Employment Germany

Tom Stiebert

Annual Leave: Does the law require employers to remind sick employees to take vacation?

By / 17 July 2020 / Health, Holidays, Sickness, Vacation

On 7 June 2020, the German Federal Labor Court (FLC) (docket number 9 AZR 401/19) referred a question regarding the compatibility of the expiry of vacation entitlements with EU law to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for preliminary ruling. This is likely to eliminate remaining legal uncertainties in relation to permanently sick employee’s vacation …

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Planned Novelties in Employment and Social Law through German “Social Pact II”

By / 12 May 2020 / Covid-19, Government/Politics, Legislation

The CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups have introduced a new package of laws into the German Bundestag containing important labour and social regulations, which will be passed in the near future. This package again contains numerous changes in labour and social law. Further measures are to be taken to cushion the economic and social hardships …

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New legislation during the pandemic: Online court hearings at labour and social courts

By / 8 May 2020 / Business trips, Covid-19, Legislation

At the moment, hearings at the labour and social courts are largely suspended. This is problematic in so far as it mostly concerns existential questions such as the existence of an employment relationship or a claim for wage payment as well as collective issues. These questions require a quick decision. Particularly in proceedings for protection …

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Which measures for occupational health and safety are required in the current situation?

By / 23 April 2020 / Business trips, Covid-19, Employee Participation, Health, Working time

Whereas it has previously been necessary to fall back on general principles when planning occupational health and safety measures, Federal Minister of Labour, Mr Heil has now specified these in more detail on 16 April 2020 and has thus established guidelines for (physical) cooperation. The requirements set out here must already be complied with by …

Which measures for occupational health and safety are required in the current situation? Read More »

Change of case law for time limit contracts – Time limit without reason in case of previous employment always inadmissible

By / 11 June 2019 / Employment contract, Fixed-term employment, Legislation

  I. General Problems of time limit contracts The agreement on a time limit for the employment contract often leads to problems in practical use. Caution is, however, required, since a fixed term is only permitted under special statutory conditions. If these reasons are not available and nevertheless a – impermissible – time limit is …

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ECJ: Death of the employee does not cancel holiday compensation – this also applies to private employers

By / 11 June 2019 / Holidays

What happens to open holiday entitlements when the employee dies? It is clear that nobody else – not even the heirs – gets the holiday granted (as free time) . Nevertheless, European and German holiday law provide for compensation for untaken leave in special cases. However, this only occurs if it was not possible to …

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Practical problems with the termination of temporary agency worker

By / 11 June 2019 / Termination

The German law on temporary employment is very strict. In general, temporary agency workers are employees. This means that the temporary worker is protected as well as any other employee. Particularly relevant here is the protection against dismissal. In principle, under German Law an employee can be terminated for operational reasons if the employer cannot …

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Employment Law in the New Coalition Agreement – What plans does the new German Government have?

By / 11 June 2019 / Legislation

Finally, Germany gets a new government – that is sure since the membership decision of the Social Democrats (SPD) ended successfully. Already on 7th February, the SPD and the Christian Democrats (CDU) had agreed on a coalition agreement in which they plan important projects for the next four years. Of course, this 179-page contract also …

Employment Law in the New Coalition Agreement – What plans does the new German Government have? Read More »

The right to extend working hours – sec 9 Act on Part-Time Work and Fixed-Term Employment (TzBfG)

By / 11 June 2019 / Part-Time Work, Standard contractual terms and conditions of employment, Working time

Many employees want flexibility at work; often, this means there is a desire to work part-time (less than 40 hours a week). However the reverse case is also not uncommon; an employee wants to increase his working hours, particularly to earn more money. Both cases are covered by German law. However, there is a claim …

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Does the employer have to pay for clothes change times?

By / 11 June 2019 / Remuneration, Working time

Many professions require the wearing of special clothing, whether for hygiene or safety reasons (for example, in a hospital), or to show a particular corporate identity (for example, supermarket vendors). The worker does not wear the clothing because he wants to, but because the employer demands it. This leads to several problems: First, the question …

Does the employer have to pay for clothes change times? Read More »

Employer’s financial risks in the event of not granting annual leave

By / 11 June 2019 / Holidays

I. Holiday right: Germany and Europe In principle, every employee is entitled to annual leave – as emphasized by German law as well as EU law (Art. 7 (1) and (2) directive 2003/88/EC. In addition, the holiday must be taken during the current year (sec. 7 (3) Federal leave Act (“Bundesurlaubsgesetz – BUrlG”). A transfer …

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Temporary workers and thresholds – When does a temporary worker count as a normal employee?

By / 11 June 2019 / Labour leasing, Temporary Workers

Temporary work is a hybrid in employment law and thus leads to many problems: Although there is an employment contract with the leasing company, the employee works for another company. The question of assignment to one of these companies arises in many aspects of German labor law. In particular, where the number of employees is …

Temporary workers and thresholds – When does a temporary worker count as a normal employee? Read More »

Size (doesn’t) matter – Minimum size for police officers discriminates women

By / 11 June 2019 / Discrimination

The ECJ ruled in a judgment on 18 October that a uniform minimum size as a requirement for men and women to get a job is inadmissible (docket number C-409/16). A Greek court had asked the ECJ whether “a height (in the case of men and women) of at least 1.70m”, is compatible with Directive …

Size (doesn’t) matter – Minimum size for police officers discriminates women Read More »

Hurdles at the temporal limits of work contracts – When is a fixed-term contract valid?

By / 11 June 2019 / Fixed-term employment, Legislation

In practice, fixed-term contracts lead to practical problems in a large number of cases. On the one hand, this is because they demand a variety of formalities (see our article from July 24 ). On the other hand, however, it is even more difficult to determine whether it is possible to limit the work contract …

Hurdles at the temporal limits of work contracts – When is a fixed-term contract valid? Read More »

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