Staying at work longer is the norm for many employees, which is why the European Court of Justice even intervened in May 2019. In Germany, around one in eight people works overtime.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, an average of 4.5 million people worked beyond the hours agreed in their employment contract in 2021.
According to an analysis by Statista, in 2022 employees worked around 583 million paid overtime hours and around 702 million unpaid overtime hours. In the long term, however, the number of overtime hours has probably fallen significantly.
More overtime as you get older
Employees in Germany are exposed to increasing pressure. The additional shortage of skilled workers is certainly no help. Although fewer overtime hours were worked in 2022 than in the previous year and the long-term trend is also declining, the number of people working overtime is still high.
The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAUA) comes to the conclusion that the amount of overtime also increases with increasing age. Those over 55 years of age in particular are often affected by overtime. The BAUA defines overtime as working hours of more than 48 hours per week. According to the evaluation, around 11 percent of this age group are affected. In comparison, younger employees, in this case those up to 24 years of age, are only affected by weekly overtime at 8.8 percent.
Health risk: But the employer is not always to blame
Employees often feel under pressure from those around them. If this situation becomes a permanent companion, fear of failure is not unlikely. Many people try to compensate for this inner restlessness by working extra hours in the hope of feeling better. The consequences can often be burnouts, sleep disorders and similar anxiety disorders.
Of course, exceptions are completely fine; occasional overtime certainly doesn’t endanger your own well-being. However, the exception here proves the rule. Anyone who works too much overtime puts their own health at risk.
ECJ intervenes
Even the European Court of Justice has already taken action in the matter: In order to guarantee the employee rights guaranteed in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, it ruled in May 2019 that employers in all EU countries must systematically record the working hours of their employees.
Editorial team finanzen.net