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Employment Germany

Fixed-term employment

Crowdworkers are not employees under German Labour Law

By / 7 January 2020 / Employment contract, Fixed-term employment, Independent contractor

Crowdworkers are not considered employees under German labour law under a ruling by the Higher Regional Labour Court of Munich on 4 December 2019 (docket number: 8 Sa 146/19). What are Crowdworkers? Crowdworkers are persons to whom so-called microjobs are offered via an Internet platform which they then carry out independently, if they accept the offers. According to the “Crowdworking Monitor” of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) from 2018, around 4.8 percent of the eligible voters in Germany work as crowdworkers. The case The defendant operates an Internet platform and, among other things, carries out checks …

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(Not) nice seeing you again? Federal Labour Court decides on fixed-term employment

By / 28 November 2019 / Fixed-term employment

The problem In the year 2018 8,3 % of all German employees worked on the basis of a fixed term employment contract. Various rules apply to this kind of employment and breaching one of them often leads to the employment contract being indefinite. One of the most important rules is the time limit on fixed-term employment contracts. If the time limitation is not justified by factual reasons (e.g. needing a substitute for an employee being on maternity leave) the duration of the time limitation may not exceed 2 years. Furthermore this time-limitation is invalid if the employee has already been …

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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 agreed, then the employment agreement with the limited term shall be deemed to have been concluded for an indefinite period of time (sec. 16 (1) Part-Time and Limited Term Employment Act (“Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz – TzBfG”). The Part-Time and Limited Term Employment Act enables the …

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Fixed-term employment contract for actor in crime series – justified due to the specific characteristics of the work performance

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

According to the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) the employment contract of an actor in a crime series can be fixed-term according to Section 14 para 1 sentence 2 no. 4 of the German Part-Time Employment Act given the factual reason of the specific characteristics of the work as an actor (dated 30 August 2017, docket number: 7 AZR 864/15). The plaintiff, an actor, worked for a production firm in a crime series in the role of a police officer in the homicide division for almost 18 years. During this period he had both framework agreements for periods of one …

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Limitation of the extension of an employment relationship beyond the statutory age limit is permissible

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

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the limitation of the extension of an employment relationship beyond the statutory age limit is permissible and does not constitutes an abuse of fixed-term employment contracts. The case: A teacher in Bremen had reached the statutory retirement age and, according to the applicable collective bargaining agreement, the employment relationship with the city of Bremen would have ended with the achievement of the statutory retirement age. However, the parties agreed to continue the employment relationship until 31 July 2015 and thus deferred the automatic termination of the employment relationship according to section 44 …

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Peak performances of professional soccer player up to retirement not to be expected

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

In February 2016 we reported on a ruling of the Higher Labour Court Rheinland-Pfalz (Landesarbeitsgericht, LAG) in regard to a case of a goalkeeper who sued his former Bundesliga soccer club for unlimited employment and payment of missed bonuses (https://blogs.dlapiper.com/employmentgermany/2016/02/18/no-second-bosman-total-relief-at-bundesliga/). Almost two years later, the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) has now confirmed on 16 January 2018 (docket-number: 7 AZR 312/16), that the established practice of employing professional soccer players only on a fixed-term basis does not violate German employment laws, as those fixed-term contracts with soccer players of the Bundesliga are generally justified in accordance with sec. 14 para. …

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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 temporarily at all. Both a limitation with and without reason are acknowledged. Both are apparent from the directive 1999/70/EC concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work. This includes the following rules: “To prevent abuse arising from the use of successive fixed-term employment contracts or relationships, …

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Employee’s request for fixed-term employment narrowly interpreted

By / 11 June 2019 / Fixed-term employment, Pension, Standard contractual terms and conditions of employment

Entering into a valid fixed-term contract can be a bit of a challenge under German law. Under the Fixed Term and Part-Time Employment Act (TzBfG), one of the reasons which may be used to justify a fixed-term contract is that there are reasons relating to the circumstances of the particular employee. A recent case decided by the Federal Labour Court shows that these reasons will be narrowly interpreted (judgment dated 18 January 2017, docket number 7 AZR 236/ 15). Originally, the employee had had a contract that limited her employment to age 65, i.e. the former statutory pension age. When …

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Beware of invalid temporal limits of work contracts

By / 11 June 2019 / Fixed-term employment

The agreement on a time limit for the employment contract is a practice frequently used in Germany, in order to escape the restrictions on the right to protection. Caution is, however, required, since a fixed term is only permitted under special statutory conditions. On the one hand, it is necessary to examine whether there is a material reason for the limitation or if the special conditions for an unconditional limitation, which are strictly limited, are fulfilled. Fixed-term employment contracts can be concluded without a specific reason for up to 2 years provided no previous employment existed with the same employer …

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Ins and Outs re Notice Periods and Fixed-Term Contracts

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

Fixed-Term Contracts under German Law In Thursday’s blog, we talked about notice periods under German law. Today’s contribution will focus on fixed-term employment contracts. Can a fixed-term contract be concluded orally? No, the specific duration of the employment contract needs to be put in writing, with employer and employee signing. Oral agreements will lead to a contract with indefinite duration. Is an objective ground always required for a fixed-term contract? No, a fixed-term contract can be agreed without objective grounds for up to 2 years. The contract can be extended up to three times, not exceeding an overall duration of …

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