Before Viola Simic had a son in 2015, she considered going part-time to spend more time with her child. Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay/ReutersAlmost 80% of the workers consulted identified “free time” as an important part of their union’s negotiations. While the 28-hour working week deal has caused little outcry among employers’ associations, Holger Schäfer of the Cologne Institute for Economic Research warns against enshrining the right to return to full-time employment in national law. German unions’ new strategic priorities are also finding some critics on the left of the political spectrum. “I don’t have any ideological objections to reducing working hours – my problem is that it doesn’t work,” Flassbeck said.

Source: The Guardian March 09, 2018 04:52 UTC