Case Study:
Global Work Schedule Differences
The number of work hours in a week and a year varies from country to country. Some of the differences in annual work hours are illustrated in the following chart by Mathis and Jackson (2011):
| Country |
Work hours per year |
| Korea |
2,305 |
| Mexico |
1,871 |
| Italy |
1,824 |
| United States |
1,794 |
| Japan |
1,785 |
| Canada |
1,736 |
| Australia |
1,722 |
| France |
1,561 |
| Germany |
1,433 |
| The Netherlands |
1,392 |
Case Assignment
Task: How would you deal with an employee who is originally from Germany and who expects to work only 30 hours per week for the same salary as other employees who work 40+ hours per week?
Reference
Mathis, R.L. and Jackson, J.H. (2011). Human Resource Management. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Drawing on the material in the background readings and doing additional research, please prepare a 2 to 4 page paper (not including the cover and reference pages) in which you:
1. Discuss the pros and cons to 40 hour work weeks versus 30 hour work weeks.
2. Respond to the main question asked above about how to deal with a German employee who expects to only work 30 hours a week.
3. How would you deal with such a complex predicament as an HR Director? How would you deal with compensation issues?