Press Release No. 26/2015 Minimum Wage: IG Metall Calls for Documentation of Working Hours

Frankfurt am Main – On the occasion of today’s industry dialogue on the statutory minimum wage, IG Metall called on the federal government to fully uphold the requirement to document working hours. “The outcry from employers is all too transparent. With the populist claim that minimum wage rules are a bureaucratic monster, they aim to preserve gray areas that allow people to be cheated out of their fair wages,” criticized Jörg Hofmann, Second Chairman of IG Metall, on Wednesday in Frankfurt. Where there are legitimate demarcation issues, such as with volunteer work, these should be clarified objectively, Hofmann said.

Documenting working hours is already an obligation for employers today. The Federal Labor Court (BAG) ruled as early as 2003 (1 ABR 13/02) that employers are obligated to provide the works council with evidence of employees’ actual working hours so that the works council can fulfill its monitoring and oversight duties. “When the legislature requires documentation for state regulatory authorities in the areas of low-wage labor—which require special protection—and in economic sectors heavily threatened by undeclared work, it is simply enforcing what every properly managed business does anyway. This is only reasonable,” said the union representative.

Hofmann criticized the call by the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) for a moratorium on administrative burdens as a transparent ploy. “The BDA isn’t concerned about the burden of filling out a simple form, but rather about the burden of having to pay fair wages. We will resolutely oppose such a moratorium.”

In the coming months, IG Metall will also put the issue of unrecorded or unpaid working hours on the agenda in companies in the metal and electrical industries. “Anyone who fails to record work performed or allows unpaid hours to go uncompensated destroys a work culture built on appreciation for employees’ performance and commitment,” said Hofmann. Unfortunately, he noted, this remains common practice in quite a few companies in the industry.

In addition, IG Metall is calling on the federal government to consistently continue on the path it has taken toward greater order in the labor market. “Issues still pending in the coalition agreement—such as the right to return from part-time work or the new legal regulations governing temporary agency work and service contracts—must be addressed,” said Hofmann.

For editorial information:

Guiding Principles of the Federal Labor Court (BAG), Decision of May 6, 2003 – 1 ABR 13/02
In order to fulfill its supervisory duties under Section 80(1)(1) of the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG) with regard to compliance with statutory rest periods and the weekly working hours stipulated in collective bargaining agreements, the works council requires knowledge of the start and end times of employees’ daily work shifts and the actual number of weekly working hours performed.

The employer must organize its operations in such a way that it can itself ensure compliance with applicable laws, collective bargaining agreements, and works agreements. It must therefore obtain the aforementioned information and may not refuse to provide this information to the works council on the grounds that it deliberately chooses not to record employees’ actual working hours due to a “trust-based working time” system implemented in the company.