Employees earning up to EUR 1,300 gross per month will be paying less social security contributions from 1 July 2019 onwards, as they now qualify as so-called “midijobbers”
Jul
27
2019
Germany: The expiration of an employee’s holiday entitlement requires that the employer request the employee to take his holidays beforehand; this also applies to holiday entitlement from previous years
An employee’s holiday entitlement only expires at the end of a calendar year, if the employer has previously informed the employee about his holiday entitlement and the expiry periods. According to latest ECJ case law, the employer is even obliged to request the employee to take his holidays. A German Regional Labour Court has now ruled that such obligation does not only refer to the holiday entitlement from the current calendar year, but also to possible remaining entitlements from previous calendar years
Jul
27
2019
Germany: Termination notice in case of mass dismissal can already be signed by the employer before the notice of mass dismissal is submitted to the employment agency and can be served to the employees right after the submission
The prior notice of mass dismissals towards the employment agency, which is required under German law when dismissing a large number of employees, is effective, even if the employer was already determined to dismiss the employees at the time the notice of mass dismissal was submitted to the employment agency. The notice of termination can indeed be given to the employees right after the notice of mass dismissal was submitted to the employment agency
Jul
27
2019
Germany: A works agreement, which compensates overtime hours with a pre-defined number of additional days off per year, is invalid
A general works agreement, providing that trade union officials who “regularly” work overtime hours are compensated for all such overtime hours by a lump sum of 9 days of additional leave per calendar year, is invalid. Such an agreement does not determine the criteria for overtime compensation as clearly as required, and furthermore violates the principle of equal treatment under the German Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz)
Jun
25
2019
Germany: Less dismissal protection for top bankers
Germany has loosened its very strict requirements on dismissal protection. The new law however only applies to a very small group of employees – top bankers who are Material Risk Takers and have a high remuneration package. For banks, dismissals of top bankers will become easier as they no longer need to fear reinstatement, but instead courts can determine a severance amount
Jun
25
2019
Germany: Valid precontract on non-compete – no right of choice for employee
The Federal Labour Court held in a recent judgment that in the event of a valid precontract, the employee does not have a right to choose to comply with the non-compete against payment of the non-compete compensation, if the employer has previously decided against enforcement of the non-compete
May
29
2019
Germany: Abusive avoidance of law on fixed-term employment by actually and legally affiliated employers
An employer who was actually and legally affiliated with another employer concluded a fixed-term employment contract, with an employee who was previously already employed by the affiliated employer on a fixed-term employment contract. Due to this previous employment, another fixed-term contract with the same employer would have violated the German law on fixed-term employment. The employer’s attempt to circumvent this legal situation was found to be unlawful
May
29
2019
Germany: The employee’s participation in a yoga course can constitute educational leave that justifies paid absence from the workplace
Under certain circumstances, participating in a yoga course that aims at increasing the employee’s resilience in the working life, justifies the granting of educational leave. Hence, the employer can be obliged to grant the employee paid leave of up to five working days for such yoga course
May
29
2019
Germany: European Court of Justice ruled that employers in the European Union must implement a system to record the daily working time of their employees
According to a new ruling by the European Court of Justice on May 14, 2019, the EU Member States must require employers to set up a system through which the time worked each day, by each employee, is to be recorded, in order to ensure that the national labour laws regarding working time are complied with. A lawsuit in Spain against Deutsche Bank was the basis for this decision, but it has European-wide implications and is, therefore, also significant for Germany
Apr
27
2019
Germany: An Employee Who Is On Unpaid, Special Holiday For An Entire Calendar Year Is Not Entitled To Any Paid Minimum Statutory Holidays For Such Year
The Federal Labour Court has ruled that an employee who is on unpaid, special holiday for an entire calendar year is not entitled to paid minimum statutory holidays for such year, due to the suspension of the employee’s obligation to work. This constitutes a change to previous case law, pursuant to which the employee’s claim to paid minimum statutory holidays only required that an employment relationship existed and, therefore, such claim arose regardless of whether the parties had agreed to suspend the main obligations of the employment relationship