Every year brings new developments and amendments in German employment law. Below is a summary of what to expect in 2026. A particularly noteworthy development is the loosening of rules regarding fixed-term employment for...more
1/16/2026
/ AI Act ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employment Policies ,
EU ,
Fixed-Term Labor Contracts ,
Germany ,
International Labor Laws ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Pensions ,
Retirement
The year 2025 brought a wide range of employment law decisions with major practical impact. Both the Federal Labor Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) addressed key issues on protection against...more
1/16/2026
/ Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Pay ,
EU ,
Germany ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Notice Requirements ,
Probationary Period ,
Termination ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Works Council
The calculation parameters for social insurance are updated annually and adjusted to income trends. Effective January 1, 2026, the Social Security Calculation Parameters Regulation 2026, as approved by the Federal Cabinet on...more
Germany’s Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht (BAG)) recently ruled that there are no rigid limits on the proportionality of the duration of a probationary period for fixed-term employment contracts, and that the limit...more
On October 30, 2025, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued two decisions interpreting European Union law regulating mass dismissals, or “collective redundancies,” ruling that technical mistakes or noncompliance with...more
11/6/2025
/ Collective Redundancy Consultations ,
Dismissals ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
Germany ,
Insolvency ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Member State ,
Noncompliance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Penalties ,
Redundancy Dismissals ,
Statutory Interpretation
Labor and employment law in Germany will see a number of important developments in 2025. The Bureaucracy Relief Act IV took effect on January 1; the EU AI Act’s initial provisions on unauthorized AI take effect on February 2;...more
There can be a number of circumstances in which a company may want to engage someone in a country where the company currently has no employees. This could be a desire to expand the business into new markets, recruit a...more
In Germany, every new year brings with it changes and updates in employment law. We have summarized below which new regulations may want to prepare for in the course of 2024....more
1/22/2024
/ Amended Legislation ,
Data Protection ,
Disability ,
EU ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Germany ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Minimum Wage ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Sick Leave ,
Training ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
On November 18, 2021, Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, approved a renewed amendment to the Infection Protection Act that has important implications for employers and employees. The following day, the...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all federal states in Germany have implemented containment measures, contact restrictions, and curfews. All shops, cultural institutions, and certain services (e.g., hairdressers and...more
4/8/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Curfews ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Germany ,
Government Shutdown ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Popular ,
Quarantine ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
State of Emergency