Work intensification

In business administration and human resources, work intensification is understood to mean an increase in the workload of employees per unit of time .

General

The corporate goal of maximizing profit or covering costs can also be achieved through the sub-goal of reducing costs . The need to cut costs calls, among other things, for rationalization , which also includes increased workload. A study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (WSI) are those establishments that a return - or capital ratio follow norientierte power control, as for example, target agreements , profit center or benchmarks can be achieved, the intensification of work and the deadlines above average. Restructuring , reorganization and downsizing (or understaffing ) often lead to work intensification. This was reported, for example, in 2008 about the reconstruction of the Deutsche Bundesbahn from the employees' point of view and in 2014 for medical and nursing staff employed in hospitals.

By working compression has the single worker either their previous tasks in a shorter working time (for example, increase the deal chord specifications ) or get more tasks assigned (such as job enlargement or job enrichment ). Often, measures to intensify work are limited by collective agreements , such as increasing the work intensity in flow production .

Legal issues

According to § 4 No. 3 ArbSchG , the employer has to take into account the state of the art , occupational medicine and hygiene as well as other reliable ergonomic findings when taking occupational safety measures . He has to § 5 para. 3 ArbSchG to avoid risks to workers, which could arise in particular by designing and setting up the workplace and the workplace , physical, chemical and biological agents, the design, selection and use of work equipment , in particular of working materials, machines, devices and systems as well as their handling, the design of work and production processes, work processes and working hours and their interaction, insufficient qualification and instruction of employees or psychological workloads . If there is no risk assessment or if these aspects have not yet been taken into account, the works council can assert its right of initiative according to Section 87 (1) No. 7 BetrVG ( co-determination in occupational health and safety) according to the rulings of the Federal Labor Court . In particular, he has to have a say in the selection of an analysis method so that it realistically records the stress situation.

The dismissal of an employee is not justified if his tasks have been completely transferred to other colleagues , so that this dismissal would lead to an unlawful excessive demand or disadvantage for the staff remaining in the company . The relocation of tasks to other colleagues had led to a concentration of work for them, which is to be regarded as “extra-mandatory services” (i.e. not within the scope of their contractually owed regular weekly working hours). Shifting additional tasks to other employees presupposes that they have sufficient free work capacities.

Measurement

Work compression is measured by the degree of compression. This results from the ratio of the actual work compression to the possible work compression : ${\displaystyle AV}$ ${\displaystyle AV_{t}}$ ${\displaystyle AV_{m}}$

${\displaystyle AV={\frac {AV_{t}}{AV_{m}}}}$.

An improvement in labor productivity occurs when the actual work compression comes as close as possible to the possible work compression and vice versa.

species

A distinction is made between structural work intensification through the use of new technical means or general organizational measures and variable work intensification . In the first case, the work intensification is specified, in the latter case it results from the circumstances such as the customer-related shortening of a delivery period , which means that an order has to be processed faster than planned. Is from a full-time job , a part-time while maintaining the tasks, this is associated generally with work intensification.

economic aspects

From an economic point of view, the intensification of work ensures better use of personnel capacities and avoids wasting manpower. The intensification of work leads to a reduction in the cycle time in production lines . As a result, it can lead to an improvement in labor productivity, so that redundancies are possible. By improving the work compression, the work intensity increases while the lead time is reduced. Either the same volume of work has to be done in shorter working hours or more work has to be done in a certain period of time .

consequences

The intensification of work is usually associated with negative consequences for the staff, because it increases work suffering , stress , deadline pressure or time pressure . The increasing workload harbors the risk of absenteeism with the associated higher sickness rate and even burnout . High work intensity has proven to be a crucial risk factor for incapacity to recover , exhaustion , high blood pressure and even depressive disorders .

The company can increase its profits and thus its competitiveness by increasing workload . Under certain circumstances, work intensification can be counteracted through appropriate work design , infrastructure and support processes. The 2012 stress report showed an overall increase in work density for the previous years. The doctors interviewed for the DAK Health Report 2013 expressed the opinion that increased workload, competitive pressure and long working hours led to more sick leave with a psychological diagnosis. Something similar was found in the DAK health report 2012 .

See also

• Efficiency pressure
• Disputes about the 35-hour week # performance compression

Web links

• Literature on intensification of work in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Elke Ahlers: Go to the causes of stress. Retrieved April 1, 2015 . 
2. ↑ New investigation: Flexibility, work intensification and uncertainty - the restructuring of Deutsche Bahn from the point of view of the employees. Hans Böckler Foundation, October 1, 2008, accessed April 1, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Current study: New division of labor in the hospital - often no progress for employees and patients. Hans Böckler Foundation, August 28, 2014, accessed April 1, 2015 . 
4. ↑ BAG, judgment of May 24, 2012, Az .: 2 AZR 124/11 = NZA 2012, 1223
5. ↑ ^{a b} Tom Still, Betriebswirtschaftlichefragen des Förderwesens , 1962, p. 112
6. ↑ Otto-Ernst Heiserich, Logistik , 2002, p. 107
7. ↑ Mathias Lohmer / Bernd Sprenger / Jochen von Wahlert, Healthy Leadership: Life Balance versus Burnout in Companies , 2018, p. 4
8. ↑ BT-Drs. 17/9478 of April 30, 2012, answer of the federal government to the small question of the deputies Jutta Krellmann, Sabine Zimmermann, Dr. Martina Bunge, another member of parliament and the DIE LINKE parliamentary group , answer to question 19: "What knowledge does the Federal Government have about the process of work intensification and the resulting psychological stress?"
9. ↑ BT-Drs. 17/9478 of April 30, 2012, answer of the federal government to the small question of the deputies Jutta Krellmann, Sabine Zimmermann, Dr. Martina Bunge, another MP and the DIE LINKE parliamentary group , p. 16
10. ↑ Jürgen Klauber / Bernt P. Robra / Henner Schellschmidt: Hospital Report 2006 , Schattauer Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-7945-2490-7 . P. 14
11. ↑ Stress Report 2012. Quoted from: Ina Riechert: Psychological disorders in employees: A guide for managers and HR managers - from prevention to reintegration , Springer-Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-662-43522-9 . P. 33 .
12. ↑ DAK Health Report 2013: DAK Health calls for a factual debate about mental illnesses. The spread of burnout is clearly overestimated. In: press release. DAK, accessed April 1, 2015 . 
13. ↑ DAK Health Report 2012. Quoted from: Jens Hollmann, Angela Geissler: Performance balance for leading doctors: self-management, stress control, resilience in hospitals , Springer, 2012, ISBN 978-3-642-29334-4 . P. 92 .

Please note the information on legal issues!