This dataset contains 1094 samples of clauses extracted from German employment contracts. Each sample includes the clause text, the title of its section, and three types of annotations:
- Legality label: Classified as 'valid' (0), 'unfair' (0.5), or 'void' (1).
- Category: Assigned to one of 14 predefined categories.
- Explanation: Provided for clauses labeled as 'unfair' or 'void', detailing why the clause is problematic.
- Clause Definition: A clause is a semantically self-contained segment of a German employment contract.
- Annotation Process: The annotations were conducted by two lawyers specializing in Economic Law. The process included three annotation rounds:
- Round 1: 100 randomly selected clauses, inter-annotator agreement of 72.6%.
- Round 2: 300 clauses, with improved inter-annotator agreement of 96.4%.
- Round 3: Two distinct sets of ~400 clauses each, resulting in 794 annotated clauses. Combined with Round 2, this forms the final dataset.
- Inter-Annotator Agreement:
- Legality labels: 96.4%
- Categories: 100%
- Bias Considerations: While the dataset is drawn from anonymized client contracts, potential bias towards problematic clauses may exist due to the nature of contracts typically submitted for legal review.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Clause | Die teilweise oder vollständige Abtretung und Pfändung der Vergütung ist ausgeschlossen. (The partial or complete assignment and seizure of the remuneration is excluded.) |
| Section Title | 5 Abtretungen/Pfändungen (5 Assignments/Garnishments) |
| Category | Pfändung/Abtretung (Garnishment/Assignment) |
| Classification | Void (1) |
| Explanation | Pfändungs-/Abtretungsverbot seit 10/2021 nach § 308 Nr. 9 lit. a BGB in AGB ausgeschlossen (Prohibition of garnishment/assignment excluded in general terms and conditions since 10/2021 according to § 308 No. 9 lit. a BGB) |
This dataset offers a unique resource for researchers, providing insights into common legal issues and supporting the development of AI tools for legal document analysis.
If you use this dataset in your research, please cite our work as follows:
@inproceedings{wardas2024employment,
title={AI-assisted German Employment Contract Review: A Benchmark Dataset},
author={Oliver Wardas, Florian Matthes},
booktitle={IRIS: Internationales Rechtsinformatik Symposium},
year={2025},
note={Dataset available at https://github.com/sebischair/Employment-Contract-Clauses-German}
}This dataset is provided under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. Please ensure proper attribution when using this dataset.
| Category (de) | Translation (en) | Valid | Unfair | Void | Sum | Void or Unfair |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonstiges | Other | 161 | 11 | 6 | 178 | 9.6% |
| Vergütung | Compensation | 100 | 27 | 21 | 148 | 32.4% |
| Vertragsstrafe | Penalty Clause | 111 | 24 | 10 | 145 | 23.5% |
| Durchführung | Execution | 111 | 12 | 123 | 9.8% | |
| Kündigung/Beendigung | Termination | 93 | 12 | 5 | 110 | 15.5% |
| Leistungen | Tasks | 98 | 5 | 1 | 104 | 5.8% |
| Krankheit | Illness | 73 | 17 | 90 | 18.9% | |
| Urlaub | Vacation | 62 | 12 | 74 | 16.2% | |
| Verjährung | Statute of Limitations | 23 | 7 | 6 | 36 | 36.1% |
| Form | Format | 21 | 12 | 1 | 34 | 38.2% |
| Pfändung/Abtretung | Garnishment | 12 | 9 | 7 | 28 | 67.9% |
| Überstunden | Overtime | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 18.2% |
| Ausschlussfristen | Cut-off Periods | 2 | 7 | 9 | 100% | |
| Erfindungen | Inventions | 4 | 4 | 0% | ||
| SUM | 875 | 149 | 70 | 1094 | 20% |
Special thanks to SYLVENSTEIN Rechtsanwälte for their collaboration and support in annotating and validating the dataset.