The new year has already begun and as usual, it brings about various changes in German employment law: some have already been implemented with effect as of 1 January 2022, while others will follow as the year progresses and some are only being discussed. We have summarised the most important changes in German employment law for employers in 2022.

Gradual increase of the statutory minimum wage

With effect as of 1 January 2022, the statutory minimum wage has been increased to 9.82 Euros gross per hour. In another step, the minimum wage will further increase to 10.45 Euros gross per hour as of 1 July 2022. Furthermore, as per the coalition agreement of the new German government, the minimum wage shall be raised to 12 Euros gross per hour. However, it is not clear yet when this will be implemented and if there may be legal complications on the way, as the employer associations claim an increase of the minimum wage directly by the government interferes with the autonomy of the employers and unions who negotiate collective bargaining agreements in various industries and with the work of the minimum wage commission that usually decides on minimum wage increases.

Exceptional rules on short-time work apply until the end of March 2022

At the beginning of the year, many employers (still) have to make use of short-time work due to the pandemic. In light of this, the exceptional rules on short-time work, that have been in place since the beginning of the pandemic, continue to apply in...

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