Time recording for teachers: 100 % mandatory or not?

In 2019, the so-called Time clock judgement of the European Court of Justice (ECJ)which states that member states must oblige employers to introduce an objective and reliable system for recording working time. However, the ECJ judgement did not set a timeframe for the implementation of this obligation to record working time.

Only in the The Federal Labour Court (BAG) clarified the following on 1 September 2022 the European judgement for Germany. Since then, it has been clear that the introduction of working time recording is mandatory! But does this obligation also apply to teachers*?

How many hours do teachers work?

Mark Rackles, former Secretary of State for Education and Deputy Leader of the SPD in Berlin, has accused the ministers of education and cultural affairs of "No "great interest" in recording the actual working hours of teachers have. However, this would be necessary in order to show that teachers generally work more than is stipulated in the collective agreement. The problem: the work organisation model in schools is based on an outdated system from the 19th century that has never been adapted to the requirements of modern education. The system only stipulates the number of lessons per week that a teacher has to teach. All other tasks - such as lesson preparation and follow-up, corrections, discussions with parents - remain unclear and depend on the teacher's individual perception of their work. In practical terms, this means that teachers have an average working week of around 47 hours - at least!

In an international comparison, teachers in Germany work many hours but have fewer teaching hours. Rackles states that the German working time model for teachers not only promotes overwork, but is also inefficient. The greatest stress factors lie in the bureaucratic workload and data collection. Tasks that in other countries would be carried out by teaching assistants or students.

The Federal Labour Court in September 2022 decided that employees in Germany must record their entire (!) working hours. However, very little or nothing has happened in this respect in the school sector since then. Rackles doubts that the working group set up by the Conference of Education Ministers has little interest in tackling the issue of recording working hours for teachers. Why? If the actual working hours of teachers were recorded, it would become clear that up to 30,000 additional teachers are needed, which in turn would exacerbate the existing teacher shortage.

In his Expertise for the Telekom Foundation Rackles outlines an alternative to the current working time model for teachers. He proposes using the "annual working time as a basis for assessment" in order to record all working hours and not just the compulsory hours related to teaching. The allocation of working hours should be based on the workload of the subjects and school levels - not on the type of school, as is currently the case. A reform to this effect is essential in order to make the teaching profession attractive again for new entrants and to encourage motivated teachers to return from part-time to full-time work.

Does the obligation to record working hours also apply to teachers?

In a nutshell: Basically yes! This is because the obligation to record working hours applies in Germany regardless of the job or sector. Although there are exceptions for certain positions (executive employees or managing directors), the Federal Labour Court ruled that working hours must always be recorded. The basis for this is the Occupational Health and Safety Act. All employers are therefore obliged to Time recording system to set up and use.

This obligation to record working hours therefore also applies to teachers, civil servants and members of academia, although the BAG does not specify exactly how working hours must be recorded. The exact organisation is up to the legislator. A First draft bill from the Ministry of Labour has been available since April 2023has not yet been implemented. One thing is clear, however: teachers' everyday working lives involve different work locations and a variety of tasks, so a particularly flexible time recording solution is required. Digital time recording systems such as ZEP offer a good option here. They enable flexible recording of working hours via various channels such as browsers or apps, which allows documentation to be kept regardless of location.

The regulation of working time recording for teachers has been harshly criticised by some stakeholders, in particular the education ministries of the federal states.

Conference of Education Ministers calls for exceptions to working time recording for teachers

Following the publication of the BMAS's draft bill, it became clear that there would be no specific exemptions for teachers and academics. In response, Berlin's Senator for Education and President of the Standing Conference of Education Ministers (KMK) Katharina Günther-Wünsch wrote a letter to Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil in which she urged special legal regulations for teachers and academics.

In her letter, she criticised the fact that the current draft did not adequately take into account the "special situation of teachers". Their working hours are not or only partially measurable, particularly with regard to extracurricular activities. These working hours could neither be predicted in advance nor monitored by the employer. It is anchored in the job description of teachers to fulfil tasks independently and on their own responsibility. But why shouldn't these times also be recorded? With suitable software for recording working hours, teachers working from home (like many other employees working remotely) can also record their working hours. This does not go far enough for the KMK.

Günther-Wünsch also argued that the planned obligation to record working hours would only apply to teachers employed under collective agreements, which in her opinion would restrict the flexibility of work organisation in the teaching profession. What did the Federal Ministry of Labour say in response to the KMK's letter? In the opinion of the BMAS, it could No fundamental exceptions to the obligation to record working hours for teachers give. Civil servants are not exempt from this obligation either. This is because the European concept of employee also includes civil servants, meaning that the judgements of the ECJ and BAG are also applicable to civil servant teachers.

The demand for an exemption was rejected by the BMAS. The ministry explained that the provisions of the Working Hours Act on maximum working hours and minimum rest periods already apply to employees in schools and universities and would not be changed by the recording of working hours for teachers.

How teachers (associations) react

Whenever there is a discussion about recording teachers' working hours, you often only hear voices from the world of politics. But what do teachers actually think? In Berlin, for example school year 2023/24 has already completed a one-year study which involves thousands of teachers recording their working hours to the minute. Hamburg is planning something similar. The state of Saxony is even planning to introduce August 2024 the recording of working hours for teachers in all types of schools in order to clarify how high the weekly workload actually is.

According to Baden-Württemberg Philologists' Association the teachers want "... that the working hours of teachers are finally recorded reliably," says Chairman Ralf Scholl. It is known that teachers in the state work on average significantly more than the annual 1804 civil servant hours. The situation is exacerbated for part-time staff due to compulsory additional appointments such as conferences. There is a lack of clarity as to what constitutes a teacher's working hours, particularly with regard to activities such as exam corrections or preparations.

Two teachers from Baden-Württemberg, supported by the Philologists' Association (PhV), Complaints about working time recording for teachers before the Stuttgart Administrative Court. Despite the obligation to record working hours, which has been recognised by several courts, no German federal state has yet introduced such a system for teachers. The reason for the lawsuit is also that the average working time of teachers is well above the annual 1804 hours for civil servants. The plaintiff teachers, a female teacher and a male teacher from the administrative district of Stuttgart, had been recording their actual working hours for years. However, as state civil servants with a 41-hour week and the obligation to work a good 1800 hours a year, both had recorded more than 2000 hours. The complaint relates to these overtime hours and to Numerous studies on teachers' working hours. These regularly show that teachers work more than planned on average, but without receiving compensation for overtime.

The chances of success in court are good. Even without a new law on recording working hours for teachers, the fundamental judgement of the Federal Labour Court on the obligation to record working hours applies. If the federal government continues to treat this issue as sluggishly as before, further lawsuits could follow.

Working time recording for teachers: software & apps help

The introduction of working time recording for teachers could possibly bring about a change of perspective with regard to the working time model in general. Recording the actual working time, i.e. the actual working time, requires a comparison with the target working time. The model currently in use remunerates teachers solely on the basis of the number of teaching hours worked. The times for activities related to teaching (preparation, follow-up, corrections) and other tasks (parent-teacher conferences) are only vaguely defined in the current model. However, if employers are obliged to record 100 per cent of working hours and therefore also to compare 100 per cent of working hours with the target working hours, the current hours model for teachers may quickly prove to be inadequate. Ultimately, the mandatory recording of working hours for teachers could help to create transparency and initiate a discussion about which activities are actually undertaken by teachers.

At first glance, this may seem like a bureaucratic measure, but a closer look reveals numerous advantages that can lead to a more efficient way of working and, above all, to a better work-life balance for teachers. The basic prerequisite: all those involved - teachers, schools and politicians in the form of the ministries of education - must be open to the idea of recording teachers' working hours. With the right tools, it is also possible to "clock in" regardless of location. With ZEP, teachers can record their actual working hours in detail - on a computer or via an app. It also offers the option of creating a separate overtime account for each teacher and thus keeping track of exactly who has worked how long.

A Software like ZEP offers various advantages not only to teachers. School administrations also benefit, as the data from ZEP enables them to precise resource planningto avoid bottlenecks as far as possible and distribute the workload fairly. Efficient school management can improve working conditions and increase teacher satisfaction.