New obligations for working conditions now in effect – what do employers need to know?
The government has been publishing new legislation on a regular basis in order to fulfil its promise to modernise labour law. The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs' draft bill, dated 8 April 2022, came into force in Germany on 1 August 2022 and implemented EU Directive 2019/1152 of 31 July 2019. This amended the Act on the Notification of Conditions Governing the Employment Relationship (the Act) in order to align with the Directive's aims to make working conditions more transparent and predictable for employees.
The Directive stipulates that employment contracts and the most important working conditions must be recorded in a written document that is handed to the employee. Working conditions are also changing significantly as a result of its implementation.
The draft bill aims to ensure greater legal certainty in employment relationship. The expansion of legal certainty is achieved by extending the employers' existing obligations to provide information on essential terms and conditions of the employment relationship.
This article is the first in a two-part series. The first part provides an overview of the draft bill and the second looks at its advantages and disadvantages.
