Hello everyone,
I recently got an employment contract and it kind of reads like Silicon Valley Indenture Servitude. This is from an American firm who wants to do business in Germany.
The pay is fantastic and 30-day vacation – no complaints, but there is a catch:
\- travel is not included as part of working hours
\- breaks are determined by the employer
\- will be asked to work on weekends
\- overtime pay is already calculated in the salary
​
I just read on Google:
[Germany’s workweek](http://www.safeguardglobal.com/resources/blog/german-workweek), which can go Monday through Saturday, is determined by the Working Hours Act. This places a statutory minimum that stipulates a maximum of eight-hour workdays and 48-hour weeks. Unique elements of this labor law include:
* No work is allowed on Sunday unless explicitly permitted by statutory law
* Germans must be given an uninterrupted rest period of 11 hours after daily work
* Germans can work up to 10 hours in a day so long as the average workday doesn’t exceed eight hours in a six-month period
* Workers are required to have at least 30 minutes of break in a six- to nine-hour workday
* Workers are required to have at least 45 minutes of break if their workday exceeds nine hours
My contract seems to contradict this and I am a little bit doubtful that they themselves consulted a German lawyer when this contract was created. I’m curious to know what the Reddit community knows. \~TIA\~
by RepairMotor442
1 comment
>- travel is not included as part of working hours
Travel to and from work? This is never included.
>
– breaks are determined by the employer
wouldn’t rise an eyebrow with me, either. You correctly cited the laws regarding breaks. But I don’t see a contradiction here: As long as they respect these laws, they can indeed determine your breaks. You can not go on break during the lunch rush if you work in a restaurant, for example. Your boss will send you to your break either before or after.
>
– will be asked to work on weekends
Saturday is a normal workday. Sundays can be tricky. Not absolutely impossible. What business or industry are you working in that it would make sense to work on Sundays?
> overtime pay is already calculated in the salary
This is possible if it is a reasonable number of hours ( I think like up to 10%) which **must be stated in the contract**.