burden of proof

CAN EMPLOYERS CLAIM REIMBURSEMENT OF INVESTIGATION COSTS?

The Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) ruled on 29 April 2021 (docket number: 8 AZR 267/20) that, in principle, the employer may claim reimbursement of required investigation costs from the employee. Subject to reimbursement are necessary costs incurred by the intervention of a specialized law firm if the employer has commissioned it to conduct investigations into …

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Occupational health and safety standards as a limit to the employer’s right to issue instructions

The allocation of a job which does not meet the requirements of Sec. 618 para. 1 German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB) in conjunction with the public occupational health and safety standards may nevertheless correspond to the employer’s equitable discretion if it concerns only minor or short-term infringements which cannot cause lasting damage. This is …

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Legal Useability of Recordings from Open Video Surveillance

By its decision of 23 August 2018 the Federal Labor Court (docket number 2 AZR 133/18) facilitated video surveillance at the workplace. Legally and openly created recordings do not have to be deleted by the employer within a few days. According to the Federal Labor Court, they can be evaluated several months later. Under data …

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Addressing applicants “who are about to graduate”, asking for “very good German and English language skills” as well as a description of being a “young, dynamic company” is in general non-discriminatory

On 23 November 2017 the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) ruled in two parallel proceedings, each with the same plaintiff, on compensation claims for an alleged infringement of the principle of non-discrimination under the General Equal Treatment Act (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz, AGG) on the basis of two job advertisements. The first position required a completed degree, …

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Termination only on the basis of suspicion – Basics and difficulties

We recently reported on third parties’ pressure to terminate an employee in our blog. This time, too, we would like to take a current judgment (Federal Labour Court of Germany (“Bundesarbeitsgericht”) from 2.3.2017, docket number 2 AZR 698/15) as an opportunity to report on a further special possible termination: a termination based only on suspicion …

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Inadmissible evidence through installation of a keylogger

Using a software keylogger may not always be much help in supporting a termination for cause, as a recent case before the Federal Labour Court shows (judgment dated 27 July 2017, docket number 2 AZR 681/16). The employee had worked for the employer since 2011. When opening up its network, the company informed employees that …

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New Act on Remuneration Transparency

Following up our blog post from December 19, 2016 where we reported about a legislative proposal to promote equal pay between women and men, the Remuneration Transparency Act has now entered into force. Arguing that women still earn 7 % less than men even if statistics account for women frequently working part-time, less often climbing …

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