The few crafts enterprises have today still firm work times. A making comes not only the coworkers flexible against but also the customers.

“With us almost any one has its individual work time”, says Kathrin Schliebner of the glass and industrial cleaning Carpenter in Luckau. Which for a service company, which must react flexibly to customer’s requests, is perhaps natural, a existenzieller factor becomes also for other ranges in the modern economic life. Because with the usual rigid work times – eight hours’ working day, five-day week – enterprises cannot be competitive today any longer.

In a family business often banal changes lead to a reorientation concerning the work times. As the daughter-in-law of glazier master Wilfried cook in new Brandenburg – even Glasermeisterin and integrated into the flow charts firmly – after the birth of its child more organization freedom needed, agreed one on a loosening of the firm work times. “We are anyway a social enterprise”, say firm boss Gertrud cook. Variable at the beginning of and end times would have resulted from the operational sequences. “We try in principle with all to find common solutions”.

The work council demands an employment agreement:

That is handled in such a way in many crafts enterprises, without it would have given in writing fixed employment agreements for the introduction of flexible work times. Such is however compellingly necessary, if a work council is present, in addition, makes in enterprises without participation obligation sense, because one does not have to then make the work time regulations the component of each individual work contract.

The few enterprises have today still firm work times. These worked, where the customer contact does not play an emphasized role, where is only produced. The machine and plant service MAS in Guben work throughout the year from seven to 16 o’clock, and managing director tungsten Haberland does not see a reason to change this coordinated pattern.

Customer’s requests make a reorientation necessary

In services enterprises, which live on the customer contact, it is necessary to adapt to the desires of the final consumers. A prime example for this is a hairdresser. With it the largest daily demand begins only at one time, since other shops are already closed. One can become fair to the work times unfavorable for the hairdressers and hairdressers only by work time accounts, finds hairdresser masters Arno Asmus from Cottbus. Its four woman employees were not during the introduction enthusiastically, in the meantime them however the advantages recognized. On the basis of week plans is divided, who when rather go or come later can. No matter, whether in one week more or less as the tariff-contractually agreed upon 37.5 hours one works, wages remain constant. For the boss less account stress means, for the woman employees security. Asmus stated that the coworker self-determination going far also positively affects the motivation and the working climate: „You are ready to compromise and regulate much among themselves. “In such a way even the proposal came keep “Arnos Frisierstübchen” open by New Year’s Eves to 17 o’clock from the staff. “That surprised, says me positively” Asmus.

Confidence instead of control:

The probably most flexible form of the work time organization is the confidence work time. The boss does without usual control and leaves it to the coworkers to determine the duration of their presence in the enterprise. Which appears at first sight anarchisch, are everything but that. At the confidence work time stands not the number of the performed hours separates the result of working in the center of the interest. The concept works with three assumptions. The first acceptance reads that the know-how of the persons employed can be actually used for the work and Leistungssteuerung. The second acceptance is to be kept that the employees have actually an interest in it, their work time and also in the position is to articulate opposite the high-level personnel. And the third acceptance is that persons employed and high-level personnel are equal partners in the argument over work time.

Decoupling of time of presence and work

This new handling with work time implies also a decoupling of time of presence and work. Behind it the principle of result orientation stands. Work time is only the time, which are productively spent in this sense, and no more the entire time of presence on the job. With an quarter-hour discussion with a colleague for example it might already have to be measured whether it concerns thereby work time or not. On the other hand the solution for a problem can fall into the official spare time of the coworker, if it comes for example with the Joggen on an idea leading to the goal.

The only “controller” with this work time model represents the overload discussion so called, which the work time advisor Dr. Andreas hope as “having element” designation. Therein the employee must justify qualified that and why he is overloaded. Together with the boss then opportunities for rationalisation must be considered up to the additional purchase by additional work (new employment). Conflicts over work time or also only discussions over work time take place exclusively individually and under exclusion of the other colleagues.