In Germany, there is a rule, which says: If you do not work you do not earn your salary. There are several exceptions (e.g. in case of illness or holidays) but does it apply to the following case?:
An employee (whose salary was EUR 95,000.00 per year, by the way) claimed for full compensation for her work even though she did not work 38 hours as it was standard at the company but in some months only 19.5 or even only 5.5 hours. Therefore the employer reduced her salary.
The employee argued that she can decide when and how long to work as long as she is able to complete all her tasks. After all, her employment contract did not provide for specific working hours.
The German Federal Labour Court decided that the rule “no work, no salary” applies in this case. Even though the employment contract does not provide for specific working hours, the employee had to comply with the standard working hours applicable at the company. If an employee did not comply with these, the employee was not entitled to the full compensation and the employer was able to reduce it accordingly.
This case is rather unusual as often employees claim for compensation for overtime work instead of claiming for the compensation for time they did not work. However, it is good news for employers that employees have to comply with standard working hours applicable at the company.
