USA, I thought that moving to Germany was the more exciting decision.
As a former Wessi from a suburb of New York to the easternmost edge of the republic in a small town! "What are you doing here?" I was often asked. It took a while for one or two people to believe that I wanted to be there.
But that wasn't what surprised me the most. No, it was the way I dealt with time, working hours and free time. I hadn't worked in Germany after my studies and didn't know anything like a federal vacation law or flexitime!
I was used to going to work in the dark in winter in the USA and leaving the building in the dark in the evening without a window in the office. Or that in Japan the last colleague left the office at around nine o'clock in the evening because the air conditioning was switched off. That colleagues in Japan didn't take all of their annual leave, but always had some left over for the company.
I could not imagine that companies in Germany could compete internationally with a significantly lower annual working hours budget. But, as they said in Japan and the USA: "The Germans! They are so efficient! They come to work to work and not to live at work. Well, yes.
My actual idea as the new Head of Development was to do away with booking hours completely. But first the hours had to be recorded and billed, because we needed an overview of the costs!
I was warned at this point that only 100% of the hours should not be recorded, because we have trust-based working hours! So I came up with the rule that only the project hours should be recorded and that these should make up at least 80% of the total time. The EU now requires 100% of working hours to be recorded. So we no longer have trust-based working time in Europe?
As a result, we have introduced 100% flexitime without core working hours at #Teleconnect. We can leave the workplace at any time in the middle of the day to deal with private matters (as long as the project is running). We have 100% flextime tracking and of course all overtime worked is paid out or taken off.
Now they seem to think that breaks should also be tracked and controlled by the employer. Is this the case? Or can employees be expected to independently observe the instructions on proper break times, which are repeated at least once a year?
Oh yes, I forgot: all but one of my colleagues are "academics".
If the break regulation does become necessary, I have an idea: the break bell - the same sound at the same time throughout the country!
What do you think? Are we doing everything right with working hours here in Europe?