Overload at work: Employees often have to shorten their breaks

work overload
Employees often have to shorten rest breaks

The shortage of skilled workers makes for worse working conditions in Germany. Every tenth employee works on Sundays and public holidays and almost a fifth can no longer comply with the statutory rest periods. Health and social services are hardest hit.

Every tenth employee in Germany also works on Sundays and public holidays, every seventh in the evening and every 20th also works at night. This emerges from the answers of the Federal Ministry of Labor to inquiries from the left, as reported by the “Rheinische Post”. The Ministry relies on data from the microcensus and the regular working time survey of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAUA). Accordingly, the prescribed rest periods and breaks are observed less and less frequently. Almost a fifth or 18 percent of dependent employees complain that statutory rest periods are not being taken.

According to the report, this development is due to the shortage of skilled workers – this leads to capacity bottlenecks and worsened working conditions and finally to problems with rest periods. Health and social care also has the highest break absenteeism during the workday at 43 percent, according to the data. But the catering, transport and retail sectors are also particularly affected.

The legally prescribed rest breaks have to be shortened more and more frequently. “Many employees are obliged to work at night, on Sundays and on public holidays,” said left-wing politician Susanne Ferschl of the “Rheinische Post”. Such working hours “demonstrably harm the health and satisfaction of employees and must therefore be contained, regulated and controlled,” she demanded. Mandatory recording of working hours for all employers would help.

An uninterrupted rest break of at least eleven hours is required by law between two work assignments. In some sectors, such as health and care, gastronomy, broadcasting or agriculture, this break can sometimes be shortened.

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