Improvement of employment relations at universities

The improvement of employment relations at universities is an important concern. A “Rahmenkodex über den Umgang mit befristeter Beschäftigung und die Förderung von Karriereperspektiven an den Hochschulen im Freistaat Sachsen” (Framework code on dealing with fixed-term employment and the advancement of career prospects at higher education institutions in the Free State of Saxony) is applicable to the 14 Saxon universities. The Rahmenkodex was signed in 2016 by SMWK, rectors of Saxon universities or their representatives and the main staff council. It sets binding minimum standards for dealing with fixed-term employment.

The Rahmenkodex stipulates among other things that the terms of an employment should be based on the duration of the desired qualification or the approval period of the associated third party funded project. The contract terms of scientific and artistic employees should no longer be shorter than six months. The contract terms for scientific or artistic employees based on the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (Law on Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in the Science and Research Sector) should not be less than one year when the qualification aim is a doctorate and three years in the postdoc phase. Stopgap measures - in particular to ensure continuous employment and qualification - remain possible in the interest of employees. Regular employment should not be less than 50 percent of the regular working hours in the qualification phase when the aim is to obtain a doctorate. In the postdoc phase, the employment offered should not be less than 75 percent of the regular working hours. In order to ensure qualification success supervision agreements are concluded between doctoral students and supervising professors.