Foreseeable changes in German Employment Law in 2021

Short-time work saved many jobs in 2020, when the Corona pandemic began. As short-time work remains of major interest in 2021, in order to fight the economic impacts of the ongoing pandemic, the special regulations on facilitated access to short-time work allowances have been extended until 31 December 2021.  In particular, this means that short-time work can already take place when at least 10% of the employees in an establishment or a department suffer a work loss of at least 10%. The increase of the short-time work allowance to up to 87% of the employee’s regular income and the opportunities to earn additional income have also been extended until the end of this year.

Meetings of the works council and other bodies under the German Works Constitution Act, including conciliation boards, can continue to be held digitally, i.e. via video or telephone conference. This option has been extended until 30 June 2021.

The German Infection Protection Act has been amended once again, entitling parents to compensation if school or daycare closures are imposed or extended or if compulsory attendance at school is suspended for reasons of infection protection and they hence cannot perform their work due to childcare obligations. Additionally, it was clarified that employees who must isolate after returning from travel to a risk area are not entitled to compensation if the risk area was already classified as such at the time of departure.

The statutory minimum wage increases to EUR 9.50 per working hour as of 1 January 2021.  From 1 July 2021 it will again be increased to EUR 9.60 per working hour.

The first step has been taken towards abolishing the paper certificate of incapacity for work. From now on, doctors will digitize the certificate for the health insurance company and transmit it electronically. As of next year, the doctor’s certificate certifying the incapacity to work will be transmitted electronically to employers as well.

The so-called “Western Balkans Regulation” has been extended until the end of 2023. This allows nationals from countries of the Balkan region to enter Germany for employment regardless of any formal qualification. However, the Federal Employment Agency must give its approval and a quota of up to 25,000 persons per year will be introduced. Also, British nationals entering Germany from January 2021 will have easier access to the labour market.

The subsidy procedure for professional development has been simplified for employers and their employees. It will no longer be necessary to submit subsidy applications for each single employee. Instead, with consent of the employees or the works council, the employer can now file a single application for several employees to the employment agency.

Aside from the definite changes explained above, some further changes are still pending. After a first draft failed, another draft for a law on mobile work is currently being debated. Until now, there have been no legal regulations in this area. Initially, an entitlement for employees to work in a home office for a certain number of days per year was planned, but this initiative failed.

For more information on these articles or any other issues involving labour and employment matters in Germany, please contact Dr. Tobias Pusch (Partner) of Pusch Wahlig Workplace Law at pusch@pwwl.de or visit www.pwwl.de.