Reading overtime language without a law degree
“Pauschal” and “all-in” are short words that hide long evenings. Here is a review pass you can teach in one clinic hour.
German employment consultations often stumble on working-time clauses because the vocabulary feels technical. You do not need to recite the Arbeitszeitgesetz from memory to brief a hire. You need a sequence.
Step one: find the weekly baseline
Locate the contractual weekly hours. If the document is silent, ask. A review without a baseline cannot judge whether overtime language is aggressive or ordinary for the role.
Step two: classify the overtime model
Is extra time paid, time-off compensated, or declared already covered by salary? “Pauschal” phrases that swallow unlimited overtime deserve a clear candidate question: what volume is actually expected in this team’s last two quarters? Role reality beats clause poetry.
Step three: check travel and on-call
Sales and field roles sometimes bury travel-time expectations next to overtime waivers. Mark both in the same colour on your annotation map. Candidates understand risk faster when related clauses sit together visually — a trick from our Module 3 workbook.
What not to promise
Do not tell a hire the clause is “illegal” unless counsel has said so. Tell them what to ask, what to document, and when to escalate. That restraint is part of professional employment consultation, not a lack of confidence.