Staff - Germany
Updated 11/2010
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European Union
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Austria
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Belgium
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Bulgaria
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Cyprus
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Czech Republic
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Denmark
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Estonia
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Finland
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France
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Germany
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Greece
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Hungary
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Ireland
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Italy
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Latvia
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Lithuania
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Luxembourg
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Malta
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Netherlands
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Norway
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Poland
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Portugal
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Romania
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Slovakia
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Slovenia
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Spain
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Sweden
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United Kingdom
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Legal requirements
The basis for staff management in Germany is laid down in the Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch).
Employment in Germany may be based on collective agreements, depending on the sector concerned. These are contracts between the parties involved, individual employers, employers’ federations and trade unions. They are governed by the Collective Agreement Act.
Employment conditions
Working hours are regulated by the Working Time Act.
Labour protection and health and safety at work are regulated by the Labour Protection Act.
There are certain rules regarding the termination of employment. In businesses with more than ten employees, dismissals not warranted in social terms are considered invalid (i.e. if the reason is not related to the person or conduct of the employee and the dismissal is not driven by business needs). Both you and your employees have to stick to the established notice periods. You can only carry out summary dismissal if there is a compelling reason to do so.
In the case of statutory protection against dismissal, a distinction is made between general protection against dismissal, which applies to all employees who fall under the scope of the Employment Protection Act, and special protection against dismissal for groups of individuals who are particularly vulnerable (e.g. pregnant women and new mothers – Section 9 Maternity Protection Act [Mutterschutzgesetz], and employees taking parental leave – Section 18 Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act [Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz]).
Rules on leave are to be found in the Federal Holidays Act.
Safeguards for employees under 18 are contained in the Youth Employment Protection Act.
Employment contracts
You and your employees are bound by the employment contracts you draw up, whether these are oral, tacit or written.
A written employment contract has to contain details such as:
- wage/salary;
- probationary period and working hours;
- number of days leave;
- permission to take secondary employment/restrictions in view of competition;
- the duration of the contract.
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What should an employment contract contain?
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Even in the case of an informally concluded contract, you are required to notify your employees in writing no later than one month after they begin working for you of what the basic contractual conditions are (e.g. who the contract involves, how long it lasts, description of activities, place of employment, working hours, salary, holidays, notice periods, reference to the collective agreements applicable to the employment relationship, employer/works council agreements, etc.). The rules on this can be found in the:
There are various types of contract, such as:
- permanent contracts;
- part-time contracts;
- supply contracts.
Examples of these can be found in the guidelines issued by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
Employing foreigners
Non-EU nationals have to have a residence permit saying whether they are allowed to hold a paying job in the country.
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Residence Act
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Leaflet: Employment of foreign workers in Germany
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Legal provisions and leaflets from the employment agency
There are minimum social rules to follow, especially about non-discrimination, gender equality and health and safety.
Administrative procedures
Social security contributions
You are obliged to notify the social security provider of all the staff you employ.
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Social security notification procedure
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Social security: employers’ reporting obligations
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Employers: how to insure your employees
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Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund
Social security returns
New employees must be registered with the health insurance scheme (collecting office). The application must be made with the first payroll run, no later than six weeks after the first day of employment.
Since 1 January 2009 a new fast-track registration obligation has applied to business sectors in which experience has shown illicit working and illegal employment to be particularly widespread. Fast-track registration, which involves only four items of data, in the listed sectors must be done no later than by when employment starts. The next wage slip is the normal way of registering, in place of fast-track registration.
If an employee ceases to work in the business, this must be notified to the collecting office. This must be done with the next payroll run, and no later than six weeks after the end of the employment. The de-registration must state the duration of employment in the current calendar year and the earnings liable for contributions.
Breaks e.g. where a period of employment is interrupted, possibly by illness, must also be reported. The assumption is that the employee has received sick pay for at least a full calendar month (and since 1 January 2008, a daily sickness allowance also).
An annual return must be submitted for every person employed as of 31 December each year. This is due with the next payroll run, but must be provided by 15 April of the following year. From 2009 onwards, these details also have to be reported to the accident insurance provider.
Residence permits for foreign workers
The residence permit is issued by the relevant department or a German representation abroad.
However, a person may be employed in Germany only if the Federal Employment Agency or the German representation abroad first gives its permission for hiring to take place or its approval for employment.
Resources
Allowances may be payable in Germany for new hires where a new business is starting up, for example. Brochures offering further guidance in this matter are available:
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Integration allowance for new business start-ups
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Other types of allowance
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Financial aid at a glance
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Staff may be recruited through friends or relations, job ads, on-line exchanges, universities or colleges or the employment agency, among other places.
EURES, the European job portal, offers employers information and support on recruiting across the EU. As well as assisting jobseekers, it helps entrepreneurs find workers from across the EU. In border regions, EURES provides information on cross-border commuting and helps workers and employers with problems that may arise.
Check also the legislation on this topic in:
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European Union
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Austria
deen
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Belgium
enfrnl
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Bulgaria
bgen
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Cyprus
elen
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Czech Republic
csen
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Denmark
daen
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Estonia
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Finland
enfi
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France
enfr
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Germany
deen
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Greece
elen
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Hungary
enhu
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Ireland
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Italy
enit
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Latvia
enlv
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Lithuania
enlt
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Luxembourg
enfr
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Malta
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Netherlands
ennl
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Norway
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Poland
enpl
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Portugal
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Romania
enro
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Slovakia
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Slovenia
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Spain
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Sweden
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United Kingdom
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