As discussed in my post of 28 May 2014, the German Federal Labour Court was about to decide on a case where a member of the works council claimed against her employer for an employment unlimited in time after the expiration of her agreed fixed-term employment contract. The decision is now available.
The Federal Labour Court, which is the highest labour court in Germany, decided against the employee, as she could not prove that she was discriminated against due to membership of the works council.
Although this is good news for employers, they should be aware that the court did not exclude a possible entitlement completely. Should an employee be able to prove that a reason for not extending the contract was membership of the works council, the employee may claim for the conclusion of a further employment agreement.
