• If an employee earns less than a male colleague who performs the same or equivalent work, gender-based disadvantage is presumed under German employment law.
• Employers may rebut this presumption by showing objective, gender-neutral reasons for differences in compensation.
• Upon remand of a pay equity case by the Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht (BAG)), the Regional Labor Court of Baden-Württemberg (Landesarbeitsgericht Baden-Württemberg (LAG)) denied a female employee’s claim for the top salary but awarded her the difference between her pay and the median pay of the male comparator group.

On August 18, 2026 (Ref. No. 2 Sa 14/24), the Baden-Württemberg LAG issued another ruling in the case after it was remanded by the BAG (Ref. No. 8 AZR 300/24). The employee was awarded the difference between her pay and the median pay of the male comparator group, but not the pay of the highest-paid male colleague. The employer successfully rebutted the presumption of gender-based discrimination as to that colleague.

The Case—An Equal Pay Claim at Multiple Levels

The employee sued for retroactive equalization of several compensation components. She based her claim on the difference between her pay and that of a named male colleague at the same level in the hierarchy. He was the highest-paid colleague. In the alternative, she sought to have her salary adjusted to the median pay of the male comparator group.

In its October 1, 2024, decision, the LAG awarded the employee higher...

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