Germany: Contract of Employment

Germany's coalition government has proposed sweeping reforms to employment law that could fundamentally reshape fixed-term contracts, dismissal protection, co-determination rights, and sick leave reporting. The measures aim to strengthen Germany's competitiveness amid technological change, demographic pressure, and international competition, offering employers significantly expanded flexibility while tightening certain compliance requirements.

Many companies regard the German Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz – BetrVG) as outdated and overly restrictive. This applies in particular to international groups that are unfamiliar with German co-determination structures or whose domestic rules differ fundamentally from the German legal framework.

The Federal Court of Justice has issued a landmark ruling clarifying whether employees of joint ventures can be counted toward the 500-employee threshold required for mandatory employee representation on supervisory boards under Germany's One-Third Participation Act. This decision resolves a long-standing controversy in corporate co-determination law with significant implications for how companies structure their corporate groups and joint ventures.

Die aktuell laufenden Betriebsratswahlen sind für uns Anlass, dieses Mal einen besonderen Blick auf Fragen rund um das Wahlverfahren und mögliche Wahlanfechtungen zu werfen.

Technological progress offers employees and employers increasing opportunities for flexible employment arrangements.

A German Commission has released a set of recommendations for transposing the EU Pay Transparency Directive into German law.

Alle 12 Minuten werden in Deutschland rund 107 neue Arbeitsverträge abgeschlossen.* Klingt beeindruckend! Noch beeindruckender ist der bürokratische Aufwand, der mit jeder Neueinstellung verbunden ist

Das Bundesarbeitsgericht (BAG) stellt klar, dass Teilzeitbeschäftigte bei Überstunden genauso behandelt werden müssen wie Vollzeitkräfte. Wer Unterschiede macht, braucht eine stichhaltige Begründung (Urt. v. 05.12.2024, Az. 8 AZR 370/20). Der Blogbeitrag zeigt auf, welche Maßnahmen Arbeitgeber jetzt ergreifen können.

The world of work is increasingly shaped by Digitisation. In this environment, the simplification of bureaucratic processes is constantly gaining in importance in order to relieve the burden on companies and establish more efficient workflows.