Hartz and minds; German labour-market reform.(The impact of the Hartz IV labour-market changes)

Work-shy or work-seeking?

A new and controversial law takes effect this weekend

TRY calling a German bureaucrat after 3pm and the chances are that you will get no answer. But the Berlin branch of the Federal Employment Agency has recently been open as late as 10pm, weekends included. A dozen employees, surrounded by brown folders, are busy typing data into computers. "We have no choice but to get this done by the end of the year," says one. The scene is replicated in 180 job-centres across Germany: thousands of staff are working extra shifts to prepare the…