The guidelines state that ministry staff should not be penalised for switching off their mobiles or failing to pick up messages out of hours.
The move follows similar restrictions on out-of-hours email imposed by German firms including Volkswagen, BMW and Puma. VW stops forwarding emails to staff from its company servers half an hour after the end of the working day, while other firms have declared that workers are not expected to check email at weekends or in their free time.
The labour ministry's rules only allow contact if the task cannot be postponed until the next working day. Managers should apply a principle of "minimum intervention" into workers' free time and keep the number of people whose spare time is disrupted as low as possible.
The code is part of a broader agreement covering remote working. Ursula von der Leyen, the labour minister, told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung the rules had been drawn up to protect workers' mental health. The minister said that it was important for remote workers to know: "When they have to be available, and when they don't. They now have this clarity in black and white." » | Jeevan Vasagar, Berlin | Friday, August 30, 2013
My comment:
This is a very sensible development. All work and no play makes Hans a very dull boy. The same should apply all over Europe. And all over America too, if it comes to that. We need to stop employers ruling the roost. Working hard is all well and good. Necessary, in fact. But just as important is for the employee to have his/her free time, without interruption. Good on Germany! The Germans know how to do things. – © Mark
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