Executive Summary: German Employment and Labour Law

Abstract

As a civil law country, Germany’s legal system is mainly based on written law, including constitutions, codes and statutes. In addition to the federal constitution and statutes, each state has its own laws and constitution. However, the main areas of law, such as criminal law, civil law and commercial law, are regulated by uniform federal codes, such as the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB), the Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB), and the Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch, HGB). German employment and labour law is also largely governed by federal statutes. Historically, however, there is no unified employment and labour law code. The relevant law is contained in several statutes. Statutory gaps are filled by case law, which is particularly important in this field of law. In practice, this makes the understanding and application of German labour and employment law quite difficult for both employers and employees.