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The unprecedented power of Big Tech corporations and the complexity of regulating them requires considering the role of news media as a corporate accountability mechanism. The aim of this article is to examine news media's watchdog role through a performative lens, extending it to the corporate context by looking at three manifestations of performance: media visibility, way of coverage, and sourcing patterns. Based on a longitudinal quantitative content analysis of 920 news stories on Big Tech from four media outlets (2000–2021) in the United States and Germany, we explain variances in the watchdog role taking an over-time, cross-country, and cross-political leaning perspective. Our findings suggest that Big Tech corporations receive little but increasing media attention over the years that is driven by events. Similarly, news coverage contains an increasingly strong presence of a detached watchdog role performance. A more interventionist watchdog role is also on the rise – even though marginally – and political actors are increasingly given a voice in news coverage. From a comparative perspective, our results show that Big Tech corporations are more visible in the US and across right leaning news outlets. US journalists exhibit a more detached approach, while German journalists perform a significantly higher interventionist performance. Corporate sources are overall prominent in the media arena yet dominate more in the US. In conclusion, US and German news media are critical but passive observers over Big Tech corporations and can therefore be labeled a tame yet increasingly growling watchdog when it comes to holding Big Tech accountable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The mental burdens of general practitioners (GPs) and practice assistants (PrAs) during the COVID-19 pandemic are well investigated. Work-related conditions like overtime are known to contribute to perceived chronic stress and burnout symptoms. However, there is limited evidence regarding the specific mechanisms, which link pandemic-related overtime, chronic stress and burnout symptoms. This study used data from the IMPROVEjob trial to improve psychological well-being in general practice personnel. Methods: This prospective study with 226 German GPs and PrAs used the baseline (pre-pandemic: October 2019 to March 2020) and follow-up data (pandemic: October 2020 to April 2021) of the IMPROVEjob trial. Overtime was self-reported as hours above the regular work time. Perceived chronic stress was assessed using the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress Screening Scale (TICS-SSCS), while burnout symptoms were evaluated using a short version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). A mediation analysis investigated the differences of the three main variables between pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Results: Burnout symptoms increased significantly from baseline to follow-up (p = 0.003). Overtime correlated positively with burnout symptoms (Total Effect: 0.13; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.23). Decomposition of the total effect revealed a significant indirect effect over perceived chronic stress (0.11; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.18) and no significant direct effect (0.02; 95% CI: −0.08, 0.12), indicating a full mediation. Conclusion: In this large longitudinal study, pandemic-related overtime led to significantly higher levels of burnout symptoms, linked by a pathway through perceived chronic stress. Future prevention strategies need to aim at reducing the likelihood of overtime to ensure the mental well-being of practice personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Due to recent trends such as globalization and digitalization, more and more employees tend to have flexible working time arrangements, including boundaryless working hours. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships of various aspects of boundaryless working hours (overtime, Sunday work, and extended work availability) with employees' state of recovery. Besides, we examined the mediating and moderating role of recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control) in these relationships. Methods: We used data from 8586 employees (48% women; average age of 48 years) who took part in the 2017 BAuA-Working Time Survey, a representative study of the German working population. Regression analyses were conducted to test main effects as well as mediation and moderation. Results: Overtime work, Sunday work, and extended work availability were negatively related to state of recovery. Psychological detachment mediated these relationships. Furthermore, we found that relaxation and control mediated the association between extended work availability and state of recovery. However, no relevant moderating effects were found. Conclusions: Altogether, our findings indicate that various aspects of boundaryless working hours pose a risk to employees' state of recovery and that especially psychological detachment is a potential mechanism in these relationships. In addition, the results suggest that a high level of recovery experiences cannot attenuate these negative relationships in leisure time. Therefore, employers and employees alike should try to avoid or minimize boundaryless working hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat in humans and animals, and antimicrobial usage (AMU) has been identified as a main trigger of AMR. The purpose of this work was to compare data on AMR in clinical and non-clinical isolates of Escherichia coli in German broilers and turkeys between 2014 and 2017. Furthermore, we investigated AMR changes over time and the association of changes in AMU with changes in AMR. Data on clinical and non-clinical isolates together with data on therapy frequency of broilers and turkeys were collected from German monitoring systems. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between the explanatory factors (AMU, year and isolate type) and the dependent variable (AMR). In broilers, the analysis showed lower resistance proportions of clinical isolates of E. coli to ampicillin and colistin (ampicillin: Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.44 (0.3–0.64), p<0.001; colistin: OR and 95% CI = 0.75 (0.73–0.76), p<0.001) but higher proportions for cefotaxime (OR and 95% CI = 4.58 (1.56–15.1), p = 0.007). Resistance to ampicillin, gentamicin and tetracycline was less frequent in clinical isolates in turkeys (ampicillin: OR and 95% CI = 0.4 (0.29–0.53), p<0.001; gentamicin: OR and 95% CI = 0.5 (0.26–0.94), p = 0.035; tetracycline: OR and 95% CI = 0.4 (0.29–0.55), p<0.001). The analysis found decreasing associations of AMU with resistance to tetracycline in turkeys and to colistin in broilers. Year was associated with a decrease in resistance to colistin in broilers and to tetracycline in turkeys. Differences in resistance found in this study between clinical and non-clinical isolates might play an important role in resistance prevalence. This study indicated that further data analyses over longer time intervals are required to clarify the differences found between clinical and non-clinical isolates and to assess the long-term effects of changes in AMU on the prevalence of AMR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the effects of flexible working-time arrangements on cognitive work-to-home spillover for women and men in Germany. It analyzes (1) how schedule control, i.e. flexitime and working-time autonomy, and the lack of control, i.e. fixed schedules and employer-oriented flexible schedules, are related to work-to-home spillover and (2) whether these relationships are mediated by job pressure and overtime hours. The multivariate analyses based on the German Socio-Economic Panel Study in 2011 and 2012 show that employees have the most spillover with working-time autonomy and employer-oriented schedules and the least with flexitime and fixed schedules. Working-time autonomy is related to a higher cognitive work-to-home spillover, but only for men, and mainly due to overtime hours. Working-time unpredictability and unreliability seem to be reasons for higher spillover with employer-oriented schedules. This, however, is the case mostly for women, i.e., only women are likely to experience cognitive spillover with employer-oriented flexible schedules—above and beyond job pressure and overtime hours. Moreover, women, but not men, seem to suffer less with flexitime. This study provides evidence to show in which way distinct flexible working-time arrangements contribute to work-to-home spillover and reinforce gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study analyzes the relation between works councils and overtime hours in Germany. The estimated effects differ considerably in dependence of standard contracted working time. Furthermore, we find differences across the quantiles of the overtime hours distribution and these differences between quantiles also vary between employees of establishment with and without works councils. By considering contracted working time effects and comparing conditional quantiles we find in some quantiles that employees of establishments with a works council have a higher amount of overtime hours if an employee regularly works 35 hours per week. This effect diminishes with increasing quantiles of the distribution of overtime hours. If an employee of a codetermined establishment regularly works 40 hours per week, overtime hours are reduced. This reduction becomes larger if higher quantiles are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how intra generational class mobility can lead to differing over-time trends in inter generational class mobility depending on when class destination is measured in individuals' careers. Specifically, it tackles the puzzle why increases in social fluidity are observed when class destination is measured at labour market entry, while only trendless fluctuation is found when class destination is measured 15 years later in Germany and the UK. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984–2019) and the UK Household Longitudinal Survey (2009–2020) on respondents entering the labour market during the second half of the twentieth century, the analyses show that this divergence is driven by increases in 'counter mobility' that are subject to country-specific patterns. In the UK, rising counter mobility results from a growing proportion of individuals from salariat origins who enter the labour market in a lower class position but experience upward career mobility. In Germany, it is driven by a rising proportion of individuals from working class backgrounds who start their careers in a higher class but experience downward career mobility. No evidence for origin-specific changes in the relative importance of upward and downward career mobility is found. The results provide a strikingly similar picture for women and men in either country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though women today constitute the majority of higher education graduates, they still earn considerably less than their male counterparts. Previous research demonstrates that occupational sex segregation is important for understanding the gender wage gap, since occupations dominated by women pay less; yet less is known about why this is the case. This article explores two possible mechanisms: the devaluation of ‘female-typical’ work tasks and working-time arrangements. Hypotheses are tested by applying OLS regression and Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analyses to the log hourly wages of a representative sample of German higher education graduates from 2001. Results confirm that occupational overtime increases and occupational part-time work decreases wages, indicating that occupations dominated by women pay less due to their ‘female-typical’ working-time arrangements. However, inconsistent with the devaluation thesis, tasks like teaching/educating increase wages for women, too, which speaks against a general lower value of ‘female-typical’ tasks, at least among the highly qualified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an explanation for the empirically proven relationship between overtime and future benefits. We suggest an internal signaling model, in which a worker signals his value to the employer by supplying unpaid overtime. In our empirical analysis, we examine whether overtime has in fact a signaling component. Variations in collectively bargained hours between industries are exploited, as they imply different overtime thresholds for workers with the same number of actual hours. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study for the years 1993–2004, a positive signaling value of unpaid overtime is found for West German workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines determinants and compensation of overtime work in Germany. Skill differences in overtime hours; Problems on the proposal to reduce overtime work to allow employment of more people; Demand for skilled workers in the labor market; Loss of the importance of paid overtime work; Effect of high overtime premiums and low standard weekly hours.

The article discusses the historic development of overtime hours in German business. The author suggests how overtime reduction and flexible working hour arrangements can lead to higher employment. Cutting overtime is said to promise reduced costs and open the way for innovation, competitiveness, and additional job creation, especially if coupled with flextime.

The article discusses the political interests which may prevent the reduction of overtime hours in the interest of creating more jobs in Germany. Particularly family men in lower income brackets tend to welcome overtime. Management tends to view overtime as employing reliable resources and minimizing trainee costs. Politicians and work councils have reasons to favor overtime. The author presents countervailing arguments.

The article focuses on the introduction of flexible working hours in Germany, examining the financial repercussions for both businesses and employees with regard to these working hours. Issues such as overtime, productivity, and time pressure are discussed. Considerations including increased autonomy for workers are examined.

Background: The working and continued training conditions of assistant physicians in urology in Germany have already been analyzed. But what about senior urologists in Germany? Under which conditions do they have to work? As far as we know no published data currently exist which illuminate the conditions of this special urological professional group, therefore, the results of this survey are presented., Objective: To survey and evaluate the current working conditions of certified and senior urologists in Germany as comprehensively as possible., Material and Methods: The working group of employed physicians of the Professional Association of German Urologists (BvDU) carried out a survey within the framework of the urological senior physician forum 2016 and on-line via the e‑mail distributor of the German Society for Urology (DGU). The questions involved the workload, working conditions and satisfaction, overtime performed, working hours and opt out regulations., Results: A total of 176 senior physicians participated in the survey of which 88% were male and 12% female. In Germany there are 1125 senior physicians. The average age of the responders was 44.9 years. In more than 80% of the participants the average weekly working hours were over 50 h and 70% signed an opt out regulation. An association between an increasing job dissatisfaction above a working week over 55 h and an average attendance in on-call service over 4 h could be established. The number of on-call services had no influence on job satisfaction. A total of 43% (70 out of 162) of the participants stated that overtime hours were regularly forfeited and 12% (20 out of 162) that all overtime hours were forfeited. Approximately 30% of senior physicians in German urology were dissatisfied with the current working conditions in the present form., Conclusion: Based on the acquired data, adaptation and improvements in the working conditions of senior urologists are necessary in order to maintain the attractiveness of the occupational image and leading positions in German urology.

Background: Research evidence suggests harmful effects of overtime work on risk of heart disease. However, whether withdrawing compensation for overtime work (time-off or money) provides a relevant explanation of this association has not been explored., Methods: Using cohort data, we included 6345 employees from Germany (3079 men and 3266 women), and applied Poisson regression analysis to examine the prospective association of overtime work without compensation with risk of self-reported incident heart disease over 2 years., Results: Uncompensated overtime work was associated with an elevated risk of heart disease after adjustment for relevant variables (RR = 1.85, 95%CI: 1.05-3.25), compared to no overtime work. Stratified analyses indicated particularly strong effects among women and among employees with low socioeconomic position., Conclusions: In line with the stress-theoretical model of effort-reward imbalance at work, these findings document an important role of compensation on heart disease in the frame of overtime work., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The article reports that physicians from the Charité University Medical Center in Germany are striking over poor pay and working conditions. The physicians have been gaining public support as they demonstrate in the streets of Berlin. It is claimed that medical staff work an average of 36 hours of overtime a week, and most of the overtime is unpaid. Many of the physicians are threatening to move to Great Britain to work.