The terms people argue about at work

Extra work in the narrow sense is work beyond the statutory maximum working time. Overtime is work beyond the contractually agreed time. In everyday language the two terms get mixed up.

In an annual working time model the working time owed is set for a whole year rather than for the week. Its distribution across the months follows demand.

The balancing period is the span over which the average of eight hours of daily working time has to be observed. It is six calendar months or 24 weeks.

The base wage is the ongoing pay due for regular working time, converted to one hour. It is the basis of assessment for premiums under section 3b EStG.

A blanket settlement is the contractual clause under which overtime is supposed to be already paid for with the agreed salary. In its widespread wording it is ineffective.

Bridge part-time work is an entitlement to reduce working time for a fixed period of one to five years, with a subsequent return to the previous working time. It is governed by section 9a of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act.

A cap is the agreed maximum or minimum value of a working time account. When it is reached, a defined consequence applies, for instance payment, transfer, or a ban on further extra work.

Child sickness days are working days on which insured people stay away from work to care for a sick child and receive child sickness benefit from the health insurer for it.

Codetermination means a measure requires the works council's consent. For working time it is governed by section 87(1) BetrVG and is enforceable.

Continued pay is the continued payment of remuneration during illness-related incapacity for work and on statutory public holidays, without work being done.

Core time is the part of the flexitime framework in which all employees have to be present. Outside it, the start and the end can be chosen freely.

The roster sets out who works when. Legally it is the exercise of the employer's right to give instructions on the timing of working time.

The electronic certificate of incapacity for work is the procedure by which employers retrieve the sick note data from the statutory health insurer instead of receiving a paper certificate.

With flexitime, employees determine the start and end of their daily working time themselves within a given framework. The agreed working time stays unchanged, only its timing is flexible.

The flexitime framework is the period within which daily working time may fall. It limits flexitime at each end.

Holiday pay is the remuneration paid on during leave. It is not to be confused with a holiday bonus, a voluntary special payment.

Incapacity for work exists where an ill person cannot perform the work they last performed, or can do so only at the risk of making things worse. What matters is the specific work, not the illness as such.

The leave entitlement is the number of paid free days in the calendar year. By law it is at least 24 working days, calculated on a six-day week.

A midi-job is employment in the transitional band: the regular pay is above the marginal earnings threshold but not above 2,000 euros a month.

A mini-job is marginal paid employment: the regular monthly pay does not exceed the marginal earnings threshold. In 2026 it is 603 euros a month.

The statutory minimum wage is the amount every employee can claim as a minimum per clock hour. Since 1 January 2026 it has been 13.90 euros gross.

Mobile working is work performed independently of location using information technology. Working from home in the legal sense is the narrower case of a permanently set-up teleworking station in the home.

Negative hours are a negative balance in a working time account: the time worked is below the target time. Whether they have to be made up or can be set off depends on who caused them.

Night work is any work covering more than two hours of night time. Under section 2(3) ArbZG, night time runs from 23:00 to 06:00, and in bakeries and confectioneries from 22:00 to 05:00.

The notice period is the lead time with which the timing of working time has to be communicated before it becomes binding.

Occupational integration management is a procedure by which employers, together with the person concerned, establish after prolonged incapacity how the incapacity can be overcome and the job preserved.

Stand-by duty means staying at a place determined by the employer in order to start work immediately when needed. It counts as working time in full.

Payment in lieu of leave is the payment of untaken leave in money. It is permitted only where the employment relationship ends and the leave therefore can no longer be taken.

A phased return to work is a step-by-step return to the workplace after a prolonged illness, with gradually increasing working time. It is medically supervised and rests on a phased plan.

Pro rata leave is the proportionate leave entitlement of one twelfth of the annual leave for every full month the employment relationship has existed.

Processing on behalf exists where a service provider processes personal data on behalf of and on the instructions of a controller. It requires a contract under Article 28(3) GDPR.

Public holiday pay is the remuneration for working time lost solely because of a statutory public holiday. It is not an allowance but the continued payment of the regular wage.

A qualification matrix sets out which person may perform which activity. It is the basis of any planning in which not everyone can do everything.

Readiness for work is the time at the workplace in which no work arises but work has to be reckoned with at any moment. The case law describes it as alert attention in a state of relaxation.

The record-keeping duty is the duty to record working times. It follows not from one provision but from several that differ in scope, deadline and addressee.

Remaining leave is the part of the annual leave not taken by the end of the year. Whether it expires or carries over into the next year does not depend on the calendar alone.

A rest break is an interruption of work fixed in advance in which no work is expected. It does not count towards working time and is as a rule not paid.

The rest period is the continuous free time between the end of one working day and the start of the next. It is at least eleven hours.

An industry minimum wage is a collectively agreed minimum wage declared binding by statutory instrument for all employers and employees in an industry.

Set-up time is the time for activities preceding or following the actual work: changing clothes, laying out tools, starting up machines, handovers. It is working time in so far as it serves the employer.

A shift allowance compensates for the burden of changing working times, for instance in two- or three-shift operations. It attaches to the shift model, not to a particular time of day.

A shift model describes how working time is distributed across the day and the week and in what order the shifts rotate.

Special leave is release from work for a personal occasion, for instance moving house, a wedding, a birth or a death. Whether it is paid depends on section 616 BGB and on the employment contract.

The staffing level is the number of people a shift or a time window needs as a minimum. In many areas a qualification requirement comes on top.

With on-call duty the person has to be reachable and take up work when needed, but may stay where they choose. It in principle does not count towards working time, but the actual call-outs do.

A substitute day of rest is a work-free working day that has to be granted for employment on a Sunday or public holiday. It is not a voluntary benefit but the statutory condition of the exception.

Target hours are the hours a person has to work contractually in a period. They are the comparison figure for the hours actually worked and therefore the basis of every time account.

Time credit is the positive balance of a working time account: hours worked above the target time that have not yet been offset by time off or payment.

Compensatory time off means that extra work performed is offset by paid release from work instead of payment. It requires an agreement; it does not follow from the law.

A time premium is a supplement on the base wage for work at certain times or beyond regular working time. Apart from night work, there is no statutory entitlement to one.

A traffic-light account is a working time account with graduated limits. As long as the balance is in the green range nothing happens; in the amber range duties to run it down apply, and in the red range no further extra work may arise.

Travel time is time spent on journeys connected with work. The journey between home and the workplace does not count as working time, journeys between two places of work during the working day do.

With trust-based working time the employer dispenses with dictating the start and end of daily working time and looks at the result. The agreed working time is still owed.

Value credit is accumulated remuneration set aside for later paid release from work, for instance for a sabbatical, care leave or early retirement.

Work on demand means the work is performed according to the volume of work arising. The employer determines the timing at short notice, and in return section 12 TzBfG protects employees with four firm rules.

Working days are all days except Sundays and statutory public holidays, so Monday to Saturday. The Working Hours Act and the Federal Leave Act count in working days, not in workdays.

Working time is the time from the start to the end of work excluding rest breaks. Where somebody works for several employers, the times are added together.

A working time account records how many hours somebody is above or below the agreed working time. The balance is settled over a defined period, through time off or through payment.

Working time fraud means deliberately stating working time falsely, for instance by clocking in for absent colleagues or entering hours not worked. It is a serious breach of the duties under the employment contract.

A works agreement is a written agreement between the employer and the works council. It applies directly and mandatorily to all employees of the business.