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Flexible Schedules and Employment Contracts
Bavarians have always been leaders in pro-business policy and the trend is toward increasing flexibility as it relates to work schedules, overtime and employment contracts.
Employers in Germany may hire staff on the basis of an unlimited or fixed-term contract or on a temporary basis via staffing agencies. Allowing increased flexibility, temporary work is a widely practiced form of employment in Germany. Fixed-term employment contracts, in which the duration of the employer-employee relationship is contractually predetermined for up to two years, are quite attractive for newly formed companies. These contracts can be extended up to 3 times within the two year period. That means an employee can be employed for four consecutive six month periods at a time before negotiating the traditional unlimited employment contract.
Per the collective labor agreement, the work week is 37.5 hours. Labor law states that employees are allowed to work up to a maximum of 10 hours per day, and a maximum of 48 hours per week. Overtime is time spent working more than the weekly work hours as defined in the collective labor agreement. If time off is taken in lieu of overtime at some point during the month, no overtime premium must be paid. If time off is not taken in lieu of overtime worked, 25% of the regular pay is usually payable at the end of the month.
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