As of: February 25, 2024, 6:20 p.m
By: Stefan Aigner
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Regensburg city councilor Christian Janele is at loggerheads with a former employee.
© Günter Staudinger
A former caretaker is demanding 12,500 euros from real estate entrepreneur and city councilor Christian Janele.
Now they met at the Regensburg labor court.
Regensburg - Vacation not taken, more than 370 hours of overtime and expenses for work clothes, travel and equipment - a former employee is demanding a total of 12,500 euros from the Regensburg real estate entrepreneur and city councilor Christian Janele.
Now the two met at the Regensburg Labor Court.
Jürgen B. worked as a caretaker for Christian Janele from September 2021 to the end of August 2023.
He not only looked after six different properties, some with over 100 residential and commercial units in the Regensburg urban area and in Regenstauf, but also his boss's private property.
Dispute with caretaker: Regensburg entrepreneur did not hand over papers
But after the regular termination, Janele not only refused to pay the financial demands of his former employee, Jürgen B. also had to wait until the court hearing in mid-February for his papers, which he needed for health insurance and the employment agency.
Janele had not previously responded to letters from B's lawyer.
Christian Janele, who sits on the city council for the CSB and is part of the government coalition there, appears alone, without a lawyer.
He brought a written statement.
He also hands Jürgen B. the documents that have been missing for months - payslips for July and August, employment certificates, the income tax certificate for the last year.
Also a reference for his former employee.
Dispute over vacation and overtime: Ex-caretaker demands 12,500 euros
In his lawsuit, he is demanding compensation for 46 days of vacation that he was still entitled to after the termination (around 5,800 euros gross).
In addition, around 5,600 euros for over 370 hours of overtime and 1,100 euros for the use of his private car, work clothing and tools that he had to purchase or borrow.
That's "a lot of money," said Judge Thomas Krottenthaler, chairman of the 5th chamber at the Regensburg Labor Court, at the conciliation hearing.
Krottenthaler makes it unmistakably clear to Christian Janele that he essentially sees the vacation matter the same way as the plaintiff.
“That’s what the law says.”
When it comes to overtime and the matter of expenses, the judge leans more towards the real estate entrepreneur.
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Dispute with the caretaker: Entrepreneur Janele wasn't interested in the overtime notes
Janele does not deny that his former caretaker regularly submitted weekly reports to him with self-managed time tracking.
In it, Jürgen B. documented the start of work, break times, working hours and location, hours worked and activity.
But Janele says: “The listing was not comprehensible to us.
He just handed it over, but we weren’t interested in it.” There were fixed working hours that were relevant.
Nothing else.
And Judge Krottenthaler also thinks that the burden of proof lies with the plaintiff.
The overtime was not countersigned by the employer.
It doesn't help if Jürgen B's lawyer Christian Jackisch sees the overtime as "necessary to think about" given the number and distribution of the properties being looked after.
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Dispute with caretaker: Court's settlement proposal causes outburst of anger
Janele also doesn't see why he should reimburse his former caretaker for any expenses.
A company vehicle was always on site and there were work clothes, he says.
Also tools.
“He bought that for himself,” the entrepreneur speculates at one point.
The judge does a quick calculation and then suggests a “lump sum solution”.
He offers 7,500 euros - this will cover everything and end the legal dispute.
Christian Janele is audibly dissatisfied with this suggestion from the court.
He shouts something about “cheating” and “stalking”.
His former caretaker also accumulated negative hours during his job.
“You would have to hear from witnesses about that.” Jürgen B. is also stalking him today.
“You have to take action against it.” Given this, it can’t be that he has to get involved in something like that, Janele gets upset.
Settlement proposal in the caretaker dispute: Both sides dissatisfied
“You don’t have to,” Krottenthaler replies dryly.
“You can also continue to litigate.” He is just trying to reach an amicable agreement and thus an acceptable solution for both sides.
The other side at least doesn't want to reject the settlement proposal immediately - but asks for an opportunity to revoke it by March 11th.
And given three weeks to think about it, Janele finally agrees.
But shortly after the hearing, in discussions with our editorial team, it became clear from both sides that the court would probably have to decide on the matter.
“I also have witnesses that you can hear from,” Jürgen B. tells us on the phone.
(By the way: Our Regensburg newsletter regularly informs you about all important stories from the world heritage city and the Upper Palatinate. Sign up here.)