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Take the "Germany bans 48 hours weeks" with a grain of salt. In certain branches, working 50 hours and more is still considered part of the codex, especially in
by Argorak 14y ago
Take the "Germany bans 48 hours weeks" with a grain of salt. In certain branches, working 50 hours and more is still considered part of the codex, especially in advertisement agencys. Hours are rarely logged. Working long hours is still seen favourably in Germany.
The big problem is that basically working an unbounded amount of time without logging it hides problems: your work environment sucks and make you slow? Just work more and the problem goes away.
- threedaymonk 14y agoSame goes for the UK, to some extent: our politicians are generous enough to have secured for us the ability to "opt out" of the 48-hour limit. The result is that almost all employment contracts contain a clause opting the new employee out. Having said that, I've personally never exceeded 48 hours in a week, and it may be that the prevalence of the opt-out is more due to a disinclination to add bureaucracy that to a desire to exploit workers.
- Nursie 14y agoI'm pretty sure opting out is optional, and you can't be made to do it as a condition of employment. The alternative is often that they'll have you do a lot of extra time-tracking to make your life more difficult. I have gone over 48 hours by about 12 hours a week for a period of a month, because this stuff had to be done. I got a promotion out of it. Now I'm independent people have to pay me up front if they want that.
- thisone 14y agothe 48 hour week is an average over a 17 week period. Even if you do opt-out, the next thing an employer comes up against is the minimum wage. You can't be working so many hours that your effective hourly wage is below the legal minimum. http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/working-time-limits-the-48-hour-week http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/working-time-limits-the-48-hour-w...