Die befristete Professur im Angestelltenverhältnis an staatlichen und staatlich anerkannten Hochschulen

Temporary employment of professors is on the increase. Whilst temporary professorship of those with civil service status has already been discussed at length in literature on the legislation of higher education, legal issues which so far have not been discussed at all or at least not thoroughly have arisen regarding the temporary professorship of salaried employees.The legal basis of fixed-term employment contracts with professors is highly controversial. Partly the view is held that the only possible basis is the Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz (TzBfG, i.e the German Act on Part-Time and Fixed-Term Contracts) which is valid for all employees. According to a correct judgement however, the Federal States could create a special law dealing with the temporary employment of professors. They are endowed with legislative competence in this specialized subject because Federal laws, especially the TzBfG have no blocking effect. The majority of the Federal States plan regulations differentiating between the reason and the length of temporary employment which are in keeping with the legal conditions of Directive 1999/70/EC and do not violate German Constitutional law. In other Federal States the TzBfG must be referred to.Neither the federal higher education acts nor the Wissenschaftszeitgesetz (WissZeitVG, i.e. the German act on temporary employment of academic staff) provide for a special temporary employment law for professors at state-approved (private) universities. Contrary to the ambiguous wording of section 1 (1) WissZeitVG, this law cannot be applied here. State-approved universities can therefore only conclude fixed-term employment contracts with professors on the basis of the TzBfG which partially covers the limitation constellations of the federal higher education acts.