Schutz vor psychischen Belastungen durch die Individualisierung des Arbeitszeitrechts

The spatial and temporal delimitation of work as a result of the digitisation of the working environment has had a considerable impact on the psyche of employees. It should be noted that there are certain tasks which employees no longer consider to be a significant burden on their leisure time, in the evening or on holiday and which are, nevertheless, prohibited because the maximum working time has been exceeded (§ 3 ArbZG) or because the rest period has been interrupted (§ 5 ArbZG). There is, therefore, a need to make working time legislations more flexible. The concept of the “Belastungsschutzvereinbarung” (BSV) makes it possible to deviate from the rigid provisions of working time law and, at the same time, guarantees health protection tailored to the individual needs of each case. How this can be achieved, and which legal limits must be observed, is the subject of this paper.