As already mentioned in various points, the university management intends to use the Flex Employment Agreement to take account of the different realities of employees’ lives and to make it even easier than before to balance family and career. This is the reason why these far-reaching regulations to make working time and place of work more flexible are being created. The part-time trap should be ruled out in this way. There are set procedures for conflict cases (see “Conflict Cases”).

Yes, in principle. If you comply with the framework conditions for your local functional working hours described above in terms of your individual working hours, there are no objections “time-wise.” However, where you carry out your work during those hours also needs to be agreed upon with your supervisor. You may already be familiar with a simplified version of this from the Glaz Employment Agreement.

One basic rule of the Flex Employment Agreement states that at least 50 percent of the daily individual working hours need to be completed during the functional working hours. This applies equally to part-time employees and means that part-time employees can (but do not have to) have shorter allocations in the functional working hours.

This basic rule cannot always be complied with in the calculations depending on the functional working hours – this is known and taken into account in the Flex Employment Agreement.

Defined by the individual coordinating units, the functional working hours should be Monday to Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The time period does not have to be completely used up. A minimum number of hours is not specified, the full time period would be the maximum possible. Short and long functional working time spans each have different advantages. Please note that even with the (unlikely) maximum extension of functional working hours, only 4 hours of the functional working hours remain for full-time employment due to the 50% rule for individual working hours, i.e., 1.5 hours less than is currently the case with the Glaz Employment Agreement.

A deviation from the above-mentioned time frames to 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. is possible in rare justified cases. Of course, this requires the agreement of the local staff councils.

In principle, the individual coordinating units are required to review the position of the functional working hours at least once a year and adjust them to the requirements if necessary.

The decision on where working hours are performed in the form of a “self-determined” choice is subject, on the one hand, to the defined limits and restrictions set out in the collective agreement and, on the other, to a “Working Hours Employment Agreement.” In this respect, the Flex Employment Agreement guarantees a greater “degree of freedom” than the current Glaz Employment Agreement.

The basic principles of the employment relationship and of non-self-employed work are set out in Section 106 of the German Industrial Code (GewO) and Section 611a of the German Civil Code (BGB). According to these provisions, non-self-employed work exists when there is an employment relationship (employment contract) and the employee is bound by the employer's instructions. As a result, employment agreements covering working time, such as the Flex Employment Agreement, ultimately only regulate what the unit (with the involvement of the employee representatives) could determine unilaterally anyway. Unrestricted work sovereignty in the sense of complete personal responsibility and self-direction is therefore not compatible with the nature of non-self-employed work.

Working time sovereignty can be seen more as an operational change process in which employees can decide on their own working hours, but not without restrictions. In doing so, they must adapt to the operational requirements and the necessary framework of work processes. This is precisely the aim of the regulations provided for in the Flex Employment Agreement.

As things stand, this refers to the “top” level, i.e., the heads of departments, divisions, and centers will decide on the future functional working hours in consultation with the respective department. Exceptions to this are permitted in accordance with the provisions of the Flex Employment Agreement.

The following applies for daily individual working time: At least 50 percent of your individual working time must take place during the functional working time window (if mathematically possible). You essentially decide when you work this 50 percent. Of course, work-related matters, breaks, maximum working hours, rest periods, and other factors also apply here. In addition, even with this kind of flexible working time model, the duty of care remains with the supervisor, i.e., communication is essential here. This is already the case in the current Glaz Employment Agreement outside core working hours.

In addition to the statutory rest breaks, the Flex Employment Agreement also provides for longer breaks from work (more than one day is possible) These can follow the statutory breaks, but do not have to. The work interests must be safeguarded here too.

The working hours interruptions are explicitly initiated by the employees in the Flex Employment Agreement, they may not be ordered. The situation (when?) and duration (how long?) of the break is determined by you, but it must not be less than 50 percent of the working time within the functional working time. Where (in-house/working remotely) you work before/after the break in working hours is irrelevant.

There are two levels to this question: 1. The actual distribution of working hours over the day/week and 2. the handling of overtime and undertime in general.

1. The actual distribution of work: the Flex Employment Agreement sets out a model that allows you to distribute working hours as flexibly as possible over the week. The balancing of overtime and undertime does not play a central role. 
2. The balancing of work: Freie Universität Berlin is sticking to the flexible working time model (albeit more flexible than before), in which overtime and undertime should be balanced within a defined time window. In the new Flex Employment Agreement, the maximum time credit can be raised to up to 80 hours (in exceptional cases) and the time window for balancing is extended from 6 to 12 months. Requests for sabbaticals are already possible and will continue to be an option at the Freie Universität Berlin.

A long-time working account model is currently not considered to be viable by the unit.

No, the Flex Employment Agreement does not provide for employees to be regularly called in to work on Saturdays. Working on Saturdays should remain an exception and only be considered if capacity bottlenecks or peak workloads cannot be covered on weekdays from Monday to Friday. For this reason, the coordinating unit should only be able to extend the working hours to Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. for urgent operational/work reasons, in particular to safeguard research and teaching. Any time bonuses due during this period (e.g., bonus for Saturday work from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. or bonuses for night work from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.) will, of course, be paid in accordance with the applicable collective agreement rules.

In areas where the rosters or curriculum do not provide for work on Saturdays, employees may also work on Saturdays on a voluntary basis for a maximum of 6 hours observing the five-day week in consultation with their supervisor. There is no entitlement to work on Saturdays; the decision lies with the head of the respective unit. Any time bonuses due during this period (e.g., bonus for Saturday work from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. or bonuses for night work from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.) will, of course, be paid in accordance with the applicable collective agreement rules.

Work related to the Long Night of the Sciences, for example, is not covered by the above regulation. This is assigned overtime, which is also subject to the provisions of the collective agreement. This also applies to any time bonuses incurred during this period (e.g., bonus for Saturday work from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. or bonus for night work from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.).

Any additional individual arrangements made by mutual agreement between the employee and their supervisor require the prior approval of the head of the respective coordinating unit.