Labor law essentials

Unfit to work

You must call in sick on the first day you are unfit to work by 10 am at the latest: Notify the supervisor, front office, or team assistant responsible for your professorship. Clarify with your supervisor at the start of your employment who to notify in case you are sick and how exactly to do so. 

Important: Ensure that you immediately notify the same person or office when you are fit for work again to avoid deductions from pay!

Find all details and forms related to sickness on Universität Hamburg’s Staff Service Portal under: Unfit to Work / Illness / Accident

Vacation

Send your formal vacation request to your supervisor and the front office and/or team assistant responsible. Forms can be downloaded from the University’s Staff Service Portal under Vacation Matters. Contact the HR staff responsible to find out how many vacation days you are entitled to take. Be aware that you must use up all remaining vacation days by 30 September of the following year. Pursuant to Section 6 subsection 3 of the collective wage agreement for the public sectors of the German states (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst der Länder, TV-L), employees with TV-L-contracts do not have to apply for leave, vacation days, or compensatory time off for 24 and 30 December.

Tracking your working hours

All employees are obliged to properly track their working hours. The administrative order on working hours (Verwaltungsanordnung über die Dienstzeit) dated 18 December 1996 (PDF, in German only) continues to apply academic staff. However, due to the special nature of teaching and research activities, academic staff are exempt from the obligation to adhere to the working time frame, core working time, and the obligation to record working time specified in the order. For more information see Working Time in the University’s Staff Service Portal.