The Rule on Internal Applications

A job opening appears inside your own company — the role you have been waiting for. The impulse might be to start drafting the application right away, perhaps even during working hours. But according to Nathalie Oberthür, a specialist in employment law and chair of the labour law committee of the German Bar Association (DAV), that would be a mistake.

Oberthür states clearly that writing any job application is never part of an employee’s paid work. The rule does not change just because the vacancy is with the same employer. “Writing applications is fundamentally not working time,” she said, “regardless of whether the application is made within one’s own company or externally with another company.”

This means that even an internal career move — which could ultimately benefit both the employee and the employer — must be pursued on personal time. The legal obligation is to perform duties for the employer during working hours, not to advance one’s own candidacy for a different role.

Why Writing Applications Is Not Work

The Legal Distinction at Play

The reasoning is rooted in the basic nature of the employment contract: working time is time for which the employer pays the employee to fulfil specific tasks. Preparing a CV, a cover letter, or gathering documents for an internal posting is a personal activity — much like planning a holiday or managing private finances — not a work assignment. Even if the application, if successful, could be seen as a long‑term gain for the company, the immediate act is not a duty owed to the employer.

While some line managers might informally tolerate a brief conversation about an internal role during work hours, the formal act of writing the application itself sits clearly outside paid time. Employment law in Germany draws a bright line here: any activity that primarily serves the employee’s own interests, rather than a current work obligation, is not compensable working time.

What Employees Should Know

For employees eyeing an internal opening, the practical consequence is straightforward:

  • Carve out time before or after work, during lunch breaks, or at weekends to write the application. Doing so on company time risks being seen as a breach of duty.
  • If you need to speak with a current manager or HR about the role, a brief, permission‑based conversation may be acceptable, but confirm with your employer what is allowed.