Bremen plans 41-hour week for civil servants: protests and controversy!

Bremen plans 41-hour week for civil servants: protests and controversy!

Bremen, Deutschland - In Bremen, the new plans for increasing work for state officials are accusing their shadows. Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) has already described the financial prospects as "challenging" and "modest". As the taz reports, the expenses of the city have increased, while the revenue remained behind the expectations. The tax estimate in May showed that Bremen now had 100 million euros less available than before. In order to meet these financial challenges, the red-green-red coalition plans to take measures for "consolidation" and to save.

A central point in this savings plan is to increase the weekly working hours for national officials from 40 to 41 hours - and without wage compensation. This proposal ensures a high need for discussion within the city society, as Finance Senator Björn Fecker (Greens) predicts. The police in particular have already expressed protest against this increase, supported by the DPolg and Gdp.

comprehensive regulation for working hours

The Bremen Ordinance on the working hours of the civil servants (Bremazvo) has been of importance for classification of current developments since January 25, 2022. This applies to all officials in the State of Bremen as well as to the municipalities of Bremen and Bremerhaven and determines the regular weekly working hours for 40 hours. The regulation also enables flexible design of working hours, provided that this is done within the regulations. Shift and on-call services are also possible under certain conditions, as on the website of the Bremen Transparency is explained in detail.

In addition, the planned changes could also affect the productivity of the officials. According to Bovenschulte, a 41-hour week could theoretically save 2.5 percent in the civil servant, but experts warn that productivity often decreases after several hours of work. These considerations are in accordance with the challenges that Ver.di has formulated to the tariff level, not least through the demands for aligning working hours for federal civil servants. Working time for federal officials has been 41 hours since 2006, but an agreement on a reduction in weekly working hours remains controversial.

reactions and outlook

Bovenschulte has emphasized that the consolidation efforts take seriously and that the conviction of the stability council with regard to these measures are just as important in order to obtain annual consolidation aids. In the end, these steps should help Bremen's personnel costs, which exceed the limit of one billion euros this year, to get under control. So it remains to be seen how the discussions about the 41-hour week will develop and what other measures to increase efficiency in the public service, in which the unions are also actively involved.

The coming weeks will show whether the desired changes can bring the hoped -for savings and efficiency gains or whether the resistances of the officials concerned and their representations will achieve a rethink.