Employees Might Need to Check Work Rosters in Their Free Time, According to German Labor Court
In a recent ruling, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) in Erfurt declared that employees may be required to take note of their work schedules, including stand-ins, during their free time. The case involved an emergency paramedic from Schleswig-Holstein who argued that he was not obligated to pay attention to duty-time instructions outside of work hours.
The emergency paramedic claimed that he was not responsible for taking note of any work-related messages during his free time. However, the court disagreed with his argument. The court stated that the paramedic had been aware that he might be assigned a shift and that his employer would communicate the specific times the day before. Since the employer complied with the relevant provisions of the works agreement, the paramedic was expected to take notice of the information.
The court further explained that taking note of the information in question barely impacts the employee's free time, and reading the corresponding message does not count as working time. The rest period is not interrupted by taking note of work schedule information, allowing the employee to choose when to read the instruction on working time.
The Ruling and Its Implications
The BAG's ruling suggests that employees working in emergency services or other fields with irregular shift schedules may be expected to manage their free time accordingly. This includes checking their work schedules and receiving any last-minute notifications from their employers.
The obligation to take note of work schedule information during empty time serves as a secondary contractual duty. According to the ruling, this need only rarely affects an individual's free time, as reading a duty-time message does not necessarily count as working time.
Enrichment Data
The labor laws in Germany, as interpreted by the Federal Labor Court (BAG), do not impose a specific requirement for employees to take note of work schedule information in their free time. However, there are several key points to consider regarding working time recording and documentation:
- The employer has an obligation to record the start, end, and duration of daily working hours electronically.
- A draft bill from the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) aims to make electronic recording of working hours mandatory, eliminating the use of paper records.
- Exceptions to electronic recording include small businesses with fewer than ten employees, domestic workers in private households, and foreign employers who deploy a maximum of ten employees in Germany.
- The employer is responsible for training and instructing employees in proper record-keeping.
- Failure to comply with working time recording and documentation requirements will result in fines for the employer.
In conclusion, while the BAG's ruling does not establish a specific requirement for employees to take note of work schedule information in their free time, it does emphasize the importance of proper record-keeping for working hours and highlights the employee's role in contributing to this process, indirectly.
