Making it easier and faster to set up a company anywhere in Germany and, in the longer term, enabling the entire process to be completed digitally within 24 hours is the objective of the project “Schneller Gründen”, which forms part of the German Federal and States’ governments’ modernization agenda. The Federal government, the German States...

As a general rule, applicants for a job in Germany are not required to disclose a severe disability on their own initiative during the hiring process. For this reason, the Cologne Higher Labor Court held that four terminations issued without the consent of the Integration Office, as well as an attempted rescission of the employment...

Vertical distribution agreements have recently gained considerable importance under competition law. This becomes clear e.g. by the latest decision of the German Federal Cartel Office dated 8 July 2026, which imposed aggregate fines of 11.9 million euro on companies active in the tire wholesale sector (Case No. B10-21/24). Previously the Federal Cartel Office has imposed fines...

Where managers are employed by one group company but perform their duties in the organization of another group company, their engagement in the receiving organization may be subject to co-determination under section 99(1) sentence 1 of the German Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz – “BetrVG”). In a decision dated January 27, 2026 (Federal Labor Court, 27.01.2026...

Whether Copilot, ChatGPT or industry-specific solutions – artificial intelligence (AI) has long since become part of everyday business life. Employees use AI tools to draft texts, analyze data, write code and support customer communication. Many companies, however, still lack a clear position: some actively encourage the use of AI and provide their own systems, while...

The Berlin-Brandenburg Regional Labor Court has confirmed in an interim injunction that the works council of an airline elected at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) may provisionally exercise its co-determination rights under works constitution law—despite the airline’s headquarters being located abroad and the unresolved final classification of the stationing location as an organizational unit eligible for...

A shareholder of a limited liability company (GmbH) may seek a court declaration of his or her shareholder status. This applies even if the shareholder is already listed in the shareholder register maintained in the Commercial Register. The Federal Court of Justice clarified this (judgment of April 21, 2026, II ZR 50/25). Facts of the...

For years, the EU has been debating which designations may be used to label vegan and vegetarian meat substitute products. The central issue is whether terms such as “burger” or “schnitzel” may also be used for vegetarian and vegan alternatives. A compromise has now been reached in the ongoing EU legislative process. Key points at...

An order requiring an employee who works half the time from home to report to the workplace in person from Monday through Thursday is legally invalid. The key point is that a stricter requirement to be present at the workplace cannot be justified simply by citing the withdrawal of a “work-from-home privilege,” but rather requires...

In a final judgment dated May 28, 2026 (case no. 26 O 869/26, n.rk), the Munich I Regional Court, in preliminary injunction proceedings, prohibited Google from using its “AI Overview” feature to disseminate several specific, defamatory, and false factual claims about two Munich-based publishers. In the overview displayed, the AI had attributed fraudulent activities (including...