For many people it is completely normal to have music or podcasts on their ears in everyday life. For some, this also provides relaxation at work. Who should care? So is this allowed at work?
“There is no general ban,” says Johannes Schipp, a labor law specialist. As long as there are no safety concerns, work performance does not suffer, and other people are not disturbed, listening to music or podcasts should not be a problem. More detailed regulations can be found in the employment contract or in company agreements.
Ban must be objectively justified
Johannes Schipp is a specialist lawyer for labor law in Gütersloh. (© Dieckmann-Fotodesign/dpa-tmn)
A ban is justified, for example, if employees are no longer able to hear everything that could influence their work performance. Or if the music can disturb other people. It’s not just about noise pollution. If colleagues or even customers feel like the employee’s attention is elsewhere, listening with headphones on can have a disruptive effect.
This means that a ban on listening to music or podcasts is easy to understand, especially in jobs with customer contact; without customer contact, the employer must give precise reasons.
If the employer wants to impose a new general ban, this affects the rules of the company. Such a ban then requires the consent of the works council.
About the person: Johannes Schipp is a specialist lawyer for labor law, a member of the German Bar Association (DAV) and was chairman of the executive committee of the labor law working group in the DAV until 2021.
