Transfers before a transfer of business: employers may assign employees to a unit before it is sold if they exercise their right to give instructions properly.

Reconciliation of interests, social plan and collective redundancy notification: the sequence employers must observe when closing a site.

BAG, judgment of 22 April 2026 – 10 AZR 28/25: if company targets are communicated only after the target period has ended, the employer is liable for the full target bonus.

Age-limit clauses, postponing the end date and new fixed-term hiring: how employers can retain employees beyond the standard retirement age in a legally sound way.

Reducing or cancelling the Christmas bonus: what the voluntariness reservation, company practice and cut-off date clause mean for employers – with BAG case law and a checklist.

Nil pay rise, collective agreements and established practice: when employers may freeze salaries and where collective agreements, BAG case law and works councils set limits.

The Federal Labour Court declares the rigid 40-hour threshold for overtime premiums invalid for part-time staff (5 AZR 96/25). What employers should now review.

On the night of 25 October 2026 the night shift runs an hour longer. What employers need to know on the Working Time Act, pay, night supplements and co-determination.

Voluntary severance programmes carry typical risks for employers: selection, conclusion of contract, works council, mass dismissals and fair negotiation at a glance.

Anyone who has to reduce staff starts not with notice periods and severance, but with a stocktaking and a target organisation chart. Why the order of review decides in court.

A treasury manager wired more than EUR 50 million to fraudsters posing as his superior over the phone and by messenger within 25 days. The Cologne Labor Court upheld his dismissal and full personal liability – even with D&O insurance in place.

The Mannheim Labor Court (judgment of 11 June 2026 – case no. 5 Ca 139/25) dismissed a mobbing claim: ordinary workplace friction does not amount to legally relevant mobbing.

From 1 January 2028, Section 44c SGB V allows partial incapacity for work of 25%, 50% or 75%. What employers need to know about voluntariness, the Hamburg model and payroll.

Federal Labour Court (judgment of 26 October 2017 – 6 AZR 158/16): A three-year notice period unreasonably disadvantages employees – the statutory basic notice period then applies again.

Higher Labour Court of Baden-Württemberg (judgment of 14 January 2026 – 4 Sa 39/25): If the bEM invitation lacks a reference to the company doctor's duty of confidentiality, a dismissal on grounds of illness fails.

Higher Labour Court of Hesse (judgment of 26 January 2026 – 7 SLa 435/25): Exclusively female job titles in a job advertisement establish the presumption of discrimination – the objection of abuse of rights regularly fails.

Federal Labour Court (judgment of 22 April 2026 – 10 AZR 28/25): The burden of initiative for target setting lies with the employer; if communication is omitted, 100 % target achievement is regularly assumed.

Federal Labour Court: A right of the employee to draft his or her own employment reference agreed in a court settlement is enforceable – limited only by the duty of truthfulness in references.

Federal Labour Court: Where several periods of parental leave are applied for, special protection against dismissal begins eight weeks before each period – even if all periods were applied for in a single letter.

Higher Labour Court of Düsseldorf (judgment of 30 October 2008 – 5 Sa 977/08): Salary may not be replaced predominantly by non-voting preference shares – equity models only in addition to cash pay.