Working time regulations
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Working time regulations |
| Previous title: | Ordinance on working hours |
| Abbreviation: | AZO |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Issued on the basis of: | § 1 ErmG , Art. 123 para. 1, Art. 124 GG |
| Legal matter: | Employment Law |
| References : | 8050-1 a. F. |
| Original version from: | December 21, 1923 ( RGBl. I p. 1249) |
| Entry into force on: | January 1, 1924 |
| New announcement from: | April 30, 1938 (RGBl. I p. 447) |
| Last change by: |
Art. 21 G of March 10, 1975 ( Federal Law Gazette I, pp. 685, 689 ) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
April 1, 1975 (Art. 31 G of March 10, 1975) |
| Expiry: | July 1, 1994 (Art. 21 No. 1 G of June 6, 1994, Federal Law Gazette I p. 1170, 1182 ) |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The German Working Time Ordinance (AZO) set the framework for the working hours of employees in Germany from January 1, 1924 to mid-1994 and was binding for employers and employees.
The AZO was last published on April 30, 1938; when it was finally incorporated into federal law on January 1, 1964, it received formal legal status . With the entry into force of the Working Hours Act (ArbZG) on July 1, 1994, it was replaced.
The AZO included provisions to protect workers over the age of 18. Among other things, the law stipulated:
- Prohibition of employing employees beyond certain maximum times (§§ 3 ff. AZO)
- Granting of rest breaks and free time (§ 12 AZO)
- Obligation of the employer to pay overtime in the case of extended working hours (Section 15 AZO)
- Employment bans for women for certain activities, maximum working hours and breaks (§ 16ff. AZO).
Since the legislature regards female employees alongside young people as a group of people requiring special protection, from 1968 onwards it extended occupational safety to include expectant and nursing mothers (§§ 7 f. MuSchG) and young people (§§ 10ff. JArbSchG).
scope of application
According to § 1 AZO, the working time regulations apply to all employees over 18 years of age in companies and administrations of all kinds, even if they were not operated with the intention of making a profit .
Exceptions were employees in agriculture including horticulture , viticulture and beekeeping , forestry , hunting , animal breeding and the agricultural and forestry ancillary businesses of a commercial nature. The latter, however, were only excluded if they only work for their own needs. In addition, workers in fishing , maritime shipping and aviation , excluding the associated land and ground operations, were excluded. In addition, the working time regulations did not apply to general representatives and the representatives of a company entered in the commercial register or cooperative register, other employees in management positions who are the superiors of at least twenty employees or their annual earnings, which in the Insurance Act exceed the maximum limit specified in the Insurance Act for employees for compulsory insurance and for pharmaceuticals trained workers in pharmacies . Special working time laws and regulations also applied to employees in bakeries and pastry shops and to nursing staff and their equivalent employees in hospitals and care facilities.
Working time regulations
Working time within the meaning of this law was the time from the beginning to the end of work without the breaks. The regular working hours on weekdays could not exceed eight hours. In the coal mining industry, shift time was counted as working time . If employees were employed in several positions, the individual occupations together were not allowed to exceed the statutory maximum working time limit.
If the working time was regularly shortened on individual working days, the lost working time could be distributed over the remaining working days of the same and the previous or the following week. This compensation was also permitted if the type of business required an uneven distribution of working hours. The trade supervisory authorities checked the requirements for this . However, the daily working time was not allowed to exceed ten hours a day, otherwise the responsible trade inspectorate could allow this limit to be exceeded upon application.
Rest
The employees were to be granted an uninterrupted rest period of at least eleven hours after the end of their daily working hours. The uninterrupted rest period could be reduced to ten hours in restaurants and bars, in the rest of the accommodation and in the transport sector. The trade supervisory office was able to allow further exceptions if there was evidence of an urgent need.
Extra work
The employees of a company or a company department were allowed to work thirty days a year over and above their regular working hours with overtime up to two hours a day, but not longer than ten hours a day. If additional work was done, the employees, with the exception of the apprentices, were entitled to appropriate remuneration in addition to their regular working hours. If working hours were extended through a collective agreement or official approvals, e.g. by the trade supervisory office, the entitlement to overtime wages lapsed if the working hours included regular and substantial willingness to work. Unless the parties involved agreed otherwise, a surcharge of 25 percent was deemed appropriate remuneration. In certain trades, the overtime could also be compensated for by shortening working hours in the other times of the year.
Women's health and safety
For female employees there were extensive special regulations in the working time regulations. According to Section 16 AZO, women were not allowed to be employed in mines , salt pans , processing plants or underground quarries and pits. Furthermore, with the exception of processing (separation, washing), transport and loading, they were not allowed to be employed above ground. There were also employment bans in coking plants and in the transport of raw materials in buildings of all kinds and for individual types of operations or work that were associated with particular hazards.
On Sundays and public holidays , women were generally not allowed to work beyond 5:00 p.m. (Section 19 AZO) and also not longer than eight hours of work. In the case of rest breaks, women who worked more than four and a half hours had to be granted one or more predetermined breaks of reasonable duration within the working hours. The breaks had to be at least twenty minutes for more than four and a half to six hours of work, half an hour for more than six to eight hours, three quarters of an hour for more than eight and nine hours and one hour for more than nine hours.
The employment ban for women in the construction industry and driving locomotives and excavators was lifted in 1983. The night work ban for women was lifted in 1994.
literature
- Dirk Neumann, Josef Biebl , J. Denecke: Working time regulations . 11th edition, Munich 1991
Web links
- Michael Schneider: The struggle to reduce working hours from industrialization to the present Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung , 1984
Individual evidence
- ^ Enabling Act of December 8, 1923 ( RGBl. I p. 1179).
- ^ Ordinance on working hours of December 21, 1923, RGBl. I p. 1249
- ↑ Working time regulations of April 30, 1938, RGBl. I p. 447
- ↑ Inclusion in the FNA on January 1, 1964 ( Federal Law Gazette III p. 77).
