German works councils enforce VW’s work-life balance!

Germany has long been noted for the strength of its trade unions, and the power of the works councils in manufacturing industries. Concerned about the blurring of the divide between work and home life, Volkswagen’s powerful works council has struck an agreement with management that most employees who use a company BlackBerry will be subject to new email restrictions. The company’s email server will cease routing messages 30 minutes after the end of an employee’s shift and will only begin sending mails again half an hour before the next working day begins.

The agreement is expected to affect around 1,000 employees whose pay is governed by a collective wage tariff agreements, ie those who are members of recognised unions. It does not apply to senior management or other workers who fall outside trade union-negotiated pay brackets. VW workers, according to the report in the FT, have been working flat out, trying to achieve a corporate objective - to overtake GM and Toyota to become the world’s largest car maker. They recently reported producing an extra 50,000 extra cars which puts them on track for output of 8mn sales this year. The new email restrictions have been well received by staff, amid concerns about employee burn out in the desperate need to achieve goals in the current tough sales environment. I don’t see this as part of an HR strategy of soft HRM, as the move is forced upon VW by employee representatives rather then introduced by the employer. However, I like the ending to the FT’s report, which says that the VW works council representative “did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. It is unclear if his BlackBerry was switched off.”