Employment contract
August 18, 2009 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
Dear Sir or Madam,
In December of last year, I received an offer from an employer with whom I had previously been employed on a minor basis, for a six-hour daily (five days a week) job. The agreements were only verbal. I started working on January 1st, 2009.
In my permanent employment contract, neither the agreed working hours nor the salary are specified. It only refers to the valid collective agreement and a pay group III, which I never received.
I have now worked for the company for about eight months, six hours a day, five days a week. At the end of the month, I submitted a timesheet, and any overtime worked was paid separately. My salary statements do not show any hours worked or hourly wage. The net salary of 800 euros never seemed too high or unreasonable to me.
A few days ago, I was informed that I had been incorrectly billed as an eight-hour worker for the past eight months and now have 320 negative hours. Do I really have to bear the consequences of the company's mistakes? Do I have to work eight hours for the same pay now? Can my salary be reduced if I continue to work only six hours?
Sincerely,
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry!
Below, I would like to address your questions considering the facts you have presented:
1.) Do I really have to pay for the company's mistakes? Do I have to work eight hours for the same pay from now on?
You certainly do not have to pay for the company's mistakes. Even verbal employment contracts are legally binding, so if you had a contract for 6 hours/% days a week from the beginning, that is valid.
The issue here is the proof of the verbal agreement. If you have witnesses to support your version, I see no problems and you should confront your employer about the accusation of negative hours.
If you cannot prove the verbal agreement, then most likely the collective agreement, as explicitly referenced in the employment contract especially regarding the daily working hours, will be significant. This means that negative hours could be attributed to you, assuming the relevant collective agreement mentions 8 hours per day.
It is crucial to prove the verbal agreement at the beginning of the employment relationship. However, in your favor, you were informed that you were mistakenly billed as an 8-hour employee. If this was roughly the original wording, then it should have been clear to the company that you were only employed for 6 hours per week (why else would it be a mistake?!)
2.) Can my salary be reduced if I want to continue working only six hours?
If you cannot prove the verbal agreement and the referenced collective agreement stipulates 8 hours of daily work, then the question arises about the consequences, as you would effectively have worked less.
Absences can only be deducted if they were caused by you (which, according to your description, was not the case). It is also a matter of evidence. If you cannot prove the verbal agreement, a court would have to assume an 8-hour workday, provided the collective agreement states so, meaning you would willfully work less than required. This would not only be considered a fault but could eventually lead to a warning and then dismissal if a hourly wage was agreed upon in the employment contract.
Unfortunately, without further knowledge of the referenced collective agreement, I cannot provide a definitive answer.
I hope this provides you with initial legal guidance and wish you success and all the best!
I would like to conclude by pointing out the following:
The legal advice I have provided is based solely on the facts you have provided. My response is only an initial legal assessment of the situation and cannot replace a comprehensive examination of the facts. Adding or omitting relevant information can lead to a completely different legal assessment.
I hope my explanations have been helpful to you. Please feel free to contact me via email or the follow-up option if you have any further questions.
I wish you a pleasant Tuesday evening!
Kind regards,
Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney at Law
Heilsbergerstr. 16
27580 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Tel. 0471/3088132
Fax: 0471/3088316
