Start earlier, stop earlier – or the other way around? When the employer can change your working hours and what role the employment contract plays here.
Cologne (dpa / tmn) – Start of work at 8 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. and end of work an hour earlier? If the working hours in the company are to be changed, this may suit one or the other employee. For others, it may mess up their daily schedule. But are employers allowed to shift the daily working hours at all?
“Basically yes,” says Nathalie Oberthür, a specialist lawyer for labor law from Cologne. The decisive factor here is the employer’s so-called right of direction or instruction, which results from paragraph 106 of the trade regulations. Accordingly, the employer can specify the time of work performance more precisely.
employment contract takes precedence
However, he had to “keep reasonable discretion” in doing so, according to Oberthür. This means that the interests of employees must also be taken into account, such as family matters such as childcare. “If there is a works council, it also has a say in the working hours,” explains the specialist lawyer for labor law.
Good to know: If the working hours have already been specifically and conclusively defined by the employment contract, there is no longer any room for the right to issue instructions. This means that the employer cannot simply change the working hours unilaterally. For example, if an employment contract for part-time employees provides for working hours that are limited to certain days of the week, employees do not have to work on other days even if the employer requests it.
About the person: Nathalie Oberthür is a specialist lawyer for labor law and chairwoman of the labor law committee of the German Bar Association (DAV).
2023-07-31 04:20:22
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