Work contract (arbeitsvertrag)
Nearly every work contract consists of general terms and conditions made by the employer pertaining to a large number of employees (Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen). The employer has the power and dictates the conditions of the work contract without negotiations between employer and employee. Because the employee’s negotiation position is the weakest, the law (clause 305 ff. BGB – German civil code) is geared to protect the employee. This means that not everything that is written in your contract is allowed by law. Generally, you are powerless when asked to sign a work contract which contains conditions not permitted by law. But if the conditions aren’t permissible in the contract they may be invalid. In brief, your lawyer will check the contract and identify permissible conditions as well as impermissible ones. The latter do not apply since they are unlawful to begin with.
Often work contracts refer to collective labour agreements. That means the collective labour agreements applies to the work contract even if the employee is not a union member.