Recording Working Hours In Science Too?
Working Hours
The Federal Labor Court has ruled that employers must record hours worked. Does this also apply to employees in science?
The Federal Labor Court (BAG) ruled last week that employers in Germany will have to record the working hours of their employees in the future. The court followed a decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in May 2019, which states that member states must oblige employers to use time recording that is “objective, reliable and accessible”.
More details are still not clear: the BAG’s written justification for the judgment is not yet available, according to media reports it will still be several months before it is published. There are still no regulations on how the obligation to record working hours should be implemented in concrete terms – for example, what is recorded as working hours or how violations are sanctioned. It is also still unclear whether certain professional groups are exempt from the recording of working hours.
Working Hours
The employees in science should be given special consideration. A spokesman for the German University Association (DHV) announced that the association would closely monitor the implementation of the verdict. Even if the reasons for the judgment are not yet available, it should generally be taken into account that scientific work is characterized by “freedom, creativity and personal initiative” and thus largely eludes fixed working hours.
Christiane Brors, professor of civil law and labor law at the University of Oldenburg, explained to “Forschung & Lehre” that the judgment of the ECJ refers to the mandatory Europe-wide requirements of Directive 2003/88 on the uniform regulation of working time arrangements in Europe. Which employee groups are affected by the European decision is therefore based on the scope of the directive. It does not apply to employees whose working hours cannot be measured according to the type of activity and therefore cannot be documented. This is only the case for those who act completely autonomously and on their own responsibility, who can determine not only the timing but also the scope of the activity themselves.
Professors in Germany do not formally have any working time regulations. According to the EU directive, working time recording for professors is out of the question, since they “decide within the freedom of science which projects they carry out and how much time they spend,” says Brors. The situation of scientific and student employees, on the other hand, should be assessed differently, since their work is assigned by the hour or in the form of specific tasks.
In principle, the working hours can be recorded by the employees themselves. “This also applies to the so-called trust-based working hours, which can continue to be agreed without any problems,” explained Brors.
According to various media reports, the Federal Ministry of Labor is currently working on a draft law that is intended to create clarity. Easy to implement solutions would be found. Previously, employers in Germany were only obliged to record overtime and Sunday work.
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