News

Thanks to the EU Whistleblowing Directive for the first time in German history whistleblowers will be protected against reprisals. Although the directive has not yet been transformed into a national law (which should have happened until December 17, 2021) the effects on German corporate culture can already be felt. A few details still need to […]

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) yesterday, Thursday, has made its decision, which was awaited by many with great nervousness and which represents a partly expected, partly feared bang. In July 2019 when the hearing in the Schrems / Facebook II case (C 311/18) took place the data protection commissioner of Baden-Württemberg at that time called […]

What does the German labour market look like? At a first glance the German economy seems to be quite robust despite ongoing Covid crisis. A closer look – however – reveals a number of warning signs that the situation is not quite as rosy as it portrayed by the government. In June 2020 about 2.9 […]

Against the background of the recent economical developments we have published a new practical guide to redundancy and work force restructuring in Germany. You will learn which essential requirements of labour and employment law need to be taken into account when planning a restructuring project including the work force. Download our guide here.  

Urgent need for action for companies Today (25 April 2019), following its promulgation in the Federal Law Gazette, the Law on the Protection of Trade Secrets came into force. After some changes to the government draft, the Bundestag passed the law on 21 March 2019, and the Bundesrat approved the draft on 12 April 2019. […]

For some time, the European Union has been planning better protection for whistleblowers to improve compliance in companies. Now the clock is ticking. The EU Parliament passed the EU Whistleblower Directive with an overwhelming majority of votes, with 591 votes in favor and just 29 against, 33 abstentions were registered last Tuesday (16 April 2019). […]

Companies having just faced the initial hype around the General Data Protection Regulation (which entered into force at the end of May this year) have just noticed that another new European Regulation has somewhat gone under the radar and escaped their notice. Few noticed that European Parliament and the council of the European Union on […]

Following the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on May 25th 2018 a number of large companies have decided to ban the use of WhatsApp, SnapChat and similar services on mobile devices, which are either company owned or privately owned devices which are used for business purposes (Bring Your Own Device). The main […]

On May 25, 2018, the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the new German data protection law are entering into force simultaneously. They are no grandfathering clauses; the new laws immediately apply as of the first day without any limitations. In order to enforce the new regulations in practice especially the GDPR establishes […]

Das IPBA Journal veröffentlicht in seiner neuesten Ausgabe einen Artikel von EMPLAYWERS-Partner Roland Falder über die Anforderungen an ein modernes Compliance-System in deutschen Unternehmen und die Risiken der Non-Compliance. Den vollständigen Artikel lesen Sie hier.

On January 1st 2015 Germany’s first minimum wage law enters into force. Many (foreign) companies don’t see any reason for concern, since they are paying their employees working in Germany well above 8.50 Euro net per hour, the (in most industries) new minimum wage. The real danger – however – is hidden in the new […]

The district labour court of Lower Saxony (LAG Niedersachsen 30.07.2014, 16 TaBV 92/13) has rejected a claim of a works council to be provided by the company with unrestricted internet access and a telephone line separate from the company’s systems.

Employees joining the services of a competitor after having terminated their contract are a fear for many companies. The loss of knowledge ,contacts and ultimately business often is real. Thus it is understandable that employers want to protect themselves. German employment law however contains a number of pitfalls employers should avoid when agreeing a post […]

A recently published decision of the Federal Labour Court of March 19th 2014(5 AZR 252/12) confirmed that language abilities of employees are not relevant for the validity of an employment contract. The case was brought forward by a Portuguese national, who, without being able to speak German signed a German employment contract, which expressly excluded […]

Relations between employers and employees in Germany are extensively regulated under German labor and employment law. German labor and employment law is strongly biased in favour of employees. For non-German employers it is essential to know some of the specifics of the German labor and employment law when employing staff in Germany. Set out below are some […]