Working hours: Working time fraud: How companies can defend themselves
Doing laundry, going shopping, watching Netflix: Again and again, employees take care of private matters during their working hours. Where the fraud begins and what companies can do about it.
In Berlin, employees are found to be cheating on their work hours by making themselves believe they are working while they actually do something else, such as resting, shopping, working out, or cooking. This form of work time fraud is not as uncommon as one might think in Germany. A survey conducted by the market research institute Consumerfieldwork revealed that 13 percent of 1000 German employees regularly fail to accurately record their work hours.
Moreover, three-quarters of the participants admitted to engaging in personal activities during work time when they were supposed to be working.
Work time fraud is not a trivial offense, but has significant economic consequences, according to Sascha Stowasser, who heads the Institute for Applied Labor Sciences (IFAA) and has been researching labor market changes for many years. "Sick days are very costly for companies." So when does poor morale end and fraud begin? And what can managers do to combat this issue?
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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