Overtime Work and Overtime Compensation in Germany

Arbeitspapier

Sharing the available stock of work more fairly is a popular concern in the public policy debate. One policy proposal is to reduce overtime work in order to allow the employment of more people. This paper suggests that such a concept faces major problems. Using Germany as a case study, it is shown that the group of workers with the highest risks of becoming unemployed, namely the unskilled, also exhibit low levels of overtime work. Those who work overtime, namely the skilled, face excess demand on the labour market. Since skilled and unskilled workers are largely complements in production, a general reduction in overtime will lead to less production and hence also to a decline in the level of unskilled employment. The paper provides empirical support for this line of argument. It is also shown that paid overtime work has lost relative importance over time.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 48

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Compensation Packages; Payment Methods ; Labor Demand ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply
• Subject: Hours of work ; overtime working ; overtime compensation

Contributors, Location and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Bauer, Thomas K. ; Zimmermann, Klaus F.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 1999

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/20885
• Last update: 20.09.2024, 8:23 AM CEST