Legal Services
Our law firm advises our clients on every aspect of labour law and conducts negotiations on their behalf both in and outside of court. A wide range of individual cases has provided me with a solid bank of experience on which I can draw.
Independent of the level of hierarchy on which our clients are working, I can assure you a sound advice and effective representation in and outside of court. I enforce your rights in every kind of employment related dispute, e.g. employment protection suits, employment termination agreements, bonus negotiations, discrimination cases, harassment (“Mobbing”) at work or written warnings. My law firm enforces payment claims against the employer and checks written references.
I personally represent my clients in all labour law courts in Germany, including the Federal Labour Court. Our clients include employees and managers from every company level including the top management and from a variety of different sectors.
Specialty of German Labour law
The German Labour Law is, different from the U.S. or U.K law, very employee friendly. You can obtain a low cost legal insurance for employment problems. The costs are around 100 Euros per year or even less. We strongly recommend that you purchase such an insurance called “Rechtsschutzversicherung” latest when you feel problems in your employment relationship coming up. The insurance pays your lawyer, gives you full coverage for any of your costs and of the costs of the other party, and in addition pays the court fees.
In Germany as an employee you don´t fight alone for your rights. In mid-size and bigger companies there are Work Councils (“Betriebsrat”) who help you to protect your rights against your employer. The labour courts in Germany are remarkably employee friendly. Especially when it comes to protecting the employee`s rights in cases of termination (“Kündigungsschutzklage”) the labour courts are very often on your side. In other words it is difficult in Germany for employers to terminate an employment contract after the probation period is over and in case of mid-size or bigger companies. But even a termination during the probation period can be wrongful, e.g. for formal reasons. It is worth having a lawyer check this for you.
The specialty of Germany labour law is above all the consequence of a wrongful termination: In case the court comes to the conclusion that the termination of an employee was wrongful, he not only gets his job back, but also gets the complete payment of the salary after the employment contract was terminated. As cases at the labour courts can take from some weeks to several months or a few years (if you have to go through several levels of jurisdiction), the employer will ultimately, if you win the case, have to pay you all the salary that you would have earned during this time and reintegrate you into the company. In most cases employer and employees instead of this agree on a substantial amount of money as severance payment (Abfindung).
What we will do for you
To do the correspondence with your employer, the courts and your insurance companies is the standard. Together with you we will analyse your employment situation and give you advice on which options you have from the legal point of view.
We work for employees on all levels of the corporate hierarchy: regular employees, freelancers, executives, agency workers and trainees. The topics we advise on cover the full range of labour law:
Bonus payments
Contractual problems
Working hours/holidays/workplace safety issues
Discrimination/“Mobbing“ (harassment)
Data protection issues
Non-competition clauses
Termination of employment
Severance Payment
Employee co-determination
Transfer of business
Court proceedings
If requested we also provide outplacement services to you. Sometimes your employer is willing to pay for this. In this case we can add this topic to your termination settlement agreement.
Compensation
Through many years of experience, specialization in labor law and continuous training, I can guarantee you excellent legal representation. I personally advise and represent all clients.
We offer a free initial consultation in which we clarify whether your case concerns employment law or not. We only work in the field of labor law. In this free initial consultation, we will also clarify whether legal protection insurance could cover your case and which fee agreement we suggest for your case. Individual advice on your case or review of your documents is always subject to a fee. All consultations usually take place by telephone or via Teams/Zoom. If desired, I offer a personal meeting, however it requires that we agree on an appropriate appointment in advance.
I discuss the fee structure with you in detail before each mandate is awarded. During the (chargeable) initial consultation, I will also tell you the chances of success in your case and suggest the next steps to proceed.
For regular employees, I usually bill in accordance with the Lawyers‘ Remuneration Act (RVG). If you have legal protection insurance, it will usually reimburse these costs. Correspondence with the legal protection insurance company is usually free of charge for you.
For particularly complex orders or very complex legal questions, I sometimes charge based on hourly rates or a fixed fee. I will also point this out to you in advance.
When we work for board members/managing directors and other very senior managers, we usually bill based on an agreed flat rate or a pre-agreed hourly rate. In individual cases we also offer payment in accordance with the Lawyers‘ Remuneration Act.
In many cases it is advisable to take out good legal protection insurance in a timely manner. Please note that many insurance policies have a waiting period of usually three months before you can use them.
Please contact us if you would like more information on this topic.