so, apprenticeship as a nurse in Germany (Ausbildung in der Pflege) with the German catholic church

according to [this](https://www.plus-magazin.com/geld-und-recht/wann-beginnt-die-arbeitszeit-wirklich/), my working shift begins as soon as I enter the workplace. In my case it could be a hospital, an hospice or a nursing home.

To work I have to wear scrubs. Invariably.

I work for the German catholic church and given that the German state has signed a concordat with the vatican, they are treated as a separate entity under German law (at least this is how I have understood it). Parallel law. I don’t know if the SGB (Sozialgesetzbuch) and the BSG (Bundessozialgericht) apply to the church.

How I and all my Mitschüler ‘clock in’ (there are no check in machines): We have to make sure to be fully dressed with our scrubs before our shift begins. We only leave the station after the shift has ended. The time we need to change clothes is not working time and it’s not paid. 20 Minutes per working day.

Is this legal?

7 comments

  1. Sounds illegal to me, be sure to not be in probezeit before taking any actions. The IHK could help you I think.

  2. Maybe because of the Ausbildung it is, but normally if you have to change for your work you have to be paid for it.

  3. Depends. Without any mention in a contract it should be work time.
    But it can be free time, if it’s written as such in your working contract or a “tarifvertrag”

    But to be honest, I work in the social sector and normally church employers are the second worse offenders in job law. They normally say if you work for church you do your job for God and that’s part of your payment, money is only on to and you should be thankful you get crumps.

  4. I thought you start work at the time you are assigned. That means if you have to change you need to be there before your scheduled shift. Everyone I have ever worked with did that. Not sure how the church works.

  5. While the church is allowed to do some stuff that would be illegal for any other employer (like require you to participate in prayer while at work and fire you for having a child out of wedlock), they are not above the law. The church has to comply with the Arbeitszeitgesetz.

    [https://www.arbeitsrechte.de/kirchliches-arbeitsrecht/](https://www.arbeitsrechte.de/kirchliches-arbeitsrecht/)

    [https://www.dbk.de/themen/kirche-staat-und-recht/kirchliches-arbeitsrecht/](https://www.dbk.de/themen/kirche-staat-und-recht/kirchliches-arbeitsrecht/)

  6. You understood partly right. For employment issues there is „Kirchenrecht“ valid, which is mostly worse than normal Arbeitsrecht. You will have something like a Tarifvertrag or an Ausbildungsordnung, there you will find the rules valid for you.

  7. yea that’s standard practice you need to be ready to start work at the time you clock in. Some placea may be more lenient and let you change quicklz while clocked in or even drink a coffee but thats very lucky

Leave a Reply