Pick Your Hours

German workers have a well-earned reputation for zeal and discipline, but even they hate the time clock. Recognizing that, a growing number of employers, including the national airline Lufthansa, are giving some of their employees freedom to punch in, within broad limits, any time they choose in the morning and punch out when they please in the afternoon, as long as they continue to put in a required number of hours each month.

The system, called Gleitende Arbeitszeit (staggered work time) was begun four years ago by the aircraft and electronics firm of Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm, mostly because company bosses saw no other way of breaking the thick traffic tie-ups that developed when all employees tried to arrive at 7 a.m. Staggered hours have since been adopted by some 2,000 other firms, which find that the new freedom pares absenteeism by as much as 20% and actually increases productivity.

Work Credit. Messerschmitt's system is fairly typical. Some 7,000 employees may punch in at any time between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and leave between 3:45 p.m. and 6 p.m. They still must put in an average of 42 1/2 hours and work five days a week, but in any month they also have the option of working ten extra hours, building up a credit they can draw on for additional free time the next month, or putting in ten fewer hours and making them up the following month.

Erich Bolzer, a metalworker, says: "If I have enough hours on credit, I sometimes leave at noon, pack my family in my Ford, and visit the Munich shopping centers and bargain counters of the department stores. I figure that I save 15% to 20% in living costs this way." Messerschmitt officials are equally pleased: they find that employees arrange things among themselves so that the flow of work is not hurt.

The way workers choose to exercise their freedom is an intriguing study in psychology. White-collar workers tend to punch in late and work late; factory men usually come early and leave early. The experiment has attracted the attention of the German government, which allows most of the 1,000 employees of the Transport Ministry to arrive and leave within two-hour margins. The Bonn Cabinet will review results and decide whether to extend staggered working hours throughout the government. Unions are paying attention too. They are asking for a 2% raise for workers on staggered hours, arguing that it is justifiable repayment for lower absenteeism and higher productivity.

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