Germany: Contract of Employment

In July 2026, the German Federal Government adopted the National Action Plan to Promote Collective Bargaining (Action Plan) and submitted it to the Bundestag in September 2026.

Can an employer terminate an employee who must serve a multi-year prison sentence? The Stuttgart Labor Court recently examined this complex question, considering factors such as prospects for early release and day-release work arrangements. This decision provides crucial guidance on employer obligations and the significant employment consequences of lengthy incarceration.

In our article Update on AGG Hopping, we provided an overview of the existing case law on “AGG hopping,” which is the practice of filing fake job applications for the sole purpose of rejection in order to file a discrimination under the General Act on Equal Treatment (“AGG”). In its judgment of May 7, 2026 (2 Ca 6536/25), the Düsseldorf Labor Court has now taken a firm stance against a “classic AGG hopper,” expressly departing from the established case law of the German Federal Labor Court.

The Hamburg Higher Labor Court and Federal Labor Court have fundamentally altered the legal landscape for serving employment-related notices in Germany, ruling that registered letterbox delivery no longer constitutes a legally secure method of service. This decision arose from a case examining whether an employer properly fulfilled its obligation to conduct company integration management before terminating an employee for illness-related reasons, with the court finding that the digitized delivery process la

Germany's coalition government has proposed requiring employees to submit medical certificates from the first day of illness, eliminating telephone-based sick leave certification. While this appears to be a significant policy shift, employers already possess the discretionary right to demand early certification under existing law, raising questions about what will actually change once the legislation takes effect.

The German Coalition Committee has proposed sweeping employment law reforms that could fundamentally alter how companies manage their workforce, from introducing new termination options for high earners to expanding fixed-term employment flexibility. These changes, part of a comprehensive "Program for Growth and Employment," would impact everything from dismissal procedures and severance payments to sick leave documentation and working time regulations. Employers should closely monitor these developments as

Die Wirt­schaft ächzt unter zu viel For­ma­lia, schon die Ampel woll­te da Ab­hil­fe schaf­fen. Ihr Bü­ro­kra­tie­ent­las­tungs­ge­setz, das nun voll in Kraft tritt, soll die Hemm­schu­he ab­strei­fen.

The coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and the SPD, titled "Responsibility for Germany," was announced on April 9, 2025.

High sickness rates present significant challenges for employers. Previously, if employers had doubts about an employee's actual incapacity for work, they faced significant challenges due to the high probative value of the certificate of incapacity for work.