Swedish Bus Driver Refuses Unpaid Pre-Shift Work, Raising Questions About German Labour Law

A Berliner Zeitung feature examines the case of Patric Hillerudh, a bus driver from Ljusterö near Stockholm, who refuses to carry out any pre-shift tasks without pay. His duty roster gives him two minutes to read traffic reports and sign on, then five more minutes to walk to the correct bus, adjust his seat and mirrors, insert his driver card and blow into the alcohol interlock. Even when everything goes smoothly, he calculates he arrives roughly two minutes late at his first stop. Many colleagues start early to avoid the rush, but Hillerudh argues that doing so conceals how tightly the schedule is planned, with drivers effectively subsidising the timetable with unpaid minutes.

The article uses his case to examine the legal position in Germany. The Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) ruled in 2012 (Az. 5 AZR 678/11) that any activity serving the employer counts as working time, including changing into a uniform and walking to the workstation. A 2015 BAG decision involving Stuttgart's public transport operator (Az. 1 ABR 76/13) confirmed the principle extends to transit workers. In Berlin, the collective agreement for local public transport — the TV-N Berlin — requires that necessary preparation and finishing time be included in scheduled hours and shown on duty rosters. A separate 2009 ruling (Az. 6 AZR 374/08) saw a BVG driver successfully have 223 minutes of delays credited as working time, with the court ruling that delays are the employer's risk.

The article advises transport workers to document arrival times and tasks performed. Since a 2022 BAG decision, employers are required to record working hours. Workers are also urged to observe contractual deadlines for claiming unpaid time and to seek support from their works council or union.