Publications

The German legislature recently passed the “Act to Promote an Inclusive Labor Market” which will enter into force on January 1, 2024. The purpose of the law is to improve the conditions for individuals with disabilities, enabling their active engagement in the labor market and facilitating more consistent participation. To achieve this purpose, it also contains provisions to help maintain existing employment relationships of individuals experiencing health impairments. Furthermore, the law aims to provide more focused assistance for individuals with severe disabilities.

The existence of an employee’s obligation to report to the Employment Agency immediately after they receive notice of termination is not new. In its ruling of October 12, 2022, the German Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht – BAG) had to deal, among other things, with the question of whether there was a malicious intent to fail to earn money during a period of default of acceptance and what effects a failure to notify to the Employment Agency in due time can affect the claim to payment of default of acceptance wages.

Today, on May 23, 2023, the German Diversity Day is being celebrated for the 11th time. Since 2013, employers in Germany have been using this day to draw special attention to the fact that diversity is essential in the workplace. Many companies and organizations will address the topic of diversity today with a variety of colorful activities.

On the morning of May 12, 2023, the Bundesrat (upper house of the German parliament) approved the updated draft of a law for better protection of whistleblowers and for the implementation of the directive on the protection of persons who report infringements of Union law (Whistleblower Protection Act). Just the day before, the German Bundestag approved the law, a compromise worked out in the Mediation Committee. This means that both chambers of parliament have approved the compromise.

On March 30, 2023, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dealt with questions regarding the compatibility of regulations on German employee data protection with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in a preliminary ruling.