Parental Leave in Instalments: Protection Against Dismissal Revives Before Each Period (Federal Labour Court, 2 AZR 213/25)

The Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) has significantly strengthened the rights of employees on parental leave (case no. 2 AZR 213/25). In the specific case, a father had applied for four separate periods of parental leave in a single letter. The employer dismissed him during a phase in which he was working normally in the company between two periods. It wrongly assumed that protection against dismissal applied only before the very first block of parental leave.

However, the notice of dismissal reached the man shortly before the start of his second period of childcare. The BAG has now declared this dismissal absolutely invalid. In the judges' view, the anticipatory protection against dismissal revives before each individual period of parental leave. This statutory protection begins in each case exactly eight weeks before the notified start of the respective period, in order to prevent employers from reacting to the announced absence with an immediate dismissal.

It is entirely irrelevant whether the periods were applied for individually or collectively in one letter. Employers may not use the legally permitted interim phases to terminate the employment relationship unilaterally. Dismissals during these sensitive windows mandatorily require the prior consent of the competent state authority. For HR departments, this judgment massively raises the legal requirements for separation processes.

Before every dismissal, check without gaps all parental leave applications submitted in the past for future periods. Even if an employee is currently working normally, a subsequent month already applied for can completely bar the employment relationship from ordinary dismissal!