Most important changes for collective agreement „Trade“ for white collar workers (“Angestellte in Handelsbetrieben”), applicable from January, 1st 2019:

Starting 2019 some important regulations for the collective agreement „trade“ have been amended. We have summarized for you the most important changes.

Consideration of leave times

1. Leave times according to MschG and VKG (i.e. maternity and paternity leaves), starting 01.01.19, have to be considered with a maximum of 24 months for:
   – Termination periods
   – Holiday entitlement
   – Periods of payment for sick employees
   – Jubilee payments
2. End-of-life care for close relatives or care of most heavily sick children (according to AVRAG), starting 01.01.19, are also to be considered for the above mentioned entitlements – the maximum to be taken into account is regulated by law.

4-days-week

The daily normal working day can be 10 hours per day for a 4-days-week. Also, these days don’t have to be agreed as continuous days within a week (i.e. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday is also allowed). The employee has to apply for a 4-days-week at the employer, who can refuse within 2 weeks due to “organizational reasons”. For decisions on such applications the work’s council has to be included.

Take over of „time credit“ or „time debts“ into the next consideration period

Starting January, 1st 2019 it is possible to take over „time credit“ or „time debt“ into the next consideration period – up to a maximum of 50% of the agreed weekly working time.

Closing of shops on December, 24th at 1 pm

The employment – and therefore also the „normal working time“ –  ends on December, 24th at 1 pm. Exceptions, which are still applicable on January, 1st 2019 (according to “employee rest act”, i.e. “Arbeitsruheverordnung”) are remaining valid and thus excluded from this regulation.

Educational leave:

The employer has to accept an employee’s application for educational leave, if:

1. The application is made at least 6 months prior to the requested leave time
2. The employee has been with the company at least one year, when making the application
3. The education is relevant for the employer and all necessary documents are available

The employer is entitled to decline an employee’s application, if:

1. Company’s processes are at risk or
2. Maintenance of business operations can not be guaranteed anymore

An employee can not be terminated by the employer due to a planned or factual educational leave. This underlies the general protection of “motive termination” (“Motivkündigung”).

Part time retirement

If the conditions are met, the employee can inform the employer in written form, about his intention to take continuous part time retirement (“kontinuierliche Altersteilzeit”). This information has to contain at least the information, on how much the employee wants to reduce his weekly working time and the length of this funded part time retirement.

The employer can do following:

1. Postpone the part time retirement to a later point
2. Talk to the employee and request a different amount of reduced working time
3. Change the “continuous” part time into a “blocked” part time (“Blockvariante”)
4. Decline

if

1. Company’s processes are at risk or
2. Maintenance of business operations can not be guaranteed anymore

We are happy to assist you further, if you have any questions in regards to the applicable changes.

Please note that all changes apply for the „new“ and the „old“ regulations likewise.