German Employment Law

What is labour (or employment) law?

The field of labour law (or employment law) regulates the contractual relationship between a company an it’s employees.

German labour/employment law is known for providing a very high level of protection to employees. This includes regulations on:

• Renumeration [minimum salary (MiLoG)]
• Holiday/vacation time
• Working days and hours
• Sick and maternity leave
• Restrictions in the field of temporary employment, also known as AÜG (Arbeitnehmerüberlassung)
• Social contributions (health insurance, pension fund and unemployment insurance)
• Income taxes

To ensure working the developed standards are being respected (and no company can claim that they have worked with a contractor only), German authorities only accept freelance employment contract to a certain extent. Should the authorities consider a freelance / contractor relationship to fulfill the typical employment criteria, the authorities will force the company to convert the freelance contract to an employee contract. As a further consequence, the authorities will also oblige both parties to retroactively pay German taxes and social contributions.

Dwyer Legal Law Firm provides companies with a full coverage consulting and supporting service within the entire field of labour law.

Please feel free to contact us should you need further information. Correspondence languages are English, German and Italian.

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