The Federal Working Hours Act is to be changed. A landmark decision by the Federal Labor Court in September 2022 creates an obligation to record working hours. However, the president of the court gave the all-clear: Models for trust-based working hours would not be abolished.
In the opinion of the President of the Federal Labor Court (BAG), Inken Gallner, working time models such as home office and mobile working are not passé after the “time clock verdict” of the highest German labor judges. “The judgment does not abolish trust-based working time models,” said Gallner when presenting the BAG’s annual report in Erfurt. In doing so, she reacted to criticism from employers’ associations such as Gesamtmetall of the BAG decision, according to which there is already an obligation to record working hours in Germany. For this year she announced further landmark judgments.
The First Senate, which Gallner heads, advanced in September 2022 and declared in a landmark judgment that there was an obligation to record working hours in Germany. Gallner emphasized that this already applies, regardless of the planned amendment to the Federal Working Hours Act. “The whether has been decided. How the working time recording is in the creative hands of the legislature.”
The judgment has an impact on almost all of the approximately 41 million dependent employees in Germany. “The decision is a political issue,” Gallner admitted. The extremely contentious debate at the moment was therefore to be expected – especially since the judgment was based on the German Occupational Safety and Health Act. According to Gallner, time recording does not restrict flexible working time models. Rules such as the eleven-hour rest period per day would also apply to them.
The court president announced further landmark judgments this year. It is primarily about the amount of night work supplements, but also about cases of discrimination in the job. The dispute over night work bonuses in sectors such as the beverage and food industry alone had around 400 cases before the Federal Labor Court. According to estimates, there are around 6,000 cases in the labor courts of the federal states. The first decision, which involves the beverage company Coca-Cola, is expected to be made on February 22, Gallner said.
The question to be answered is whether different amounts of supplements for regular and irregular night work violate the principle of equality. Often significantly higher supplements for employees who only rarely do night work have been the cause of disputes in many German companies for years. “This will be one of the big issues at the Federal Labor Court in 2023,” said the President.
There are several complaints about anti-discrimination law. It makes her hopeful that more and more people who see themselves discriminated against are making their way through the labor courts, said Gallner. “Employees dare to sue.” This may also be due to the stable labor market. Among other things, it is about discrimination because of religion – specifically about a teacher who insists on a headscarf.
Another case deals with disadvantages for part-time employees in company pensions. Already in February it is about a woman who earns less than her male colleagues for the same job. The BAG received a total of 1,266 cases in 2022 – a decrease compared to the previous year with 1,521 cases. 1283 cases – some from previous years – were settled.
