Towards Workfare Communities

Abstract Chapter 4 is the first of three thematic chapters which successively examine the categories of labour, health, and the family in terms of various policies. Labour stayed at the core of the National Socialist ideology and political interests. It was not only related to the definition of an individual’s social situation; many socio-economic measures were also naturally dependent on it, including employment policy, pension and accident insurance, and occupational safety. The disciplinary function of the labour policy measures was emphasised in order to fully support work performance as well as the individual’s willingness and will to work. The object was to ensure the full deployment of Czech workers when sent to the Reich through social insurance, wage regulation, and various forms of bonuses. The measures not only had a levelling effect, but, to a large extent, even a psychological one: by demonstrating that the state cared and giving individuals the impression that they were receiving a ‘fair wage’. Although the war had a negative impact on working conditions, the provision of pension and accident insurance reform and improvements in occupational safety practices significantly contributed to the expansion of the number of insured persons and to the modernisation of social legislation.