Press Release No. 44/2016 IG Metall denounces approximately 1 billion hours of unpaid overtime – Campaign for “World Day for ...”

Berlin/Frankfurt am Main – On Friday in Berlin, IG Metall protested the rise in unpaid overtime by placing 100,000 balls in front of the House of German Business (BDI/BDA). “The balls symbolically represent the total of 100,000 hours of unpaid overtime that Germany’s workers perform in just one hour a day,” explained Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall.

Under the slogan “More Jobs, Not More Work,” IG Metall spoke out on “World Day for Decent Work” against the rampant increase in work without compensation. “In recent years, employers have enormously increased the pressure for greater flexibility, availability, and productivity at the expense of workers. This is deeply unfair. Every hour worked counts and must be paid,” Hofmann demanded.

According to research by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the number of unpaid overtime hours rose in 2015 for the third consecutive year. A total of 1.8 billion hours of overtime were worked, but only 816 million of those hours were compensated with time off or pay. In contrast, 997 million hours of overtime were worked by German employees last year without time off in lieu or compensation. According to IG Metall’s calculations, this could create around 600,000 new jobs.

IG Metall participated in the “World Day for Decent Work,” which the International Trade Union Confederation has observed on October 7 since 2008.