Annual working hours in Germany (1995), by G. Bosch and S. Lehndorff
This report looks in greater detail at the method of calculating annual working hours that has been commonly used in the past few years. It then offers an analysis of the causes of fluctuations in annual working hours, which may be the result of variations in both production volumes and the availability of personnel over the year because of holidays, absenteeism, etc. The report also focuses on employees' preferences in respect of working time; their attitudes to working on particular days of the week or at certain times of the year vary considerably of course.

The subsequent sections of the report investigate the instruments used by firms in order to cope with variations in personnel levels over the course of the year. The need to deal with considerable fluctuations is nothing new, and over the years, sometimes with government support, firms have developed a broad range of instruments ranging from overtime via short-time working to the skilful timing of days off and holidays. Before examining new forms of annual working time, it is necessary first to look at these tried and tested forms. The report then examines the new instruments used to shape annual working time, such as flexitime, agreements laying down annual working time and new ways of distributing working time in recession. Before a concluding summary, a number of case studies are presented.