Die Sonn- und Feiertagsruhe. Section 9 of the Working Hours Act prohibits work on Sundays and public holidays as a general rule, with exceptions for healthcare, transport, hospitality, emergency services and media. The protection of Sunday is not a workplace policy. It is a general prohibition with specific carve-outs, and the carve-outs have to be justified.
The Working Hours Act
Das Arbeitszeitgesetz. German law caps the working day at eight hours, extendable to ten only if the average returns to eight within six months. The ten-hour limit is absolute. Eleven uninterrupted hours of rest are required between working days. Breaks are mandatory: thirty minutes after six hours of work, forty-five after nine.
Since a Federal Labour Court ruling in 2022, all working time must be recorded.
No reminder needed when the date was agreed
German law normally requires the creditor to send a reminder before the debtor is formally in default. But where the parties have fixed a performance date by the calendar, no reminder is required at all — § 286 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 BGB. Default begins the moment the date passes.
The Latin maxim is quoted in German textbooks: dies interpellat pro homine — the day admonishes in place of the man.
A German who agreed a date does not expect to be chased, and the law agrees with him.
Registering concerns
German construction law places a duty on the contractor: where he has concerns about the intended method of execution, about materials supplied by the client, or about the work of other trades, he must notify the client immediately and in writing, and preferably before starting. The provision is § 4 Abs. 3 VOB/B.
Doing so releases him from liability for defects arising from those points. Failing to do so leaves him liable for consequential damage he did not cause.
The obligation runs the wrong way for a contractor’s own interest, and it is the law.
Fristsetzung
The German term Fristsetzung conveys the concept of deadline setting; defining clear time limits. It is culturally significant because used in contracts and offers to ensure predictability.
“They pay their bills“
The German newspaper, Die Welt, complimented the Chinese highly when it wrote that they pay for their Mercedes Benz automobiles on-time. Zahlungsmoral literally means payment morals.
Zuverlässigkeit is not only a human, but also a product characteristic. Germans expect dependability and durability, especially in technical areas. German power producers constantly stress the Zuverlässigkeit of their nuclear power plants.
Infrastructure in Germany is expected to have 100% Zuverlässigkeit. Brown- or blackouts of the electricity grids occur very rarely. The telephone network almost never fails. Lack of reliability in Germany quickly leads to protests by customers and citizens.
Tausend gute Taten machen keine schlechte gut. A thousand good deeds don‘t make up for one bad one. Wenn ich mich auf Dich verlasse, bin ich verlassen. To be dependent on you means to have been abandoned.
Unzuverlässigkeit is the opposite of Zuverlässigkeit. In the German context, to be labeled unreliable or undependable is a serious criticism, a flaw not easily removed. Unreliable people are not trusted, their reputation is damaged. It is the same for unreliable products.
If commitments are not met it is imperative to prove that external factors were the cause. Unzuverlässigkeit – unreliability – costs time and money and increases risk, which Germans do their best to keep at a minimum.
A German reporting from a state in the former Soviet Union: “The same problems keep repeating themselves. Aspects of important agreements are changed suddenly, which is not a problem as long as everyone is informed quickly. In team meetings we agree to a schedule, which shortly thereafter is not held to due to delays in the delivery of material, which had been ordered two weeks late. When we then contact other sources we find out that they are out of stock. Our work processes get written down, but within a month or two no one knows where they are or what they mean.”
Germans have great difficulty dealing with lack of reliability. Even with their own high standards do they have their problems. Compared to other countries, public transportation in Germany is very reliable. But not dependable enough for the Germans. The same goes for weather forecasts, an imprecise science. Not reliable.
Zuverlässigkeit
Germans plan far into the future. This only makes sense, though, if all involved are reliable in sticking to the plan. Zuverlässigkeit – dependability, reliability, soundness, trustworthiness – delivering what you promised by the date you agreed to.
Zuverlässigkeit is so critical to Germans that it is considered a virtue, as a matter of personal character developed over time. Zuverlässigkeit, therefore, needs to be demonstrated from the very beginning of a working relationship. It is the basis for trust.
Auf Wunder ist kein Verlass. Don’t depend on miracles. Eines ist sicher: Die Rente. One thing is for sure: social security. Und er rollt und rollt und rollt – Der VW Golf. And it goes, and goes, and goes – the VW Rabbit.
No news is bad news
No one likes cancellations or major modifications. Certainly not Germans. But they deal with them openly and quickly, making the necessary adjustments, including informing as soon as possible any and all people whose work is effected by the change. Colleagues who hear about cancellations, changes, or modifications late or via third parties feel insulted, and that their work has been degraded.
Particularly in German politics bad news is often communicated via the media. A politician who is failing or has become unpopular and is to be fired from their position might hear about it from the news media first. For them it is doubly hurtful. To inform people quickly is a sign of professionalism and respect for the other person. Delays are interpreted as tactical maneuvering, as a loss of trust.
Figures of speech: Einem Information aus der Nase ziehen. To pull information out of the other person’s nose. Wissen ist Macht. Knowledge is power. Information bunkern. To bunker or hoard information.
Angry shop owners. A brief article in a German regional newspaper. “Hardly any of the townsfolk are angry about the construction site. Traffic has to be redirected. Parking spaces have been reduced. The citizens of the town take it all in stride.
What makes them angry, however, is the lack of information communicated by the town government. Particularly the shop owners are angry whenever they are informed late about construction work done in their street. And some residents are irritated because they could not inform companies from out of town in time who are delivering furniture and such.“
Decision-Making Process
Germans are process oriented. They think through how a task is best completed. Germans set up work processes which are logical, structured, can be monitored and optimized. Since there is no action without first a decision to act, Germans focus on how decisions are made.
The more complex the decision, the more carefully Germans consider how they make it. Who will be affected by the decision? Who has the final say about the decision? Who has what rights and responsibilities? Germans believe that routine, yet complex, decisions are best made with the help of a decision-making process. And the better the process, the better the decisions made.
The Germans are methodical. In order to maintain Überblick (overview) and Durchblick (throughview) they distinguish carefully between specific steps and their individual requirements within a decision making process. Germans believe that a methodical approach minimizes mistakes.
They also assign a generous time frame to an important decision. In order to move carefully through the process they allow for the repetition of certain steps. Germans believe in moving to the next step in a process only after the preceding step has been completed properly. Patience and thoroughness are critical.
A methodical approach means a well-structured process with sequential action. The clearer the process, the tighter and more logical the sequence of the individual steps, the better coordinated all of the related activities.
Method. Latin methodus, Greek méthodos: The path of analysis, the route to somewhere; a set way to reach insight; a specific way of doing something; the path to a specific goal; based on a plan; well thought through.
German education stresses methodology. University students receive their degrees after demonstrating in a thesis that they have mastered the methodologies current in their field of study. The first part of a thesis goes into great detail about the specific methodology of analysis applied to the subject.
Sequence. Latin sequentia: order of things; to place similar things in line; repetition of a musical motif; shorter pieces of a movie put in a specific order; series of cards in a row.
The Servant on call
The Germans says: “Only servants need be reachable at all times.” It’s a figure of speech many German managers use to signal that they cannot always respond immediately to team member questions, nor can they be reached directly. Team members are often asked – and trained – to only contact their boss if it is truly important.