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Geißler Legal - Specialized Lawyer for Compliance & International Commercial Law
Employment Law - Your Business Partner HR-Legal & HR-Compliance based in Cologne
Compliance optimized Legal Advisory for entrepreneur business activities - out of the box, cross-border, cost-efficient..
As an Employment Law attorney, I advise employers as well as managers and executives in all labor law matters.
As a manager or employer with an international focus, you should always bear 3 key-implications in mind – whether when terminating employment relationships, involving employee representatives or in terms of recruiting & hiring processes:
- No other EU member state has such social and employee-friendly labor laws as Germany. The fact that employees can join together in a representative body, have equal rights of co-determination and - last but not least - enjoy very high protection against dismissal is something that is exclusive to Germany, not to Austria, not to Switzerland, not to Italy.
- Today's labor law has a long history, starting with Bismarck, through Liebknecht and Luxemburg to Böckler and Brandt. Legislative and judicial decisions are always based on fundamental principles as their supporting pillars: these decisions are mostly about social system justice, not always about individual case justice.
- Especially in the DACH region, there are valid options for employers in most situations to effectively counteract this imbalance, which must be accepted as a basic legislative decision - without departing from the framework of the legal rules.
The following topics are the subject of my advice:
- Advice and representation in labor law compliance proceedings
- Whistleblowing and whistleblower cases
- Personnel matters – hiring, warnings and termination of employment
- Introduction and implementation of labor law compliance
- Labor law issues with a foreign connection – secondment of employees
- Employment Contract Design and Review
- Drafting and reviewing additional documents relating to employment law
- Codes of conduct and labor law guidelines as annexes to employment contracts
- Negotiation and review of co-determination rights, for example by the works council
Peculiarities of Labor Law in the Age of Legal Compliance
A wide range of topics and requirements that you have to meet day in, day out. Take a controlled offensive. This means above all: achieving economic company goals on the one hand and introducing and implementing labor law compliance on the other are not mutually exclusive.
On the contrary: Compliance is now an important building block for acting as a model company that convinces employees, customers, cooperation partners, investors and other stakeholders and binds them in the long term. To achieve these goals, you need qualified staff - and you have to let go of them from time to time. On the one hand, make contracts fair and transparent and thereby create trust. On the other hand, make use of expert advice in order to navigate the often last-minute solution of outplacement of employees in a legally compliant and targeted manner.
Your Advocate for War and Peace - Why this harsh headline?
Because it simply reflects the realities of the corporate reality. War, because the employment contract as an interpersonal relationship carries with it a risk of a separation process that can sometimes be time-consuming and costly, which can only be calculated to a limited extent. In peacetime, because experience shows that employers do well to act in a forward-looking and economically sustainable manner with regard to the human resource (= HR) by minimizing potential HR risks through clever structures. By installing employee- or people-centered in-house training, a parity code of conduct and empowerment measures for your employees with the basis for a solid understanding of law and compliance, you can set up structures that have a preventive effect even in peacetime. Early prevention and employee precautions are usually more cost-effective and sustainable than even the best crisis management at the end.
expert for challenging personnel matters
Strong and reliable employees are a blessing for every company. Blessed is the person who has them without exception. On the other hand, precisely because of the imbalance of power in certain industries (keyword: employee market), employers often have employees who fall short of expectations. Either from a behavioral point of view (low performance) or from a personal point of view, in that they continually or occasionally violate codes of conduct or other company values.
As an experienced labor law expert on the employer side, I support companies and managers in finding legally secure solutions to complex personnel issues.
Experience shows that an employee's comfortable or toxic habitus often only becomes apparent after the end of the probationary period, when the hurdles for the employer to unilaterally terminate the employment are much higher.
But there are ways of outplacement in a way that is fair and has perspective, without discrediting a person's dignity.
Make an inquiry now
We will be happy to advise you comprehensively and personally on your concerns.
What defines me
As a lawyer with international experience and top-tier in-house expertise, I have a broad range of skills and I am continuously training myself in the dynamic legal field of labor law. In order to represent my clients competently, it is essential to understand labor law at its core and at the same time to always keep an eye on AI, digitalization and future trends. Another major area that must not be ignored is the increase in compliance proceedings (e.g. due to bullying or alleged violations of the Code of Conduct).
Irrespective of this, the principle of favourability remains in force in German labour law. Since the legislature assumes that the employee is structurally dependent on the employer, the employee is considered particularly worthy of protection. This has an impact on agreements that are unfavourable to him. Therefore, clauses in the employment contract are invalid if they violate the "higher" law from the works agreement, the collective agreement or the law. However, this invalidity does not apply the other way round. The employer must accept this against him. This risk of disadvantages is what makes labour law so complicated for employers.
I advise you personally, competently and comprehensively
Take advantage of my individually tailored offer.
Further details on employment law under German law
As a general term, a service contract covers any agreement in which a service is provided in return for remuneration. An employment contract, on the other hand, specifies the employment relationship. This is characterized by the employer's right to give instructions, i.e. by determining the place and time of work.
The Trade Regulations (GewO) grant the employer a right of direction. This enables him to specify in detail the work described in general terms in the employment contract. For example, he can specify the exact working hours and the place of work, provided this is in accordance with the employment contract.
In general, employment relationships are permanent. In exceptional cases, however, the employment contract may contain a fixed term. This must be justified in accordance with the Part-Time Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG), for example in the case of representation due to illness or accident.
An employment relationship can be terminated by a termination agreement, a challenge, reaching the age limit or the death of the employee. In addition, there is the possibility of extraordinary or ordinary termination. However, a fixed-term employment relationship cannot be terminated in the ordinary way.
The Dismissal Protection Act (KSchuG) provides three reasons for ordinary dismissal: personal reasons, behavioral reasons or operational reasons. However, for dismissal protection to apply, the company must have more than 10 employees.
A termination without notice ends the employment relationship between employee and employer immediately. There must be a sufficient reason for this. In addition, it must not be reasonable to wait for the regular notice period. Theft or physical injury to employees are examples of this.
According to the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG), a works council can generally only be terminated during its term of office under exceptional circumstances such as a plant closure; however, extraordinary termination remains possible.
The special protective provisions of the Dismissal Protection Act (KSchG) apply to a notice of dismissal given to an employee who has already been employed for 6 months and if the company employs at least 10 employees (5 employees before 2004).
The provisions of the Dismissal Protection Act (KSchG) are not applicable in companies with fewer than 10 employees. A company within a larger company can also be exempted from this if it is an independent unit, particularly in personnel matters.
To determine the 10-employee limit, employees who work 30 hours per week are counted in full, those who work 20 to 30 hours are counted as 0.75, and those who work less than 20 hours are counted as 0.5. Trainees are not taken into account when determining the number of employees.
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