Working time account

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The working time account is a time management tool. Working time accounts are used to distribute working time over days, weeks or years. Here, the work performed (including vacation , illness , overtime, etc.) of the employees is compared and offset against the work to be performed under the employment contract , collective agreement or customary work. Time credits or time debts are built up from positive or negative deviations. A reliable and individual measurement of the work performed by each employee is necessary for the comparison. Electronic time recording systems are often used for this, paper-based (manual) recording is also possible.

principle

Working time accounts are based on the principle of time compensation . Temporary extra work or less work is detected and compensated for in a defined period of time. The time to settle depends on the type of account and individual and company agreements. Among other things, maximum limits on credit or time debts can be set via company agreements (or in the public sector via service agreements). The flexible time compensation enables an individual distribution of working hours. Deviations from normal working hours are regulated and normalized through flexible working hours . The time worked is documented , for example, by stamping it in a time recording terminal or by recording it independently by the employee.

Types of working time accounts

A categorical distinction is made between working time accounts in short-term and long-term accounts . In companies, there are often mixed forms and links between time account models in order to be able to offer employees the right account depending on the work environment.

Short term accounts

With short-term accounts, the focus is on the weekly working hours. According to the definition planning horizon , the hours should be balanced within a year. Compensation periods of six or three months are also possible.

Exemplary short-term accounts include a .:

Long-term accounts

In contrast to short-term accounts , long-term accounts (also credit balances or time value accounts ) are based on the working life and have a reference frame of over one year. The aim of the long-term accounts is to collect additional working hours in order to enable longer breaks from work (e.g. sabbaticals , early retirement, etc.). The Flexi II law provides that long-term accounts are kept as monetary assets.

Opportunities and risks of working time accounts

Working time accounts offer both employees and the company opportunities and risks. With working time accounts, companies can adapt their working hours to the volume of work involved. They make it possible to compensate for short-term and seasonal fluctuations in demand and to plan the use of personnel in a variable manner. In addition, the company's operating and service times can be extended by means of working time accounts and the use of other working time models.

So-called idle times are avoided by arranging free time and the absenteeism of employees for short private appointments is reduced, as they can be better integrated into everyday work. In terms of costs, there is also the advantage for the company that there are no overtime surcharges for the more hours worked, as long as these are accumulated in the short-term account.

Furthermore, the introduction of work accounts can increase employee motivation, as work accounts can enable individual time use. In addition, employees usually build up more time credits than time debts, which corresponds to an interest-free loan for the employer. The employees are making advance payments here . At the same time, however, this harbors the risk of an unhealthy accumulation of working hours, as overtime shortens the regeneration times.

Another disadvantage for employers is the obligation to ensure that employees record their working hours in the working time account. For the plus hourly balances, reserves are to be formed in the sense of insolvency protection . For employees, short-term accounts offer an individual, flexible, short-term division of working hours, depending on how they are structured. They can contribute to a better work-life balance in order to pursue short-term, private obligations. The systematic documentation of working hours also enables the avoidance of unpaid, unrecorded overtime.

Whether employees are satisfied with the respective working time account often depends on who has the time credit. Employees who have access to their credit themselves are more satisfied and consider themselves healthier than those who cannot decide on their credit. By making working hours more flexible , the line between leisure and work is blurring, which has the opposite effect on personal, autonomous working hours.

A disadvantage for employees is the fact that overtime is kept in the working time account and no overtime bonuses are paid because the overtime is compensated for by free time. In addition, the employee must accept the order of overtime or underwork within the limits agreed by the company. This can lead to conflicts between employer and employee. In the case of overtime, the employee makes an advance payment without receiving any direct consideration. The employee thus gives his company an interest-free loan.

Working time accounts during the Great Recession 2008/2009

During the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 it became clear that short-term accounts can help secure jobs . Working time accounts have made a major contribution to the temporary reduction in working time by helping to secure employment in the first few weeks and months . Despite the sharp fall in GDP , employment hardly fell.

Distribution in Germany

According to the 2016 Working Time Report, 61% of employees in Germany have a working time account, 17% have no access to a working time account. There is no time recording for 21% (as of 2015). In 2011, 54% of employees had a working time account, while in 1999 the proportion was 35%.

In larger companies, work accounts are offered more frequently than in smaller ones: In 2011, around 80% of companies with more than 250 employees offered working time accounts, while the proportion in companies was 34%.

See also

literature

  • Gregor Thüsing, Stephan Pötters: Flexibility of working hours through time accounts within the framework of temporary employment . In: BetriebsBerater . No. 5 , 2012, p. 317-322 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Peter Ellguth; Hans Dieter Gerner; Ines Zapf: Flexibility for companies and employees: Diversity and dynamism in working time accounts (=  WSI Mitteilungen . No. 3 ). 2013, p. 1 ( iab.de [PDF]).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Christopher Schlick; Ralph brother; Holger Luczak: ergonomics . 4th edition. Springer Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-662-56036-5 , pp. 627 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-662-56037-2 .
  3. ↑ Ines Zapf: Flexibility on the labor market through overtime and working time accounts . In: IAB research report . No. 3 , 2012, p. 10 ( iab.de [PDF]).
  4. ↑ Ines Zapf: Flexibility on the labor market through overtime and working time accounts . In: IAB research report . No. 3 , 2012, p. 13 ( iab.de [PDF]).
  5. ↑ Eckart Hildebrandt: Long-term accounts, life planning and time trading . In: Hildebrandt (Ed.): Life course policy in the company . 2007, ISBN 3-89404-248-6 , pp. 173 f . ( wzb.eu [PDF]).
  6. ↑ a b c Peter Ellguth; Hans Dieter Gerner; Ines Zapf: Flexibility for companies and employees: Diversity and dynamism in working time accounts (=  WSI Mitteilungen . No. 3 ). 2013, p. 2 ( iab.de [PDF]).
  7. ↑ a b c d Ines Zapf: Flexibility on the labor market through overtime and working time accounts . In: IAB research report . No. 4 , 2012, p. 19th f . ( iab.de [PDF]).
  8. ↑ Bundestag (December 29, 2008): Act to improve the framework conditions for safeguarding flexible working time regulations and to amend other laws. Flexi II, dated December 21, 2008. In: Bundesgesetzblatt 2008 (64), pp. 2940 - 2948. ( bgbl.de ), last checked on October 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ Ines Zapf: Flexibility on the labor market through overtime and working time accounts . In: IAB research report . No. 3 , 2012, p. 20th f . ( iab.de [PDF]).
  10. ↑ a b Eckart Hildebrandt: Long-term accounts, life planning and time trading . In: Hildebrandt (Ed.): Life course policy in the company . 2007, ISBN 3-89404-248-6 , pp. 180 ( wzb.eu [PDF]).
  11. ↑ Christiane Lindecke: Who Owns the Time? Flexible working hours: unlimited freedom or unlimited accessibility? SpringerLink (Online Service), 2015, p. 6th f ., doi : 10.1007 / BF03373934 .
  12. ↑ BAuA: Working time report Germany 2016 . Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Dortmund 2016, p. 63 f ., doi : 10.21934 / baua: report20160729 .
  13. ↑ Ines Zapf; Alexander Herzog-Stein: Employment patterns of working time accounts during the Great Recession (=  WSI Mitteilungen . No. 2 ). 2011, p. 60 ( boeckler.de [PDF]).
  14. ↑ BAuA: Working time report Germany 2016 . Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Dortmund 2016, p. 60 f ., doi : 10.21934 / baua: report20160729 .