Piece contract

The piece contract is a fixed-term employment contract and includes employment during the rehearsal and performance periods of a production at the theater . The piece contract is a special case of engagement , so it mostly affects the artistic staff of the theater.

Theaters with en-suite performances without their own ensemble only have piece contracts, while theaters with a repertoire system , as is common in the German-speaking area, used to tie their artists to their house for several seasons and sometimes for life. This has been changing for about thirty years: while directors have been working for a long time primarily in piece contracts for individual theaters, the tendency towards the dissolution of longer-term engagements in piece contracts has been evident for some years with opera singers and now increasingly with actors .

In contrast to the work contract, the person engaged in the piece contract is not an independent entrepreneur, but an employee. “Freelance” stage performers are not self-employed, but are entitled to benefits from the employer.

literature

• Sascha T. Schacht: The restriction of moral rights in the employment relationship, Göttingen: V & R 2004, p. 201f. ISBN 3-89971-144-0