How does that help? Pretty sure the working time regulations - as with most employment laws designed to protect normal employees from exploitation such as minimum wage - don't apply to a business owner working on their own business. That's certainly my experience here in the UK anyway.

I don't know exactly how it works, but I am pretty sure work regulations in Germany also apply to business owners.

Specially insurances will not be covering certain work related diseases with that type of workload.

It has been a continuous discussion in the press in the last years, to the point some companies started enforcing a "go home" policy.

For example, sorry in German,

http://www.spiegel.de/karriere/berufsleben/erreichbar-nach-d...

I don't understand this sort of reaction. In Europe, to be successful, you have to work hard and long, too. Please tell me what your definition of 'success' is if you go home after 35 or 40 hours.

But never > 80 hours, 60 maybe.

In Germany there are laws that limit how many hours one is allowed to do continuously each month.

Yeah, and there are laws against jaywalking too, what's your point? Half my office did 60+ hour weeks when I worked in Germany. That was the culture, didn't like it? Fine, go somewhere else, but the pay, the kind of work and the career prospects will be worse for it.

There is a better way than just going elsewhere.

Report the working conditions to Arbeitsamt.

Knowing the law is quite valuable and abuse only works when everyone keeps quiet.

8| not sure if I'm just being trolled here... There is no way to have a 'career' (as opposed to a 'job', of course) without working more than 40 hours a week. (not saying 80 hours for 15 years either, but certainly more than 40). Of course one can be that petty guy who goes around citing Henry Ford and 'work life balance' and that whole spiel... but guess what, those people will never advance to anywhere. Professionals know that.

My "career" is the prof one can have a career without being a slave of capitalism.

It helps when companies play by the rules with the Works Council and the respective unions.

And yes, I am one of those guys that would disclose bad working conditions to the Arbeitsamt.