Arbeitszeit: Bundesgericht kippt Ausgleich für Überstunden eines Rektors

The Federal Administrative Court overturned compensation for an exceeded weekly working time for a Hanover school principal. The Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg had previously granted 31,435.59 euros in compensation to the now-retired principal for extra work done. The Federal Administrative Court overturned the judgment, stating that the principal was not included in the calculated working hours, but rather made the decision independently and this was not ordered by the employer.

The court acknowledged a structural problem with the way teaching staff' working hours were recorded, but emphasized that this was not the subject of the case. The dispute centered around whether the extra work was ordered by the employer. The Land of Niedersachsen had denied this claim. The principal had participated in a study confirming that school directors often work beyond their normal working hours.

The case raised the question of whether the extra work was ordered by the employer, a point on which the 2nd Senate focused. The Land of Niedersachsen denied this. The employer's role in performing work is considered as equivalent to the principle of self-employment. The Federal Administrative Court did not agree with this. The GEW's federal chairman, Mayke Finnern, emphasized that the issue was not about leisure or financial compensation, but about the health of teachers and more time in teaching for each child.

Most teachers complained about a lack of pedagogical work. Burkhard Naumann, GEW's chairman in Saxony, stated that even though there is a legal obligation to record working hours, many local associations have already provided their members with an app to track working hours. In Saxony, for instance, about half of all teachers work unpaid overtime of eight hours per week each year. Around 17% of school principals work on average over 48 hours per week across all school weeks.