Recent news
Latest items of recent news relevant to Germany as reported in our fortnightly newswire ‘Dernières nouvelles’.
Germany: Participation rate of further training (2022)
In 2022, around 8% of 25 to 64-year-olds in Germany took part in an educational or further training course, 4% less than the average figure for the EU Member States …
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Germany: Charges for company car parking reduces tax liability
If a company charges a rental to employees to park their company car on work premises then the sum paid can be offset against the tax payable on the company car benefit …
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Germany: Are employers allowed to question a medical certificate?
An employer may only question a medical certificate in exceptional circumstances …
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Germany: Remuneration for Works Councilors
A draft amendment has been drawn up to the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG) by the federal government following a ruling in January by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) …
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Germany: Recruiting foreign skilled workers
Companies experiencing skill shortages often look to overseas workers to bridge the gap …
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Germany: Employers must not take action to engineer dismissal of a disabled employee
An employer with a long-service employee who has a deteriorating health condition rendering them as disabled, may not dismiss the employee on the grounds that there is no suitable alternative vacancy if actually such vacancies did exist when her condition had been first known …
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Germany: On-call minimum default hours
When employing workers with variable hours who can fill requirements as and when called upon, employers should bear in mind S12 Para1 of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG) …
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Germany: Lack of further training
A recent survey undertaken by Randstad for its ‘labour barometer’ monitoring service has found that the further training sought by employees is not fully met by German employers …
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Germany: Workplace telephone ban not subject to codetermination
The Federal Labour Court (BAG) has confirmed that an employer may ban private mobile phone use during working time without the need to first consult its company works council …
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Germany: A company may not deduct lawyer costs from a Works Council member’s salary
The Federal Labour Court (BAG) has confirmed the finding of a lower court in respect to a pay deduction …
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Germany: Company had no freedom to unilaterally restrict home working
Codetermination has once again reared its ugly head to make things operationally impossible for a reasonable employer …
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Germany: Bridging days in prospect for 2024
Next year several public holidays butt against, or close to, Weekends – such as New Year’s Day which could produce a ten-day seasonal holiday period and German Unity Day on Thursday, 3rd October 2024 which could be combined with Friday 4th October as a bridging day to produce a 4-day Weekend …
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Germany: Night work tax-free – in spite of irregularities
The Schleswig-Holstein Finance Court has determined that even though an employer did not keep a clear record of employee start and end times for night working a tax-free payment was legitimate …
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Germany: Right to exemption from shifts due to child-care responsibilities
The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Labour Court (LAG) has confirmed a lower court’s decision concerning the timing of shifts to meet an employee’s childcare support times …
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Germany: Fixed-term employees (2022)
According to the 2022 AIB Establishment Panel review of fixed-term work, 58% of all fixed-term contracts were for “no objective reason” …
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