Employee oriented provisisions on the reduction of working time over the life course – a challenge for companies?

Abstract

Employee oriented provisisions on the reduction of working time over the life course have increased in Germany in recent years. A special aspect of these provisions is that companies often have no or only a limited right of objection. Companies are therefore faced with the issue of how to compensate for the loss of working hours associated with the use of provisions on the reduction of working time. On the basis of six company case studies, we present different compensation measures and show the challenges that arise for companies. Our analyses show that these provisions can have a significant impact on work organization. Nevertheless, companies have rarely developed systematic strategies for dealing with employee absence and reduced working hours.