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- Review of your Employment Contract
- Within 24 Hours
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- Including your Questions
- For a Fixed Fee of EUR 219.00 (VAT included)
Have your Employment Contract reviewed by Recht 24/7
There is freedom of contract in Germany, and there are few restrictions when it comes to drafting contracts. What sounds like a lot of freedom can become complicated in practice, especially if there are disagreements between the parties to the contract.
The rights, duties and claims of employees and employers are regulated in the employment contract. It can be relatively short and simple, or very long and complicated. This may depend on the industry of the company and the complexity of the job. Ideally, the employment contract is clear and provides a binding framework for conflicts of interest, but in some cases it may contain hidden pitfalls or even illegal clauses.
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Diadem Europe Services GmbH
“Recht 24/7 was very helpful during the formation of the GmbH with regard to the preparation and agreement of all necessary documents such as articles of association, commercial register application and list of shareholders.
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All my questions were answered in detail and competently within 24 hours and the trademark registration was completed quickly. Thank you very much for the professional support!”
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Black Label Coffee
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Holzspielzeug Pfeiffer
“We have been a family business for 20 years and have now taken the step to register a trademark. By filing for a trademark, we are protecting our company’s products and services with our name.
Opening our Amazon store was one of our main reasons for filing for a trademark.”
www.holzspielzeug-pfeiffer.de
TierparadiesFB
“Recht 24/7 helped us enormously with our trademark application at the European Trademark Office (EUIPO). As a particularly young company, we were looking for a cost-effective yet experienced and reliable partner. That is why we ended up with Recht 24/7.
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Dein Dorfleben
“As a start-up, we were looking for a competent partner with a fair price/performance ratio early on to make our online experience platform legally compliant. In the process, we came across Rech24/7.
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Flugsimulator Dresden
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Thank you for the very nice contacts during our UG foundation phase.”
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Benefits of Reviewing your Employment Contract with Recht 24/7
With Recht 24/7 you get all services at a fixed fee, no hidden costs, no packages with additional costs. Our fixed fee includes everything you need to review your employment contract.
Fixed Fee EUR 219.00, Gross
Why should you have your Employment Contract Reviewed?
The employment contract regulates the conditions of the future job. Important contents are e.g:
- The content
- Holiday entitlement
- Dealing with overtime
- Period of notice
Since the employment contract is subject to the principle of freedom of contract, both parties – the employee and the employer – are free to determine the content of the contract. However, the employer usually drafts the contract and the employee merely signs it.
In order for the contract to be fair for both parties, you as an employee should carefully review the employment contract or have it reviewed. Because: There are always clauses in the employment contract that are to the (financial) disadvantage of the employee. This does not necessarily have to be done with malicious intent, but can also be because the company uses an outdated model contract.
This will inform you if the employment contract
- Contains language that is unfavorable to you,
- omits important content, or
- violates legal regulations and may even be (partially) invalid as a result.
Have the Employment Contract reviewed: Important Content in the Employment Contract
In principle, employers and employees are free to agree on the content of the employment contract. However, there are some legal provisions that the employer cannot ignore. This includes, for example, the Working Hours Act, which sets the maximum working hours.
Most employment contracts contain the following information:
Commencement and duration of employment
First of all, the employment contract should state the date on which the employment relationship begins.
In particular, you should check whether you are employed on a temporary or permanent basis. The following applies: If the employment contract is silent about the end of the employment, the employment is permanent.
If you have a fixed-term contract, you are only employed for a certain period of time. After this period, the employment ends automatically without the need for notice.
It is important to know that there are a number of requirements that the employer must comply with. For example, the maximum period of notice without cause is two years.
Field of Activity
Your job description should be consistent with what was agreed upon in the interview.
Specific wording protects you from being used for other, non-agreed-upon tasks that have little to do with your actual position.
On the other hand, vague wording has the advantage of reducing the risk of dismissal for operational reasons.
The employer has a lot of leeway when including clauses such as “The employer reserves the right to assign the employee to another position of equal value”.
You should also pay attention to the description of your future position. For example, if you are referred to as a manager, this should also be discussed in the interview and paid accordingly. This is because some employee protection laws, such as the Working Hours Act, do not apply to managers, or only to a limited extent.
Workplace
The same applies to the workplace as to the job: this should be clearly stated in the employment contract, otherwise the employer can assign you a workplace. When checking the employment contract, make sure that it does not contain a transfer clause, such as
“The employer reserves the right to assign the employee to another place of work for operational reasons, while safeguarding his interests”.
In this case, the employer could, for example, move B to another location in Germany.
Working Hours
Working hours should also be set out in writing in the employment contract. In addition to the number of hours per week, this also includes the location of the working hours, e.g. B. that the work must be performed between 09:00 and 18:00 from Monday to Friday. Without this specification, the employer could, for example, order work to be done on a Saturday.
In any case, the employer must comply with the Working Hours Act, which contains many rules to protect the employee. For example, a maximum working week of 40 hours can be agreed.
Overtime
If your employment contract (or collective bargaining agreement or company agreement) does not mention overtime, you are not obliged to work overtime, except in emergency situations. But even if it is mentioned in the employment contract, there are legal limits to the amount of overtime you can work. In the employment contract, pay particular attention to how overtime is compensated: i.e. whether you get time off in lieu or additional payments. It is also possible to stipulate that a certain number of overtime hours (e.g. ten per month) are already included in the normal salary.
Disadvantageous regulations to watch out for
People sometimes talk about “hidden traps” in the employment contract. These are provisions that are detrimental to the employee. Without legal expertise, it is often not so easy to recognize them. This is why it is advisable to have a lawyer review the employment contract.
Here are a few examples:
- Exclusion and expiration periods: These are provisions that state that you must assert claims arising from the employment relationship (e.g. for special payments) within a certain period of time. After this period (e.g., a few months), your claim expires.
- Contractual penalties: Under this type of arrangement, you are required to pay a penalty if you fail to comply with certain terms of the employment contract, such as failing to start work or failing to give notice.
- A blanket overtime policy: This means that overtime is paid at a fixed rate (or base salary) rather than on an hourly basis. Important: A maximum number of overtime hours must be specified (e.g., up to ten hours per month) that will be covered by the lump sum.
- Transfer clause: This means that the employer is free to assign you to another job.
What if you are not satisfied with the employment contract?
Suppose the lawyer reviewed the employment contract before you signed it and pointed out the problem areas. What can you do now? There are basically two cases:
1. The employment contract contains illegal content
The exceptional case is when the entire employment contract is invalid. This is the case, for example, when the employer or the employee is not legally competent.
It is often the case that certain contents are invalid, but the rest of the contract remains valid. An example of this would be the general prohibition of secondary employment. In the worst case, the employer cannot enforce this provision because it is not permitted by law.
This means that such content usually has no consequences for you. Of course, you can still point this out to your employer if you wish, but you will usually not suffer any disadvantages if you do not do so.
Salary and bonuses
One of the most important issues for an employee is salary. The employment contract should state how much it is and when it will be paid. If you are employed under a collective agreement, it is sufficient to state the collective wage group.
Were special payments, such as holiday or Christmas bonuses, promised during the job interview? If so, you should check the employment contract to see if they are mentioned and the exact amount.
It is also important that the special payments are not subject to a voluntary or revocable clause. This means that the employer can refuse to pay them.
Holiday entitlement
By law, you are entitled to at least four weeks of vacation per year. If you work a 5-day week, that’s 20 working days. This applies even if there is no mention of holidays in the employment contract. It is important to note that if you have agreed more than the statutory four weeks’ holiday with your employer, this should be stated in the employment contract, otherwise you will not be able to claim it.
Notice periods
In the case of an open-ended employment contract, the employer is required by law (BGB § 622) to give at least four weeks’ notice (the longer you work for the company, the longer the notice period). Employees and employers can also agree on longer notice periods in the employment contract. However: The notice period for the employee can never be longer than that for the employer.
As an employee, a long notice period (three months or more) tends to be unfavorable for you. You should have this checked in the employment contract and renegotiate it if necessary.
During the probationary period, the notice period is reduced to two weeks. The length of the probationary period can also be found in the employment contract.
Non-compete clause
There is always a non-compete clause during the employment relationship. This means that while you are employed by a company, you are not allowed to work for a competitor or compete with the company through your own activities.
In some cases, there is a so-called post-contractual non-compete clause in the employment contract. This means that you are not allowed to work for a competitor for a certain period of time after your employment has ended. You are entitled to financial compensation for this. In any case, you should have such a clause in your employment contract checked, because it makes it difficult for you to find another job later on.
Secondary employment
Sometimes there is a clause in the employment contract that you have to inform the employer before you start a part-time job. However, the employer can only prohibit this in a few cases, for example if the part-time job has a negative effect on your work performance.
2. The Employment Agreement Contains Legal Content that is Unfavorable to You
In addition, there are legally permissible terms that are unfavorable to you. This includes, for example, the above-mentioned transfer clause. If you have not yet signed the employment contract, it may be worthwhile to renegotiate with the employer to change these passages.
It is important to consider
- What are the disadvantages of the provision in question?
- How important is the job to me?
- How important am I to my new employer?
- How much bargaining power do I have?
It can sometimes be strategically wise to address only the most important issues.
With Recht 24/7 you get all services at a fixed fee, no hidden costs, no packages with additional costs. Our fixed fee includes everything you need to review your employment contract.
Fixed Fee EUR 219.00, Gross
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Employment Contract Review Questions and Answers with Recht 24/7
Recht 24/7 has been around since 2003. We are the original and ensure that your contract is reviewed quickly and professionally by a lawyer. Directly to the lawyer – without a mediation platform and detours.
The whole thing in 24 h!
We check all contracts. The Recht 24/7 contract check is particularly suitable for:
- Real estate purchase contracts
- Property development contracts
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You will receive the results in 24 hours at the latest (guaranteed processing time). The average processing time is about 2 hours.
Yes, you can ask as many questions as you like about your contract review. Please send them directly to vertrag@recht24-7.de with your order number.
Your contract will be reviewed by a specialized, experienced attorney from our team.
You will receive the revision in a comprehensively annotated PDF file by e-mail together with the evaluation of your contract.
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