IDS EMPLOYMENT IN GERMANY 2006

Introduction 1; Structure of the document 8; Main employment developments 2005/2006 9; Summary of legislative change 2001-2006 10; Government programme and progress to date 14; Section 1; Organisations; Trade unions 19; Employers' organisations 22; Official bodies 25; Research institutes 27; Employment tribunals and procedures 28; Section 2; Commencement of employment; Recruitment 31; Appointment of employees 31; Official notification and work permits 31; Work permit requirements 31; Works council rights on personnel issues 36; Young workers and trainees 37; Finding the applicant 38; Application documents 38; Poaching 38; Placement services 39; The official employment service 39; Employment agencies and recruitment consultants 40; Executive recruitment consultants 40; Temporary work agencies 42; Recruitment media 44; The Press 44; Graduate recruitment 46; Selection procedures 51; Medical examinations and candidate testing 53; References 54; Appointment of employees 55; Works council consent 55; Formalities 55. Section 3; The contract of employment; The contract of employment 59; Executives 59; Registered managers and directors 60; Form of contract 61; Written details of employment 61; Types of contract of employment 64; Indefinite contract of employment 64; Probationary period 64; Fixed-term contracts 65; Part-time contract 67; 'Zero hours contracts' 69; Job-sharing 70; Telework 70; Minijobs 72; Temporary agency employment 72; Contractual issues - employer and employee rights 73; Contractual penalties 73; Other employment 74; Confidentiality 74; Restrictive covenants 74; Employee liability 76; Employee inventions 77; Repayment of training costs 77; Mobility clauses 78; Variation of terms 78; Anti-discrimination law - new provisions 2006 79; General Law on Equal Treatment, 2006 81; Discrimination issues 87; Religion 88; People with disabilities 90; Bullying 91; Data protection and employee privacy 92; Data protection 92; Privacy 93; Drugs, alcohol and tobacco 95; Smoking 96; Transfer of undertakings 97; Corporate reshapings 101; Section 4; Termination of contract; Termination of contract - an overview 105; Forms of termination 105; Notice periods and form of notice 107; Notice periods 107; Managers 109. Discipline and grievance procedures 111; Individual grievance rights 111; Penalties 111; Disciplinary record 111; Individual dismissal on non-economic grounds 112; Ordinary dismissal: termination of contract by notice 112; Grounds for dismissal 115; Factors related to the employee's person 115; Illness 115; Age 116; Employee conduct 117; Employee performance 118; Warnings 119; Summary dismissal 120; Notification rules for non-economic dismissals 121; Works council notification and consultation 121; Termination on economic and operational grounds 123; Selection criteria for economic dismissals 124; No-redundancy and related agreements 127; Notification and consultation for economic dismissals 129; Collective dismissals 130; Workforce and official notification 130; Severance pay and social compensation plans 133; Severance payments - collective agreements 134; Social Compensation Plans 135; Enforceable social plans and exemptions 136; Contents of social plans 136; Termination of managers 140; Board members and registered managers 140; Executives 141; Termination by mutual agreement 143; Severance payments 144; Formalities on termination 146; Protected employees 147; Insolvency 149; Unlawful dismissal 150; Reinstatement and compensation 152; Unemployment benefit 153; Section 5; Industrial relations and collective bargaining; Industrial relations and collective bargaining 159; The pay round 161; Workplace employee representation 165; Works councils 165; Works council rights 167; Executive representation committees 170. European Works Councils 170; Codetermination and corporate governance 171; Levels of bargaining 172; Collective agreements 172; Extension of collective agreements 174; 'Contract compliance' 175; Workplace agreements 175; Bargaining in 2006 176; Flexible provisions in collective agreements 178; Employees outside collective bargaining 181; Section 6; Pay and Benefits; Make-up of pay 185; Statutory pay determination 186; Statutory minimum wage 186; Remuneration for trainees and young people 188; The Posted Workers' Law 189; 'Contract compliance' for public sector contracts 191; The law on pay 192; Basic pay 193; Job evaluation and grading 193; Hardship clauses 194; 'Enabling' or 'opening clauses' 194; Company-level supplements 194; Main payments systems 195; Children's and social allowances 196; Pay in the engineering industry - 2006 197; Reward management issues 200; Regional pay differences and local allowances 202; '13th' month payments 204; Holiday bonuses 204; Performance pay 205; Overtime premia 207; Night work and shift premium payments 208; Pay for public holidays and weekends 210; Pay for short-time working 212; Employee financial participation 213; Capital formation payments 213; Share grants and options 215; Profit sharing 218; Employee suggestion schemes 218; Maintenance of earnings agreements 219; Statutory earnings' protection for pregnant women 219. Section 7; Working time and time off; Daily and weekly hours of work 223; The 1994 Working Time Law 223; Working time under collective agreements 226; Minimum rest periods and breaks 227; Flexible working hours 228; 'Time-banking' 228; Extended hours and 'working time corridors' 228; Annual hours/hours averaging arrangements 229; Flexitime 229; Individual working time accounts 229; Saturday working 233; 'Trust working time' 234; Shop opening hours 235; Sunday and holiday working 237; Overtime and night work 239; Night work 240; Annual leave 241; Concessions for special groups of employees 242; Public holidays 244; Sick leave and sick pay 246; Time off rights 248; Maternity leave 248; Paternity leave 249; Parental leave - parenting time 249; Leave for family and personal needs 251; Educational leave 251; Works council and trade union duties 252; Leave in connection with political activities 252; Military service 252; Sabbaticals 252; Short-time working 253; Section 8; Retirement and pensions; Retirement 257; State pensions 257; Retirement age 257; Company and supplementary pension schemes 259; Supplementary pensions 264; Industry-level pension schemes 266; The engineering industry scheme 266; The chemical industry scheme 267; Phased early retirement 268. Section 9; Other labour costs; Social security contributions and benefits 273; Sickness insurance 273; Statutory pension insurance 275; Unemployment insurance 276; Carers' insurance 276; Industrial injury and occupational diseases insurance 276; Contribution rates 277; Other benefits 278; Appendices; A. Prices 281; Price level in Germany compared with UK and USA 281; B. Pay and Earnings 282; B:1 Manual workers earnings: West Germany 282; B:2 White-collar earnings by grade and sector: West Germany 282; B:3 Pay growth 1998-2006 283; C. Income tax 284; D. Total labour costs in West and East Germany, 2005 286; E. Labour costs in international comparison 287; F. Social Compensation Plans 289; Engineering industry (synopsis) 289; G. Severance payments - tax and social security rules 291; H. Guidance notes for contracts 296; Sources 303; Index 304.