No, your employer is not entitled to force you to work overtime hours unless this is explicitly stipulated in your employment contract, a collective agreement (Tarifvertrag) or a company agreement (Betriebsvereinbarung).
Right to issue instructions
Under § 106 of the German Trade Regulation Act (GewO), the employer has the right to issue instructions regarding the place, content and time of the work in general. However, this directive right does not automatically extend to imposing overtime if this has not been agreed by contract (Gesetze im Internet).
No statutory obligation to work overtime
There is no general statutory rule that obliges an employee to perform overtime if their contract or collective agreement does not provide for it. A court has confirmed that the directive right under § 106 GewO does not give the employer the authority to order Mehrarbeit (overtime work) unilaterally, without a prior agreement (Advocard).
Limits of daily working time
The German Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz – ArbZG) sets the general daily working time at 8 hours, with the possibility of extending it temporarily to 10 hours, provided that the excess time is compensated later (§ 3 ArbZG) (Gesetze im Internet).
Any work beyond this framework is considered overtime and requires your consent or a clear contractual obligation.
Conclusion:
The employer may only demand what is laid down in your contract or in a collective or company agreement.
If there is no clear clause obliging you to work Überstunden (overtime), you are legally entitled to refuse.
To avoid disputes, make sure you check in writing what your contract says about overtime and, if necessary, clarify these points in writing.
The authors and editors of this website strive to provide accurate information based on thorough research and consultation of multiple sources. Nevertheless, errors may occur or some information may not be fully confirmed. Therefore, please regard the information in this article as an initial point of reference and always contact the competent authorities or professional bodies for binding and up-to-date information.
