Can Your Employer Forbid You to Study? Your Rights in DE, AT, CH

In initial consultations I hear this question more often than you might think: "Is my boss even allowed to forbid this?" Usually there is no dispute behind it, just uncertainty. Someone wants to study alongside their job, suspects their employer will not be thrilled, and wonders whether they are on thin ice. Whether your employer can forbid you to study has a fairly clear answer for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

First: this is not legal advice. I explain the general rules. In a specific conflict you need an employment law specialist.

The short answer

• Your degree is a private matter. What you learn in your free time is basically none of your employer's business. As a rule, it cannot forbid it, in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
• The limit lies in your duties at work. Your performance must not suffer, you must not work for a competitor and you must not use trade secrets.
• A side job is not the same as studying. Paid secondary employment can require notification or approval.
• If your employer contributes, the repayment clause decides what changing jobs later will cost you.

Why your degree is a private matter

An employment contract governs your working time, not your life. You can use your free time as you like: for sport, family, volunteering or a degree. That applies in all three countries.

Studying is not even work in the legal sense. The German Working Hours Act counts, in § 2, the time from the start to the end of work, added up across several employers. Revising for an exam is not work for an employer and therefore does not count towards the statutory maximum working hours. So a degree is, by definition, something different from a second job.

That also means you do not need permission to study in your free time. Whether you tell your employer anyway is a strategic question, not a legal one. More on that below.

Where the limit lies

The freedom is not unlimited. With your employment contract you take on duties that can reach into your free time. In Germany the principle is in § 241 (2) BGB: both sides must take the other's interests into account. Switzerland calls it the duty of loyalty (Art. 321a OR), and Austria knows it too. For a degree, that means three concrete limits.

1. Your work must not suffer

If you study at night and fall asleep at your desk during the day, you breach your duties under the employment contract. The problem is then not the degree but your performance. Studying during working hours or on the company laptop without agreement is not a good idea either.

Realistic planning helps. How much time a part-time degree really needs per week and when it is worth reducing your hours is covered in Reducing working hours to study.

2. No competition

The degree itself competes with no one. It is different if, as part of your studies, you work for a competitor, for example in a practical project or a paid internship. In Germany, § 60 HGB expressly forbids commercial employees from doing business in their employer's line of trade without consent. Switzerland has a similar rule in Art. 321a (3) OR: no paid work for third parties to the extent that it breaches the duty of loyalty, in particular if it competes with the employer.

3. No trade secrets in your coursework

Many people write their thesis on a topic from their own company. That often makes sense, because you have real data and your employer benefits from the result. Internal figures, customer data and strategy papers belong to the company, though. Agree in writing beforehand which data you may use. A confidentiality notice that restricts the thesis to examiners resolves most concerns.

Side job, work placement, civil servant status: the special cases

Many employment contracts contain a secondary employment clause. It usually requires you to report or get approval for any further paid activity. Pure studying is not such an activity. But check whether your programme has elements that could count: a compulsory internship at another company, a paid contract in a practical project, a tutoring job at the university. Then reporting is often mandatory, and a ban can be lawful if your employer's legitimate interests are affected.

Civil servants in Germany have their own rules. For federal civil servants, § 99 BBG lists which secondary activities require approval: any paid activity and some unpaid ones, such as commercial activities. A degree you are not paid for is not among them. For state civil servants, the laws of the respective federal state apply. Ask your office before you enrol; it costs nothing and gives you certainty.

When your employer pays: the repayment clause

It gets interesting when your employer funds the degree or gives you time off for it. Then it does get a say, and it will almost always ask for a commitment: anyone who resigns shortly after graduating repays part of the cost. That is legitimate, but not without limits.

• Germany: There is no specific law on repayment clauses. Pre-formulated clauses are, however, subject to review under § 307 BGB. They are invalid if they put you at an unreasonable disadvantage or are not clear and understandable. Whether a commitment period is reasonable is decided by labour courts case by case.
• Austria: § 2d AVRAG regulates training cost reimbursement precisely. The agreement must be in writing. Among other things, no repayment is due if the employment ends more than four years after the end of the training, in special cases more than eight years. And the amount must decrease proportionally for each month after the training ends.
• Switzerland: There is no specific statutory rule for training costs. What counts is what you agree. Look for a commitment period that matches the amount and a repayment that decreases over time.

Read the clause before you sign, not when you want to resign. How to negotiate cost sharing and which models are common is covered in How to get your employer to pay for your degree.

Tell them or not?

Legally you do not have to report your degree, as long as it is not secondary employment and does not affect your work. Strategically, there is almost always more in favour of telling than against. If you talk openly, you can negotiate flexible hours, days off before exams or cost sharing. If you stay silent, you give that up, and your employer will find out anyway, at the latest when the new degree appears on your CV.

In most German federal states there is also a statutory right to educational leave, which you only get by applying. Which rules apply where is shown in my overview Educational leave in Germany. How to prepare the conversation with your employer is covered in Discussing your distance degree with your employer.

Conclusion

As a rule, your employer cannot forbid you to study in your free time. It can require that your work does not suffer, that you do not compete with it and that you keep its secrets. Check your employment contract for a secondary employment clause, especially if your programme includes work placements. And if your employer contributes to the cost, read the repayment clause carefully.

Want to know which degree fits your job and your time budget? In a free initial consultation we look at your situation together.