A short history of flexible hours - historical baselines of working time policy in Germany

This paper analyses the structures and patterns, dimensions and interest relations behind 200 years of working time negotiations and conflicts, based on historical and contemporary literature and research, mainly but not exclusively in Germany. One main thesis is that 'new' flexibilization trends are not new at all, while the effective standardization of working hours is limited to a couple of decades in the 20th century. Nevertheless and for various reasons, working time arrangements are a social and political issue which should not be left to individual contracting but subject to reflexive labour policy.