If you work more than 6 hours, your break must be at least 30 minutes . It is not considered working time. In the case of continuous or multi-shift work, paid short breaks must be granted. In the case of heavy night work, a paid short break of ten minutes per shift is due.
According to the Working Hours Act, normal working hours are 40 hours per week, eight hours per day. Various collective agreements contain regulations with shorter working hours. In the case of readiness for work, longer working hours may be permitted by collective agreement.
You may work a maximum of 20 hours of overtime per week and not exceed the maximum daily working time of 12 hours . Under certain conditions, additional overtime may be permitted by collective agreement or works agreement.
As an employee, you can refuse overtime without giving reasons if it exceeds the daily working time of 10 hours or the weekly working time of 50 hours. You must not be disadvantaged because of this.
Between two working days , you are entitled to an uninterrupted rest period of at least eleven hours . At the weekend, an uninterrupted weekend rest of 36 hours is due. Exceptions are possible through collective agreements or ordinances. In this case, you are entitled to a 36-hour weekly rest on weekdays in the calendar week in question.
If your weekend rest is interrupted within 36 hours before the next working week, you will receive a substitute rest period. This substitute rest period corresponds to the working time you worked within the 36 hours. The entitlement to substitute rest has no influence on the entitlement to overtime compensation under the Working Hours Act or the collective agreement.
The location of your working hours must be agreed, unless it is determined by a works agreement. Unilateral changes in the situation by your employer are only permissible if:
- the changes are objectively justified ,
- they have been notified at least two weeks in advance ,
- there are no interests of you as an employee that are worthy of consideration and
- does not conflict with any agreement .
The extent of your working hours must be agreed and any changes to it must be made in writing . If a lower amount of working time has only been agreed for the sake of appearance, but is regularly exceeded , this is considered a tacit fixation of the higher (average) extent.
As a part-time employee, you must not be disadvantaged , for example in company social benefits or career opportunities.
Overtime is permissible if there is an obligation to do so – e.g. through an agreement or the duty of loyalty, if the need for work is increased and your interests worthy of consideration do not conflict with it. The Working Hours Act stipulates that regularly worked overtime must be included in the calculation of special payments.
As a part-time employee, you will receive a 25 percent bonus if you work overtime. However, this does not apply if the overtime hours are compensated for within a quarter (or another fixed period of three months) or, in the case of a flexitime arrangement, within the flexitime period. The collective agreement may contain deviating provisions on the amount of the bonus and the period for compensating for overtime hours. Restrictions also exist if there are weekly overtime hours for full-time employees without a bonus (e.g. 1.5 hours without a surcharge for a 38.5-hour week). In this case, these hours are also free of charge for part-time employees.
Marginal employment is a form of part-time work in which you are not allowed to earn more than € 518.44 per month (as of 2024). As a marginal employee, you have the same employment law rights as all other employees. These are laid down in most collective agreements. The extent and location of the working hours must be agreed between the employee and the employer. Working hours cannot be changed unilaterally.
Flexitime is permissible if a written flexitime agreement is concluded. In companies in which a works council has been established, the flexitime agreement must be concluded in the form of a works agreement. The flexitime agreement stipulates the following points:
- Flexitime, i.e. earliest start and end of work on one day
- Flexitime period during which normal working hours may not be exceeded on average
- Number of good or minus hours that may be carried over beyond the end of the flexitime period at most
- Fictitious daily normal working hours to determine the extent to which visits to the doctor, etc. are considered working time
Short-time work is the temporary reduction of normal working hours on the basis of an agreement under labour and wage law (social partner agreement). The aim of short-time work is to secure employment in the event of unforeseeable and temporary economic difficulties.
The Public Employment Service (AMS), the employer and the works council that may have been set up in the company discuss the situation. The responsible trade unions must approve the short-time work agreement. The duration of short-time work is initially limited to a maximum of 6 months.
As an employee, you will generally continue to receive the agreed remuneration on a pro-rata basis for the hours actually worked. Your employer must pay you short-time work support for the lost working hours. This is at least as high as the unemployment benefit would be for the time not worked.
IMPORTANT: Especially in companies with a works council , the union can usually enforce that the affected employees lose significantly less of their net wages/salaries.
Other forms of flexible working hours are shift work, the incorporation of days off in connection with public holidays and calculation models.
This is about the fact that, according to certain rules, exceedances of working hours can be compensated for in a ratio of 1:1 by compensatory time and do not (have to) be paid as overtime. In the case of shift work, these fluctuations must follow a regular cycle. The induction must be carried out regularly and serves the employees' leisure interests. Calculation models to cover operation-related fluctuations in working hours generally only exist on the basis of a collective agreement.
On-call duty must be agreed and cannot be unilaterally ordered by your employer. On-call duty consists of the fact that you, as an employee, can choose your place of residence yourself, but you must be reachable by your employer.
It may only be agreed outside working hours during two weekly rest periods per month and only on ten days per month.
ATTENTION: On-call duty is not working time. If you have not agreed on a fee for on-call duty, you are entitled to the customary local fee. This can be less than the remuneration for working time. If the applicable collective agreement does not provide for a remuneration regulation for on-call duty, you should therefore agree on the amount of payment in writing.
Do you have any questions?
We're here to help.