Why am I not paid for my start-up and close-out time?

Questioner

I work in a tuning company in administration. We do not have a collective labor agreement. We consist of a small team of 9 employees and 2 employers. Now my employer asks us to be present 15 minutes in advance for the day to start. (Start at 9:00) To discuss what everyone is doing that day. We also have to have started up the computer and put our stuff away before those 15 minutes. Also the employer asks us to close at 17:30 and to pack things and then collect them in the warehouse until everyone is ready. And our working time is until 17:30 so we are often present for 10/15 minutes after this time because only then is everyone ready. However, both 15 min are not paid only the hours from 9:00-17:30. Added together that is at least 2.5 hours a week that you are present longer. Which means that I lose almost €100 every month. I looked up information about this and saw that a subdistrict court judge had said that if it is not necessary, this falls under working time and should be paid. I would like to have some more clarity on whether this is really the case in my case. And if so, how I can best approach this.

Lawyer

The quarter of an hour in the morning is definitely working time and must be paid. I cannot judge the 10 to 15 minutes in the afternoon. You are too vague about that. What exactly does that work entail? Is that mandatory? Can't you do that earlier? Do you have to wait for others?

Questioner

Okay thanks that's good to know! That's the day closing. We have working hours from 9-17:30 and our employers only allow us to close the computers and get coats at 17:30 and the other colleagues only then close the cash register and the rest of the finishing things. After this everyone has to gather in the warehouse and then the employer wants to thank us and only then can we go. My employers require everyone to be present. We could practically do this at 17:15, for example, if our employers had allowed it. And yes, in the warehouse we often have to wait for 1 or 2 colleagues, often 5-10 minutes, because of the cash register and counting, etc.

Lawyer

In that case, the employer must also pay for the quarter at the end of the day. For further questions/problems I advise you to contact a specialized labor law attorney (member of a specialist association), e.g. me. Often the first consultation (max. half an hour) is free, such as at my office.