Legal stuff

Know your Rights!

Labour law and self-commitment

Working times are subject to legal regulations, defined by the German Working Time Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz / ArbZG). Those legal regulations apply also to you as a student worker. Furthermore, the Goethe-University has made a self-commitment where working conditions are described and respective standards are defined. The self-commitment is part of your contract (the many pages you certainly have noticed).

One of the most important arguments to enact these rules is occupational saftey and health: Working too long and missing breaks is bad for your health and leads to errors and mistakes.

Since the April 2003 update, the legal requirements and the University's standards are validated in Clock. You will be shown a warning if your clocked or planned shifts conflict with the rules and regulations (e.g. working outside the 8-20 h period). In some cases, you can not save the shift, e.g. if it is longer than 10 hours (§3 ArbZG) or on a sunday/bank holiday (§9 ArbZG).

Breaks will be automatically subtracted in compliance with §4 ArbZG. If you clock a shift longer than 6 hours, Clock will show a warning and cut the shift.

Law vs. Reality

We know that student workers perform a large variety of tasks across the unversity. Lab work is different from managing tutorials or work at the library. In addition to that, many student assistans appreciate the opportunity to arrange their working times freely and pay less attention to the legally required working times. On the other hand, the scientific work morale is more often than not close to self-exploitation.

In enforcing the respective rules, we tried to be careful and not to restrict everything. The usability of Clock should not be limited more than necessary.

However, some of the regulations (like the aforementioned max-10h-rule) are not open for discussion.

What to do in case of conflicts?

If you decide to correct exercise sheets at 10 p.m. on a Friday - that is your business. If a superior research associate expects you to work in a lab for more than 8 hours on end, that's another story (and not okay, to be clear!).

In case of conflicts or problems with working conditions, you should at first try to solve them with your superiors directly. Those responsible for you - often professors - are also responsible to ensure that all your work as a student assistant comply with the legal requirement and the university's self-commitment framework.

Should you feel that a solution is difficult or problematic (e.g. if you expect worse grades in exams), you may contact the university's ombudspersons to assist you.

These ombudsmen are experienced professors and prepared to support you in the conflict at hand. They are nominated by the university's senate and are eager to help.

You can reach the ombudspersons by a special contact form on the bottom of the sceen in Clock.

The AStA (student committee) has also a sub-committee dedicated to the working conditions of student workers (autonomes Hilfskräfte-Referat). You may also get in touch with them, especially if you wish to get involved and change things for the better.