über den Tellerrand blicken or schauen
To look over the edge of the plate. Duden gives two meanings. One is etwas von einer höheren Warte aus betrachten, to look at something from a higher point of view. The other is über seinen eingeschränkten Gesichtskreis hinausblicken, um etwas richtig einzuschätzen, to look beyond one’s limited horizon in order to judge something correctly.
Warning Beyond the Mandate
A tax adviser prepared the annual financial statements of a German limited company, a GmbH. The company later became insolvent. Its insolvency administrator sued the adviser for damages. He argued that the adviser had known of repeated losses and should have warned the company.
On 26 January 2017 the Federal Court of Justice ruled on the case (IX ZR 285/14). An adviser who prepares the annual statements must warn the client of a possible ground for insolvency, and of the managing director’s duty to examine it. This applies when the signs are obvious and he must assume that the client is not aware of the risk. Before, the court had required such a warning only in narrower cases.
Since 1 January 2021 the rule is written into law. Section 102 of the StaRUG names tax advisers, auditors and lawyers. They must warn the client wenn entsprechende Anhaltspunkte offenkundig sind und sie annehmen müssen, dass dem Mandanten die mögliche Insolvenzreife nicht bewusst ist, if the signs are obvious and they must assume that the client is not aware of the possible insolvency.
Consideration for the Other Side
A German contract creates more than the duty to deliver. Section 241 (2) of the Civil Code says: Das Schuldverhältnis kann nach seinem Inhalt jeden Teil zur Rücksicht auf die Rechte, Rechtsgüter und Interessen des anderen Teils verpflichten. Depending on its content, the obligation can require each party to take into account the rights, legal interests and interests of the other party.
German law students learn these as duties of consideration and protection. A standard example from a law learning platform is the painter. Ein Maler ist verpflichtet, bei seinen Arbeiten darauf aufzupassen, dass er die in der Wohnung befindlichen Gegenstände des Auftraggebers nicht beschmutzt. A painter must take care not to soil the client’s belongings in the apartment while he works. A breach can cost money. Under Section 280 (1), if the debtor breaches a duty from the obligation, the creditor can claim compensation for the damage.
News on the State of the Business
Section 666 of the German Civil Code sets the information duty of a person who carries out a task for someone else. Der Beauftragte ist verpflichtet, dem Auftraggeber die erforderlichen Nachrichten zu geben, auf Verlangen über den Stand des Geschäfts Auskunft zu erteilen und nach der Ausführung des Auftrags Rechenschaft abzulegen. The agent must give the principal the necessary news. On request, he must report on the state of the business. After the task is done, he must give an account.
Section 665 lets the agent depart from the principal’s instructions if he may assume that the principal bei Kenntnis der Sachlage die Abweichung billigen würde, would approve the change if he knew the facts. Before he departs, he must notify the principal and wait for his decision, unless the delay brings danger. Section 675 applies both rules to paid service and work contracts that involve handling another person’s affairs.
Under His Own Responsibility
Part B of the VOB is a set of standard terms for German construction contracts. Its Section 4 divides the roles on the site. The client hat das Recht, die vertragsgemäße Ausführung der Leistung zu überwachen, has the right to monitor that the work is carried out as agreed. He may give orders that are needed for this. But he must give them unter Wahrung der dem Auftragnehmer zustehenden Leitung, while respecting the contractor’s right to manage the work. As a rule, he gives such orders only to the contractor or to the contractor’s appointed site manager. The exception is imminent danger.
Section 4 (2) describes the contractor’s side. Der Auftragnehmer hat die Leistung unter eigener Verantwortung nach dem Vertrag auszuführen. The contractor must carry out the work under his own responsibility, according to the contract. Es ist seine Sache, die Ausführung seiner vertraglichen Leistung zu leiten. It is his business to manage the execution of his work.
The Daimler IT Case
From 2001 to the end of 2011, two IT specialists looked after the computers in the treasury department of Daimler AG in Stuttgart. Formally they were freelancers under contracts for work. The contracts ran through an IT systems house, which was a subcontractor of a larger IT company. Daimler said that all work orders came in through a ticket system.
The regional labor court of Baden-Württemberg found otherwise. Daimler employees had often given the two men instructions directly by e-mail, outside the ticket system. The men had also worked for years in Daimler’s rooms with Daimler’s equipment. On 1 August 2013 the court ruled that the contracts were sham contracts for work, Scheinwerkverträge. It held that an employment relationship existed between the two men and Daimler. The case number is 2 Sa 6/13. The court allowed an appeal to the Federal Labor Court.
Owing a Result or Owing Effort
German civil law has two basic contracts for work done for someone else. Under a Werkvertrag, Section 631 of the Civil Code obliges the contractor zur Herstellung des versprochenen Werkes, to produce the promised work. The object of such a contract can be ein anderer durch Arbeit oder Dienstleistung herbeizuführender Erfolg, a result to be brought about by work or service. Under a Dienstvertrag, Section 611 obliges the provider zur Leistung der versprochenen Dienste, to perform the promised services. He owes the work itself, not a result.
A third contract is the employment contract in Section 611a. The employee owes work that is bound by instructions and determined by others. Das Weisungsrecht kann Inhalt, Durchführung, Zeit und Ort der Tätigkeit betreffen. The right to give instructions can cover the content, the execution, the time and the place of the work. The name of the contract does not decide this. If the way the contract is carried out shows an employment relationship, kommt es auf die Bezeichnung im Vertrag nicht an, the name in the contract does not matter.
Letting the specialist work
Freie Hand lassen — to leave a free hand.
Das ist Sache des Fachmanns — that is the specialist’s affair.
Da rede ich ihm nicht rein — I don’t talk into that.
Machen lassen — to let someone get on with it.
Four ordinary German expressions, all approving, all describing a client who has stepped back.
The expert works alone
Dafür haben wir Sie ja geholt — that is what we brought you in for. Said in German when a supplier asks the client how to proceed on a matter within the supplier’s own expertise. It is not impatience. It is a statement about where the responsibility went when the contract was signed.
The status report
German project practice runs on a scheduled report — monthly, fortnightly, at defined milestones — rather than on continuous contact. The client is informed regularly and is not consulted continuously. The rhythm is agreed at the start, and keeping to it is what maintains the relationship.