Academic Fix-Term Contract Act (WissZeitVG) – What is the parliamentarian procedure?
The WissZeitVG sets the legal framework for fixed-term employment in academia. Many early-career researchers are employed under contracts regulated by this law, making it crucial to understand its implications for your career. Currently the bill is undergoing a reform, which sparked significant debate.
We would like to inform you about the previous steps in the reform of the bill and what is the expected process from here on:
Current Status:
- Draft Presentation: In March 2024 the Ministry of Education (BMBF) presented a draft of the reform and revised it after initial criticism from various stakeholders.
- Statements: In May and June several postdoc networks released statements on the draft bill which can be found [here] and [here].
- First Reading: On October 16th the bill has been introduced to the German Parliament (Bundestag) for the first reading, after an initial debate it was referred as expected to the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment for further review.
Upcoming Steps:
- Committee Stage: During the committee stage changes to the bill can be proposed and will be voted on by the committee. The committee is obliged to handle matters “without delay”, but it has freedom to organize its own agenda. Due to this, the committee stage can vary in length depending on the complexity of the bill and the current workload of the committee. A time frame of several weeks to a few months can be expected.
- Second and Third Reading: Following the committee stage, the bill will return to the parliament for a second and third reading, which typically occur on the same day. Amendments can still be made after the second reading. The final vote on the law takes place with the third reading.
- Bundesrat Consideration: This bill does not require the approval of the Bundesrat (Federal Council, a legislative body that represents the 16 federal states), the Bundesrat has already provided its opinion on the reform, generally supporting the objectives.
- Publication and Enactment: After passing the Bundestag and Bundesrat, the bill has to be signed by the Federal President and will be published in the Federal Law Gazette. According to the current statements, the changes will come into force 6 months after the publication of the bill. The existing regulations, however, should continue to apply to academic staff already employed on a fixed-term contract until the end of their current contract.
To learn more, you can read the official statement from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research [here] and find detailed summaries of the bill and the 2024 reform debate from the German Scholars Organization e.V. (GSO) [here] and the Leibniz PostDoc Network [here].
