Schaeffler: Short-time working will be possible from September

The works council and the top management agree on labor market measures

ERLANGEN / HERZOGENAURACH - Works council and Group management of Schaeffler agree on labor market policy measures. There is no mention of "fear" about closing days and short-time working in the works council.

Short-time work is also possible at the Schaeffler Group from September. Affected is then part of the approximately 400 employees of special purpose machinery in Frauenaurach.

The two August closing days at the automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler are over, the next ones are already on 4 and 5 October - and the introduction of short-time working is possible due to lack of capacity utilization for special purpose machinery in the Erlangen plant from September. Affected would then be part of the approximately 400 employees.

"Many colleagues are worried about what could come next," says the works council chairman Hanna Köhler. Even if the employee representative does not want to talk about "fear," she does notice a sense of insecurity in the workforce. The "worst case", as she says, the worst case scenario, is always redundancy - and they try to prevent the management and works council together.

Short-time working is a "necessary evil"

Even though "short-time working" is never beautiful, as emphasized by the works council chairman, she considers this a "necessary evil" to "keep the people on board". The labor market policy instrument, which temporarily reduces regular working hours in a company due to a substantial loss of work, already functioned in Herzogenaurach in the crisis year of 2008. "I was not there for a long time and probably would have had to go the first time," recalls Köhler.

Since the preservation of jobs is always the highest goal and is regulated by Schaeffler in company agreements and collective agreements, the works council and the top management also agree on the two measures. "We try to make the best of the situation and to close the closing days, for example, by overtime reduction and shutting down the working time accounts," says the works council chief.

"We are not alone"

Of course, many a colleague "grumbled" about the closing days, since the compensation has always been handled flexibly so far. However, the staff committee made the situation clear and transparent with company meetings and notices, reports Köhler, and has thus come to realize a great deal of understanding.