The examination of a Turkish with Germany: Humanity at Working Environment
Living abroad is not easy. It is even very though many times. You are far from your family, your old friends, the places you have known for a long time. However, it is also a great experience and it can have many advantages depends on in which country and at which company you are working.
Working Hours in Germany
Although it depends on your contract you have, most of the white-collar workers in Germany generally work for 8 hours. You may need to work more or less according to the workload of the day, but the maximum legal working hours is limited to 10 hours in a day by law, so your manager cannot demand from you to work more than 10 hours in a day.
Overtime Payment in Germany
According to my observation, companies generally prefer to pay your overtime with under time. That is, if you work more than your contract hour, they sum all the overtime you worked and they give the opportunity to work less than your contract hour that equals to your sum of overtime. If you work 8 hours in overtime, you even get a 1 day off, which means one more vacation day. If the workload is too high and giving under time is not possible, then they might prefer to pay it as additional money on your salary, but it seems not so common.
My Experience for Overtime in Germany
At my previous company, I had to work more than my contract hours several times. It was normal because of the nature of the work. I used some of my overtime as a vacation when I need them. I also received some money for the overtime that I did not use as a holiday. On the other hand, at my current company I rarely worked overtime after some extraordinary situation.
Humanity at Working Environment in Germany
Of course I will not give too much details about what happened at the work because it is unethical, but I want to share my personal feeling about the issue because we should all get a lecture from it. When I need to work a little bit more than my normal working schedule, my buddy was so sorry about the situation. She tried to find solutions about the case, thanked for my patience and hard work and also asked my feelings. Without giving her name, I want to thank her to remind me that I am a human-being, not a machine or a slave. I want to thank her for making me feel important and valued.
Do not normalise the abnormal working conditions
We should not normalise the abnormal working conditions. All of us have a life apart from our profession. We have our family, our friends and other daily stuffs to do on a basic day. We cannot give our all for our jobs. Although working hard is an important characteristic for development, we should do it efficiently and humanly. We should care for other people’s emotions and never forget that they have their own life apart from their jobs.
Gül Dila Dinçsoy
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