To reduce physical exertion when working in the scorching sun or in offices without air conditioning, the company’s doctors in Germany now suggest a lunch break of up to three hours a day. In Salzburg, they met with rejection – for example, from the company doctor and medical director of the AMD occupational medicine service, Franz Sedlmeyer.
“Introducing a longer lunch break is difficult for us because we currently have no legal basis for it. Politicians would be called upon to lay the groundwork, and other structural conditions would also have to be provided: child care, rest periods and, of course, breaks. Furthermore, no employee wants to work four or five hours, for example, then take an unpaid break of several hours and continue working again,” says Sedlmeyer.
Salzburgers prefer flexible working hours to naps
The preference is to make working hours more flexible, says AK President Peter Eder. “Start the hours earlier, finish the work earlier and, of course, maintain the 32.5 degrees – as has now been agreed. As a chamber of workers and unions, we would like there to be a legal anchorage and the temperature to be limited to 30 degrees”, says Eder.
Employees also react negatively to the suggestion: “I think I can get that out of my head, because what do you do in three hours? People can’t go home, I think it’s totally insane to think about it,” says foreman Anton Vitztum.
In the magistrate there are no rooms for afternoon naps
“It’s difficult, you need a space where people can really relax, so they can take a nap. A quick search of my office revealed that my colleagues don’t want that. You prefer to start earlier. In our municipal administration, office work starts at 6.30 am,” says Karl Schupfer, head of the Salzburg city information centre.
Flexible time management is also not possible in many professions. On the jobsite, however, technical aids would be appreciated: “We still have old cranes. It’s incredibly hot in there, so it’s important to make sure something is being done in there,” says foreman Vitztum.