Logo  Seite drucken


Employment law in the Federal Republic of Germany
German employment law provides for the legal relationships between individual employees and their employers, and also the legal relationships between the employees’ representative bodies and employers. It links the competition among entrepreneurs to the reconciliation of diverging interests within companies. Those of the collective wage agreements that were negotiated or renegotiated in the past few years were concluded in a spirit of moderation, proving that trade unions and companies alike keep the economic situation in mind in making their demands.

Employers' associations
  • Employers have formed regional associations; in line with the principle of industrial organization, they are independent of one another.
  • The Federal Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) is the umbrella organization of the employers’ associations.
  • Employers from all business sectors may become members, including industrial enterprises, trading firms, skilled crafts, banks, insurance companies, agricultural operations as well as traffic and infrastructure organizations.
  • The BDA represents the companies in their function as employer; in other words, trade unions negotiate with the employers’ association.



Trade unions
  • In Germany, trade unions are not affiliated with any political party.
  • The trade unions represent the workers in various industries separately.
  • On average, less than 25 % of employees are members of a trade union.
  • The Confederation of German Trade Unions is the largest trade union organization in Germany. It is comprised of eight individual trade unions and has approximately 6.4 million members (2007).
Website: www.dgb.de
Are you planning to invest in Berlin?
Get in touch with us!
Burkhard Volbracht
Burkhard Volbracht
Investor Services
Labor market/recruitment
Berlin Partner GmbH
Tel.: +49 30 39980-215
For further information, please contact:
Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales
[Federal Ministry for Labor and Social Affairs]
Wilhelmstrasse 49
D-10117 Berlin
Tel.: +49 18527-0
Fax: +49 18527-1830
Internet: www.bmas.bund.de

Bundesvereinigung der deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände (BDA)
[Federal Confederation of German Employers’ Associations]
im Haus der Deutschen Wirtschaft
[House of the Germany Economy]
Breite Strasse 29
D-10178 Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 2033-0
Fax: +49 30 2033-1055

Landesarbeitsgericht Berlin-Brandenburg
[Higher Labor Court of Berlin-Brandenburg]
Arbeitsgericht Berlin
[Labor Court Berlin]
Magdeburger Platz 1
D-10785 Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 90171-0
Fax: +49 30 90171-222 /333
Our Partners:
URL: http://www.blc.berlin.de/online/en/E/iii/prnseite0.jsp