Articles

Since the introduction of the German General Equal Treatment Act in 2006, there have been a large number of cases in which applicants and employees have successfully claimed compensation for discrimination. As the recent ruling of the local labour court of Karlsruhe shows, some employers still make avoidable mistakes when publishing job advertisements, which can trigger compensation claims from rejected applicants.

Even in case of an extraordinary termination with immediate effect, the employer can still grant outstanding holidays to the employee as a precautionary measure. If the dismissal turns out to be invalid, the employee cannot claim payment of further remuneration for the time during which the holidays were granted.

When it comes to dismissals for operational reasons, the employer always has to examine first whether there are any vacant positions within the company that he could assign to the otherwise redundant employee. Depending on the circumstances of the case, positions filled with leased employees can qualify as vacant positions in that sense, which means that the employee leasing needs to be terminated before permanent employees can be dismissed for operational reasons

We shed a light on the latest developments in German employment law regarding COVID-19, where new financial aids shall ease the effect of the second “light” lockdown on the economy, the increase of the minimum wage and the ongoing discussion on a potential law regarding mobile work

The Federal Labor Court confirmed a previous decision of a state court that ruled in favor of a muslin applicant who had filed a compensation claim because of discrimination based on religion. The plaintiff applied for a teaching position at the state of Berlin. Upon being asked during the application process, she explained that she […]

As a reaction to the strains of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, German companies have the option to reduce the working time of their employees (by up to 100%) if there is a loss of work and to apply for state support in form of a short time work allowance (Kurzarbeitergeld). In the case […]

Short time work allows for the state subsidized reduction of working hours for a limited period in time. This raises the question of its effects on the employees’ annual leave entitlement.

Since coming into force on 25 May 2018, we have evaluated the effect that the GDPR has had in Germany, in both legal and practical terms, and have summarised the most important current topics and issues related to data protection.

The Transparency in Wage Structures Act has been in force since July 2017. Since then, employees have a claim for information against their employers regarding the wage structure in the establishment. According to latest case law, this right to information cannot only be asserted by employees, but also by employee-like freelancers.