Interview with the Dahlem Staff Council staff roster group
Who are the members of the roster group and what are your tasks?
We are staff council members from various departments, e.g. Veterinary Medicine, the Engineering and Utilities Division and the Library. When we took office in December 2020, we were amazed that over 400 employees at the FU work according to a roster.
What was the initial situation when you started?
Many duty rosters were not submitted for co-determination. We realised that there were far too few staff to cover shifts, which led to work overload and hazardous situations. In addition, although there were night and weekend shifts, the extra hours were not paid. The employees compensated for the lack of staff by working overtime.
What has been achieved?
We have gradually been able to enforce the payment of supplements. And we were also able to ensure that rest periods are observed after night shifts. Since we enforced the payment of overtime supplements, it is no longer worth attempting to cover up staff shortages by means of overtime. The consistent monitoring of duty rosters has brought improvements and made it possible to uncover the shortcomings so that they could be addressed.
What do you want to achieve in future?
The rostering process must be digitalised for the benefit of all involved. Duty roster planners need software to be able to draw up schedules quickly. Payroll accounting needs to be connected to the software. This way, supplements are documented in a binding manner, can be calculated automatically and paid quickly. In our view, this is the key to bringing about a noticeable improvement for everyone involved.
Information on the new election of the Dahlem staff council
The elections will take place from April 23rd. until May 10, 2024.