Overtime scandal: Ringgau employee accumulates 3,500 hours!

Overtime scandal: Ringgau employee accumulates 3,500 hours!

The Ringgau municipal administration is currently in focus because one of its senior employees has accumulated over 3,500 hours of overtime over the last five and a half years. This equates to an impressive year and a half of additional working time. Informed in their reports HNA about the fact that this overtime occurred on weekdays, weekends and even holidays.

Mayor Mario Hartmann announced that the municipality plans to retroactively pay overtime with an amount in the six-figure range. This number had to be revealed at the request of community representative Mirco Lorbach, who raised the situation during a meeting on May 22, 2025. The community board had previously not been informed about the number of overtime hours worked.

Background of overtime

The employee was hired in fall 2019 to handle the community's financial affairs. At this point, the administration was faced with serious problems: annual financial statements had been missing since 2010 and the accounting was in a dilapidated state. In order to remedy this, Rainer Janisch was hired on a fee basis in 2024 and has since successfully completed 14 annual financial statements. An ongoing lawsuit against the former mayor Fissmann and his chamberlain at the Kassel administrative court is also a sign of the ongoing difficulties facing the municipal administration.

The high number of overtime hours also raises legal questions. According to the collective agreement for the public service (TVöD), overtime must be paid or compensated for by free time. The current regulations state that overtime does not expire if it is not compensated within three years. Overtime is only permitted if the employer orders it to go beyond regular working hours, and there are usually additional surcharges for separate work such as night work or public holiday work [ Municipal forum ].

Consequences for the employee

After the direct mayoral election in February 2025, in which Hartmann was not re-elected, the affected employee announced her resignation. She will start a new job in the neighboring community of Weißenborn on July 1, 2025. From July to August 2025, however, she will initially continue to work for the municipality of Ringgau on a mini-job basis. Mayor Hartmann also commented on the situation and stated that he did not order the overtime, while questioning the figures mentioned and citing data protection.

In summary, it can be said that the situation surrounding overtime in Ringgau raises a profound debate about working conditions and compensation issues. Whether and how these financial burdens will affect the future municipal administration remains to be seen. In any case, it seems to be a new phase for the employee, while the community has to deal with its existing challenges [ Public service ].