加班? 探討歐洲的工作時間

(1)法律：下班離線權， 法國

法國人目前每個星期工作35個小時。 他們擁有對勞動者權益保護性最強之一的法律。在2016年， 法國員工贏得了「下班離線權」條款， 簡單來說，員工下班後不必回覆工作郵件還有簡訊。 如果被抓到的話，雇主也會受到罰款。這個法律自2017年正式執行，最主要是保護員工，推動員工維持工作與生活間的平衡，特別是那些因隨時保持「在線」狀態而感到壓力很大的員工。到目前為止，我還沒未聽過有人因為這個法律抱怨影響業務效率，但是，這可能對在不同時區工作的人或者需要即時回應需求的工作，造成潛在的問題。

(2)工會/公司勞工委員會 ：嚴格的工作規定，德國

德國人以劃分工作還有個人私生活而出名。他們在工作時態度努力，並高效率投入工作，但也很保護自己的私人時間。之所以能夠如此理直氣壯的保持工作與生活的平衡，主因是德國工會(Gewerkschaften/Unions)還有公司勞工委員會（Betriebsrat/Works Council）的權力很大。工資、工作時間和工作條件的各種要素由工會決定。通常中到大型的公司會在內部成立勞工委員會，代表員工並確保他們的權利還有聲音有被聽到。另外，根據德國的[工作時間法] (Arbeitszeitgesetz) [2]，員工一天只能工作八個小時或者每周48個小時，周末工作基本上是被禁止的。如果雇主違反此規定，則可處最高15000歐元的罰款，並追究雇主或經理的個人責任。而且如果員工認為雇主違反法律，他們也可以拒絕工作。 事實上，以上是對他們的制度過於簡化的解釋，真正的工會、公司勞工委員會還有法律是非常複雜的。而我想要強調的是，德國人是非常認真對待工人的權利。在我的記憶中，總覺得 「公司勞工委員會」 是德國人的口頭禪，這名詞在每個討論中出現了無數次，常常需要努力找方法來克服它。有一年，我有一位德國同事在客戶現場進行工程。可是，當工程進行到一半的時候，他不得不離開現場回到旅館休息，因為他的工作時間「滿了」。相對下，我們英國的同事可以繼續工作下去，英國員工法律反而沒有那麼嚴格。雖然當時覺得對這位英國同事有一點不公平，不過，不可否認的是，這是為了讓這個工程能繼續進行，否則延期的後果不堪設想。

(3)文化: 工作時間最長的歐盟國家， 羅馬尼亞

羅馬尼亞是工時最長的國家。根據 Eurofound的研究發現[3]，在2016年，羅馬尼亞每月至少有67％的受訪者因工作疲倦無法做家事。另外,有52％的受訪者每月至少會有幾次因工作關係而難以履行家庭責任，大大高於歐盟38％的平均水平。這也就說明了他們的工作時間有多長。我有詢問我的羅馬尼亞的朋友關於工作時間的話題，他們提到原因可能跟他們的歷史背景有關。 直到最近，政府提供的支持很少，工作機會也很少，因此他們必須學習讓自己更強，更專注在工作裡。無論他們潛在的原因是什麼，我個人的心得是，這麼多年跟很多羅馬尼亞人合作以來，可以看出他們工作很努力。另外，羅馬尼亞跟西歐國家比的話工資相對便宜，加上工作態度還有時區優勢， 對很多歐盟國家來說具有吸引力，與其去別的亞洲國家尋找資源，很多歐洲的公司會傾向把資源留在歐洲。

(4)金融服務業：最努力的員工，英國

最近，職業介紹所Morgan McKinley[4]的一份報告中發現，英國金融服務業每週工作約43個小時以上。除此以外，還有新聞報告提到投資銀行每天工作17個小時(每週超過80小時)。最大的原因是，這個行業有帶著根深蒂固的文化，尤其因為高薪造就需要一直工作。與從事該行業的人們交談時，他們評論說，英國的工作時間和生活方式可能與世界其他地方（例如紐約和香港）相同。不過，在2013年， 一名實習生在被安置到一家美國銀行倫敦辦事處時，因連續工作了72個小時之後死亡。加上，這個行業最近也受到了很多媒體的重視，所以未來，他的工作模式有可能會有變化。

在商業文化還有貿易上意味著什麼呢?

熟悉法律: 每個國家都有自己的規則需要遵守，也影響到他們工作的模式。「下班離線權」條款在其他國家如意大利和西班牙中廣受歡迎。 隨著更多國家的採用，可能會制定出更嚴格的規則， 使得跨國合作更困難。尤其是在不同時區工作時，嚴格的工會和公司勞工委員會規則不僅會影響德國的本地項目，還會影響跨國計劃。

幫助設定正確的期望值:了解員工對工作時間的態度有助於設定談判截止日期和服務級別協定（SLA）時更加務實。例如，跟法國人合作的時候，可能需要增加緩衝時間，因為他們對某些業務回應時間有嚴格的需求，而且必須明瞭法國人在下班後可能就 ‘關機’了。

了解限制: 如前面提到德國與英國工作時間規範，不同的國家跟產業對工作時間有不同的標準，靈活性和態度。根據工作國家的不同，你可能需要準備調整工時或支付額外的工資以確保符合規定。

結論

歸根結底，以上只是一些需要注意的趨勢。很多情況下，僅因為它是法規，並不意味著它總是被遵守。 例如，根據Radstad Study[5]，在法國，有71％的員工的工作時間已經超過了合同規定的時間。工作時間受到很多的因素影響，例如文化背景，法律還有個人因素。重要的是，意識到這些驅動因素和國家之間的差異，才能在商場上具備靈活度應對和調整態度適應。

English Version

Working over time? Exploring Working Hours in Europe

Recently, I was on a call to a friend based in Taiwan. As we were approaching the end of our conversation, I checked my watch and realised it was already past 10pm in his time. When I apologised for the late hour, he told me not to worry as he was still working and had to wait for his colleague in Malaysia to come back with some work updates. Upon hearing this, I responded “At this time? Still working!”. My tone was sympathetic towards his long working hours. “It is the Asian way. That is how we do business here. Long hours are normal.” He laughed.

While most Asian countries are notoriously famous for their long working hours, I often get asked about the working hour ethics in Europe.I knew that long working days are the norm rather than the exception in many parts of Asia but, at the same time, shorter working hours doesn’t mean that the Europeans are less hard working. To explore this topic further, we need to firstlyremember that Europe is made up of many different countries.There are44 countries (including Russia and Turkey) and,according to the latest Eurostat report, in 2019,Europeans worked on average 36.2 hours a week in their main job [1]. Eastern European countries generally works longer than Western European countries, with Romanians topping the chart with 40.5 working hours per week, followed by Bulgarians at 40.4 hours per week. On the other end, the countries with the shortest working hours were Norway at 33.5hrs and the Netherlands at 29.3hrs. On top of that, the working hour ethic can be completely different depending on the regulation in the individual country, cultural background, industry and job roles (plus individual personality).

In order to paint the whole picture of the differences, I have grouped below a few ‘popular stereotypes’ in Europe including legislation, culture and industry to explore their working hour culture.

Legislation: The right to disconnect from work, France

The French currently work around 35 hours per week and have one of the most protective legislation in terms of workers’ rights. In 2016, the French worker have won the ‘droit à la déconnexion’ (the right to disconnect’), which basically means that workers are allowed to ignore business emails from their devices (eg. mobile phone) after work time and the company may be fined, if this rule is broken. This law was officially introduced in 2017 with the aim to help boost the work-life balance of the workers, particularly targeting workers who felt pressured at being ‘available’ at all the times.

So far, I have not heard of any complaints about this law by the people that I have worked with over the last few years, although I could see this may have an impact on people working in different time zones or in time pressured jobs, which may require shorter response times.

Trade Union/ Works Council: Strict work rules, Germany

Germans are well-known for separating their work and personal life. They work hard and efficiently within the dedicated working hours but also take their personal time seriously. A major reason for being able to achieve such a strong hold on to their work-life balance is probably due to the power of the trade union (Gewerkschaften) and Work Council (Betriebsrat). Wages, working hours and various elements of the working conditions are being decided by trade unions, while Works Councils are formed within the companies, typically in mid-large organisations and represent the workers and ensure that their voices are heard. Furthermore, under the German Act on Working Time (Arbeitszeitgesetz) [2], an employee's working hours are limited to a maximum of 8-hours per working day and 48-hours per week and working at the weekend are typically prohibited. If an employer breaches this rules, they can be fined up to €15,000, while the manager could be held personally liable for the breach too. Alternatively, workers can also refuse to work if they feel that the employer is in breach of the law and claims damages for their over time.

The fact is, that the above is an over simplified explanation of their system, the trade union and the workers’ legislation is very complicated. What I do want to highlight is how the Germans take the workers’ rights seriously and I can’t remember the countless times that the word ‘works council’ gets mentioned in our discussions and we have to work around it. As an example, one time a German colleague had to go back to the hotel ‘to rest’ in the middle of a project deployment at a customer site because his ‘working hour limit’ was up. Conversely, the English colleague had to continue working as the worker rules were not as strict in the UK. Although we felt it wasn’t fair for our British colleague to work ‘overtime’, it was, undeniably a relieve to know that the project could continue because otherwise the delays and penalty costs to the company would be unimaginable.

Culture: The longest working hour nation, Romania

Romania has the longest working hours in Europe and, according to a research from ‘Eurofound’[3], it was found that in 2016, 67%of respondents in Romania were too tired from work to do household jobs at least several times a month. 52% of respondents in Romania experienced difficulties in fulfilling family responsibilities at least several times a month due to work, a significantly higher percentage than the EU average of 38%. These statistics say a lot about their long working hour culture.

I spoke to a few Romanian friends about the reason for the long working hour ethic and was told that this behaviour was probably rooted in their history. Until recent years, there have been little social support from the government and fewer job opportunities, therefore the Romanians had to learn to be more competitive and to dedicate more time to their work. Regardless of the reasons, over the years, I have worked with many Romanians and saw their devotion towards their work. From my observations, I felt that the cheaper rate of human resources (compared to Western Europe), their work ethics plus the convenience of the shared time zone have made Romanian companies more appealing as working partners to many Europe-based companies, compared to other Asian countries.

Financial Services Industry: Hardest workers, UK

In a recent report by Morgan Mckinley [4], it was found that the UK financial services sector works about 43+ hours per week, with investment bankers rumoured to work 17 hours per day (over 80 hours per week). There was also a deeply rooted culture in this industry to work at all times due to the high paying salary. Speaking with people working in this industry, they commented that the working hour and lifestyle was probably the same as in other places in the world like, for example, New York and Hong Kong. Being burnt out is also common in this industry. In 2013, an intern in the UK died after, allegedly, working for 72 hours straight during his placement at the London offices of an American bank. More recently, their long working hours have been in the spotlight due to the reports from Goldman Sachs in the USA [6].

What does that mean to you as a foreigner when doing business in these countries?

Be familiar with the rules: each country has its own rules and regulations that affect individual behaviours when conducting business. Legislations like the ’right to disconnect’ have become popular across other countries like Italy and Spain. The strict union and works council rules can affect not only local projects in Germany but also cross-country ones.

Help set the right expectations: understanding the attitudes and expectations towards working hours can help set more realistic expectations when negotiating deadlines and service level agreements (SLAs). For example, in a business environment where response times may be critical, it might be necessary to add in buffer time might be needed in France where no response should be expected after work hour.

Understand the limits: as seen in the German vs British working hour example, different countries and industries are characterised by different capabilities, flexibilities and attitudes towards working hour time. Depending on the country of employment, this information may help adjust human resources or additional labour costs to ensure you meet the requirements.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, these are just some trends to be aware of. In many cases, only because there is a legislation, it doesn't mean that it is always followed. For example,according to Radstad Study[5],in France, 71% of employees do work more than what was indicated in their contract.There are many factors associated with working hours, for example, culture, legal and personal reasons. It is important to be aware of these driving factors and the differences between countries as well as to have the flexibility to adjust to the specific attitudes of our counterparts.

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/5/5c/Map1_Average_number_of_usual_hours_of_work_of_employees-01.jpg

[2] https://www.simmons-simmons.com/en/publications/ck0daernndrsq0b94fr99053d/04-working-time-in-germany

[3] https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/country/romania#worklife-balance

[4] https://www.morganmckinley.com/uk/article/comparing-working-hours-and-flexibility-across-sectors

[5] https://www.nouvelobs.com/economie/20160922.OBS8583/mais-qui-travaille-vraiment-35-heures-par-semaine.html

[6] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56452494