BIBB/BAuA 2018
Fixed-term employment:
Employment relationship with uncertainties
35 baua: Facts
In 2018, 4.7 million employees in Germany were in fixed-term employment.
1In its 2018 coalition agreement, the federal government highlighted the partially precarious situation of fixed-term em- ployees and set itself the task of counteracting the disproportional rate of fixed-term employment contracts. Currently, fixed-term employment is still a permanent feature of the German labour mar- ket. This is reason enough to take a closer look at the working and health situation of fixed-term employees based on the BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey 2018.
Fixed-term employment in Germany
Employment on a fixed-term basis refers to various forms of employment in which the contract specifies the start and finish dates of that employment. The German Part- Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (Teilzeit- und Be- fristungsgesetz; ”TzBfG”) is the main law regulating the- se employment relationships. The reasons for fixed-term employment vary greatly on the part of companies and employees. According to a study by the Institute for Em- ployment Research (IAB), the most important reason for companies is to check whether workers are suited for the job.² The most frequently cited reason by employees for entering a fixed-term contract is that it is an apprentice- ship training position.1
Younger workers in particular are employed on a fixed-term basis
The analyses using the BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey 2018, which is based on around 17,000 employees, show that younger employees in particular are employed on a fixed-term basis (15 to 34-year-olds: 24 %). By compari- son, the proportion is 8 % among 35- to 54-year-olds and 7 % among those over 55 years. In a comparison of econo- mic sectors, public and private services have the highest share of fixed-term employees (19 %). Fixed-term con- tracts are least common in manufacturing (7 %) and con- struction (6 %). When observing the vocational qualifica- tion, it becomes clear that fixed-term employment is most widespread among people who do not have a vocational qualification (26 %). Among those with a vocational quali- fication, fixed-term employment is most common among those with an academic degree (17 %).
Insecurity and dissatisfaction more common among fixed-term employees
In order to avoid mixing the effects of fixed-term, part- time, and temporary agency work, only full-time employees who are not temporary agency workers and who provided information on their fixed-term status were included in the following analyses (fixed-term: n = 1,173, permanent:
n = 10,826). Figure 1 shows that fixed-term employees are more likely than permanent workers to experience high levels of job insecurity, to earn less than 1,500 euros per month, to be dissatisfied with their income, and to be dis- satisfied with their work overall. Deeper analyses show that individual fixed-term employee groups are particularly af- fected by job and financial insecurity as well as dissatisfac- tion. For example, among academics, the difference in job insecurity between fixed-term and permanent employees is immense (fixed-term: 34 %, permanent: 4 %). Differences in dissatisfaction with income are particularly evident in the 35-54 age group (fixed-term: 37 %, permanent: 23 %).
Fig. 1 Job situation by employment relationship (in %)
85 9091 (very) satisfied
29 2425 less/not satisfied
71 7576 (very) satisfied
15 109 less/not satisfied
24 46 (very) high
76 9496 low/no insecurity at
all/does not wish to be retained
15 35 yes
83 9395 no
job insecurity
income under 1.500€
income satisfactionjob satisfaction 0 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %
total permanent
fixed-term basis
baua: Factsheet Fixed-term employment: Employment relationship with uncertainties
2Impressum | Publisher: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Friedrich-Henkel-Weg 1–25, D-44149 Dortmund, Phone: +49 231 9071-2071, E-Mail: info-zentrum@baua.bund.de, Internet: www.baua.de |
Authors: L. Hünefeld, A. Siefer, Editor: Dr. G. Meilicke, Design: M. Marano | doi:10.21934/baua:facts20210702 | August 2021
35
Further information
1 Federal Statistical Office, 2019. F Subject-matter series 1, series 4.1, Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit 2018.
Available at: https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Arbeit/
Arbeitsmarkt/Erwerbstaetigkeit/Publikationen/
_publikationen-erwerbstaetigkeit.html
2 Hohendanner, Christian, 2019. Immer mehr befristet Beschäftigte werden übernommen. IAB-Forum.
Available at: https://www.iab-forum.de/immer-mehr- befristet-beschaeftigte-werden-uebernommen/
3 Hünefeld, Lena & Siefer, Anke, 2020. Befristung – Beschäftigungsverhältnis mit Chancen und Risiken.
In: sicher ist sicher, 71 (5), 238¬242
Better health outcomes among fixed-term employees?
Fixed-term employees slightly more often report being in excellent or very good health and suffering less often from musculoskeletal complaints. Psychosomatic complaints occur to a similar extent in both groups (see figure 2).
Further analyses show, however, that fixed-term employees do not report a better state of health in every employment group. For example, this difference is only evident within one age group. Among the 55-plus year olds, fixed-term employees (31 %) are significantly more likely to report ex- cellent or very good health than those without a fixed-term contract (22 %). Furthermore, among employees with aca- demic degrees, a better health status can be shown among those with fixed-term contracts (55 %, permanent: 46 %).
In the group with in-company/school-based vocational training, however, no clear differences by fixed-term status are discernible (fixed-term basis: 30 %, permanent: 29 %).
However, when comparing academics on a fixed-term ba- sis with academics on a permanent basis within the age groups (15 to 34, 35 to 54 and 55+ years), there is no dif- ference in health status by employment status. The overall results indicate that better health outcomes among fixed- term workers are not so much the result of their fixed-term status but primarily caused by the fact that there are more younger workers in this group.
Fig. 2 Health situation by employment relationship (in %) 3 and more
complaints no complaints
42 4043 29
3030 30 2728 1-2 complaints
excellent, very good 39
3333
61 6767 good, not so
good, bad
3 and more complaints no complaints
33 3636 35 2930
32 3535 1-2 complaints
State of healthNumber of musculoskeletal complaints
Number of psycho- somatic complaints
0 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 % total permanent
fixed-term basis
Conclusion
The analyses show that most fixed-term employees are in a precarious situation, characterized by job insecurity, partly low incomes, and higher job and income dissatis- faction. With regard to health, fixed-term employees are generally in better health than permanent employees.
However, more in-depth analyses indicate that the fixed- term employment relationship itself is not primarily re- lated to better health; rather, better health outcomes can be explained by socio-demographic characteristics such as age. Results from the IAB also show that more and more fixed-term employees are getting permanent work contracts.² Furthermore, a fixed-term employment relationship can facilitate access to the labour market.
At the same time, however, it entails a certain risk of becoming unemployed again after the contract period has expired. The resulting uncertainty can be a stress factor and lead to negative health effects in the long term.
English translation. German original version available:
doi:10.21934/baua:fakten20200714
