Quite practical: News from labor law 2021

Quite practical: News from labor law 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic brought one thing above all: uncertainty. My colleagues and I experienced this uncertainty first hand, especially in one of our specialist areas: labor law. It has happened more than once that we and a client struggled for a long time through a short-time work application including a social partner agreement, only to find out shortly before sending it that the responsible authorities had published new application forms or model social partner agreements. Especially on a Friday afternoon. 

So far, 2021 has not brought the relief initially hoped for, but it seems to be a little more predictable than last year, at least from a legal perspective. In the hope that I won't have to regret this sentence again in a few weeks, I would like to give you a little preview of selected changes in 2021. The focus here is deliberately not on measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but rather on longer-term changes.

Alignment of notice periods

It has been expected for a long time and will now take place on July 1, 2021: the alignment of workers' notice periods with those of employees. For terminations that an employer announces from this day onwards, a notice period of six weeks applies, which can be extended to up to five months depending on the length of the employment relationship. In principle, termination can only take place at the end of each quarter, although the 15th and the last of each calendar month can be agreed as additional termination dates. For terminations by the worker, unless otherwise agreed, a one-month notice period applies to the last day of the month.
Also new is the reduction of the voting age in works council elections from 18 to 16 years. Although this change may not seem particularly significant at first glance, it has more far-reaching consequences than might be expected. This means that these employees must also be taken into account when calculating the five employees with voting rights required for a works council election, which means that after this change, works councils can be elected in more companies and general protection against dismissal also exists. 

The deadline for switching to the new salary system of the collective agreement for commercial employees also ends at the end of 2021. However, a certain lead time should be planned for this change: in companies without a works council, employees must be informed in writing about the change date no later than three months before the change. In companies with a works council, this deadline must be agreed upon by means of a works agreement. In both cases, employees must be given a service note at least four weeks before the changeover date, which specifically states the new classification.

Last but not least, a friendly reference to a few annual long-running favorites: The minimum fee to be able to validly agree on a competition clause was increased to EUR 3,145 (including aliquot special payments) for clauses after March 16, 2006 or to EUR 3,700 (excl. aliquot special payments) for clauses after December 28, 2015 The marginal income limit was raised to EUR 475.86 per month and the new skilled workers regulation for 2021 was published.