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
Apr
03
2019
L&E GLOBAL’S EMPLOYMENT LAW OVERVIEWS 2019-2020 GLOBAL EDITION
Even in the era of far-reaching international trade agreements and regional economic and political partnerships, the majority of laws and regulations governing the workplace are still determined by the individual countries where employees work.
Spanning 6 continents, L&E Global’s member firms are ideally situated to provide clients with pragmatic, commercial advice necessary to achieve their objectives. Our members work closely with corporate, legal, human resources departments and corporate executives across a variety of sectors and industries to address the strategic and tactical issues that arise in the workplace.
Discover the most important labour and employment rules, regulations and best practices specific to each jurisdiction, conveniently together in one place.
Mar
27
2019
Germany: An employee’s entitlement to paid annual leave only expires at the end of the calendar year, if the employer has previously informed the employee of his specific holiday entitlement and the expiry periods, and the employee has still voluntarily not taken the holiday
The entitlement to paid annual leave generally lapses at the end of the respective calendar year. However, according to the latest ruling of the Federal Labor Court, the employer has to inform the employee about his paid annual leave entitlement and the expiry period in detail. Only when the employer has fulfilled his obligations and the employee has still voluntarily not taken the leave he is entitled to, will the outstanding leave entitlements lapse
Mar
27
2019
Germany: A hospital, which has institutional ties with the Catholic Church, may not dismiss its Catholic head physician due to his remarriage
A hospital, which has institutional ties with the Catholic Church, terminated the employment of its head physician, because he got married for a second time, which is not in line with Catholic ideals. The Federal Labor Court considered the termination invalid, as it disadvantaged the employee because of his religious affiliation. The Court did not consider the requirement to behave faithfully and genuinely according to Catholic ideals, necessary in regard to the employee’s profession
Mar
27
2019
Germany: Employee has no right of revocation regarding a termination agreement concluded at his private residence
A termination agreement, which has been concluded at the employee’s private residence, is not subject to revocation under German Civil Law. However, a termination agreement can be considered ineffective if it has been concluded in disregard of the principle of fair negotiating
Feb
26
2019
Germany: If the employment relationship ends due to the employee’s death, his heirs may claim financial compensation for untaken holidays towards the employer
German law provides that an employee is entitled to payment of compensation for holidays that can no longer be granted either in full or in part due to the termination of the employment relationship. The German Federal Labour Court now ruled that this also applies in cases where the reason for the termination of the employment relationship is the employee’s death. In such case, the compensation claim is transferred to the employee’s heirs, who may assert it against the employer
Feb
26
2019
Germany: German Federal Labour Court changes its case law: the limitation of an employment agreement not based on objective grounds is generally invalid if the employee has ever been employed by the same employer before
The German Federal Labor Court has ruled that limiting the term of an employment agreement without objective grounds justifying such limitation is invalid in case of an employee who already worked for the same employer eight years earlier for a duration of one and a half years. Due to the invalidity of the fixed term, the employment agreement is deemed to have been concluded for an unlimited period