Articles

The storage of video material from a lawful open video surveillance, which shows the commission of criminal offences by an employee, is not inappropriate due to the lapse of time. This applies as long as the employee can be prosecuted under labor law

The highest German labor court has ruled that an employer is generally entitled to prevent employees from participating in a strike, by promising a so-called strike-breaking premium. Apparently, an unequal treatment of striking employees and so-called strike breakers exists, which is justified for industrial action reasons

The reduction in working time must not result in annual leave acquired by an employee before such reduction and taken afterwards being remunerated with a reduced holiday pay

Insofar as a forfeiture clause in an employment agreement does not expressly exclude claims to a statutory minimum wage, it violates the German Minimum Wage Act. However, protection of legitimate expectations must be granted in respect of a contractual exclusion period agreed before the German Minimum Wage Act came into force on 1 January 2015, as the invalidity of such clause only results from a subsequent change in the law that was unforeseeable at the time the contract was concluded

In a decision of June the Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that the previous case law of the Federal Labour Court regarding previous employment in cases of fixed-term contracts without specific grounds was unconstitutional as it was not in line with provisions of statutory law. The decision is unsurprising, and many legal practitioners had in practice recommended to clients to disregard the Federal Labour Court’s case law as it was far too risky to rely on it.

The Federal Labour Court ruled in June that if provisions in employment contracts contain the requirement to assert claims arising from the employment relationship within a certain period of time for them to not forfeit, such so-called preclusion periods are suspended during settlement negotiations

The State Labour Court of Thuringia ruled on 16 May 2018 that an employee is not generally obligated to make his private mobile phone number accessible to the employer. Such an obligation would interfere with the employee’s right of informational self-determination.

Pursuant to the German Works Constitution Act it is possible to establish a so-called group works councils through resolution of the works councils that operate on the level of the respective subsidiaries. The Federal Labour Court ruled, however, that the establishment of such a group works council either requires that the dominating parent entity has its registered office in Germany or that part of the group management is located in Germany and is provided with substantial authority to decide in social, personnel and economic matters.

The Federal Labour Court ruled that a compensation for works council activities that are pursued outside of working hours can be invalid. A compensation that was paid under such an agreement can be reclaimed even though the employer could have known about the invalidity of such an agreement.

The Federal Labour Court ruled that an employee cannot demand from their employer to terminate a company pension direct insurance contract in order to receive the repurchase value to satisfy personal financial needs.