Labour law is no longer a marginal issue for managers, but a direct risk factor in day-to-day management. What happens if a termination fails formally, working hours are incorrectly managed or remuneration decisions cannot be properly documented? If you don't manage properly, you not only risk conflicts within the team, but also considerable costs, liability issues and avoidable legal disputes.


Meta Description: Employment law for managers: avoid liability and termination risks and implement working time and pay transparency correctly.

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Employment law for managers: why it is strategically relevant

Employment law is not a "peripheral HR topic" for managers, but a central control factor in work organisation. Every decision on deployment planning, performance expectations, feedback, sanctions or separation is made within a legal framework that is scrutinised very specifically in the event of a conflict. It's not just about "being right", but about process reliability: clean documentation, comprehensible decisions and consistent communication reduce the risk of escalation (e.g. unfair dismissal proceedings, accusations of discrimination or conflicts over working hours and remuneration).

This is particularly relevant because managers often act as the first instance: they implement instructions, evaluate performance, moderate conflicts and provide impetus for separation. Mistakes typically do not happen out of bad intentions, but due to time pressure, a lack of standardisation or unclear roles (manager vs. HR vs. legal). This is precisely where labour law becomes a management tool: it creates clear guidelines on how decisions are prepared, documented and implemented - and in such a way that they can still be understood months later.

Currently, four developments are intensifying the pressure to act: (1) new guidelines on contract design for terminations, (2) higher requirements for the delivery and verification logic, (3) working time compliance incl. time recording systems and (4) a new system of time recording. time recording system and (4) the EU pay transparency requirements with an implementation deadline in June 2026 (Federal Labour Court on default of acceptance).

Employment law personnel responsibility: core obligations and typical risk areas

Companies cannot "organise away" many employment law risks - they arise where management takes place. In practice, labour law personnel responsibility can be structured into four risk areas that are particularly relevant for managers:

  • Design & selection (recruiting, contract, fixed term): Decisions must be non-discriminatory, comprehensible and consistently justified. The benchmark is not just "equal treatment in feeling", but applicable law and documented criteria (EntgTranspG § 1).
  • Management in the ongoing employment relationship (right to issue instructions, performance, conflicts): Instructions are part of everyday management - but they must fit into the framework conditions (e.g. working hours, health protection, co-determination).
  • Reaction to breaches of duty (warnings, documentation): Anyone imposing sanctions needs a clear factual basis, clear communication and a consistent documentation chain.
  • Separation & restructuring (ordinary/extraordinary dismissal, termination with notice of change): Formal diligence determines the risk of default of acceptance, legal costs and internal consequences.

Important: The legal assessment often only takes place retrospectively - then what counts is what can be proven. This applies in particular to proof and delivery issues (e.g. receipt of a notice of termination) as well as commercial consequential risks such as default of acceptance (payment of wages despite non-employment if a notice of termination is invalid) (§ 615 BGB).

A pragmatic management rule is therefore: The more drastic the measure, the more standardised the process must be (checklists, dual control principle, clear roles with HR/Legal, reliable evidence). This not only reduces legal risks, but also internal friction - because decisions become more consistent and easier for employees to understand.


Current developments 2025/2026: Termination, default of acceptance and burden of proof

The selected developments are so relevant because they address two classic weaknesses: (1) contractual/settlement clauses that are intended to resolve risks "in advance" and (2) the assumption that one has "somehow" already proven the receipt of a termination. Both assumptions are much more narrowly defined by case law.

Default of acceptance and contract drafting: Limits of the waiver

The Federal Labour Court clarified this on 28 January 2026 (case no. 5 AS 4/25): Although Section 615 sentence 1 BGB is in principle dispositive, a complete waiver of claims for default of acceptance in advance in the event of an invalid termination or a termination that only takes effect later is not possible. Source: BAG 5 AS 4/25 (https://www.bundesarbeitsgericht.de/entscheidung/5-as-4-25/). Source: Section 615 BGB (https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__615.html).

For managers, this is not "just contract law", but operationally relevant because separation decisions are often prepared under time pressure. Practical consequences:

  • Check standard clauses: If employment contracts, termination offers or ancillary agreements attempt to completely exclude default of acceptance in the event of termination, this creates a false sense of security - and considerable financial leverage for the other party in the event of a dispute. Source: BAG 5 AS 4/25 (https://www.bundesarbeitsgericht.de/entscheidung/5-as-4-25/).
  • Process robustness before "clause magic": The decisive factor is that the reasons for termination, hearings, deadlines and documentation are robust - not that risks are "formulated away".
  • Improve risk calculation: In the case of disputed terminations, default of acceptance should be included as a possible cost risk in the management decision template (incl. plan B such as continued employment/employment).

In short: In this case, labour law basics management means evaluating the separation decision not only in terms of work organisation, but also financially and procedurally - and coordinating it with HR/Legal at an early stage.

Provide clear evidence of access to termination: Lessons from registered letters

The BAG judgement from 30 January is also of practical relevance.2025: The submission of the proof of posting of a registered letter and the delivery history do not constitute prima facie evidence of receipt by the recipient without submission of a reproduction of the proof of delivery (BAG 2 AZR 68/24).

The management point behind this: In practice, dismissals often fail due to questions of evidence and form, even though the facts of the case are "actually clear". From a management perspective, it is therefore worth having a standard process for notices that is not improvised. A resilient minimum package includes:

  1. Determine delivery route in advance (not just on the last day).
  2. Ensure documentation: complete documents, storage location, access for HR/Legal. Source: BAG 2 AZR 68/24 (https://www.bundesarbeitsgericht.de/entscheidung/2-azr-68-24/).
  3. Representation rules: Who signs? Who hands over? Who takes the minutes?
  4. Separate communication: The conversation is management - proof of access is compliance.

This makes "Duties of managers under labour law" very specific: Managers do not have to have a legal command of every detail, but they must ensure that critical measures are carried out using standardised, verifiable processes.


Working time compliance: ArbZG, evidence and time recording

Working time is an area in which managers have to manage on a daily basis - and can quickly run into liability and reputational risks (overtime culture, lack of rest periods, hidden overtime). The Working Hours Act (ArbZG) expressly serves to protect health by, among other things, limiting the maximum daily working hours and specifying rest breaks and rest periods.

Three points are particularly relevant for labour law personnel responsibility:

  • Rest period as a hard guard rail: According to § 5 ArbZG, employees must have an uninterrupted rest period of at least eleven hours after the end of the daily working time (with exceptions in certain industries).
  • Recording obligations already exist today:§ 16 para. 2 ArbZG obliges employers to record working hours in excess of the working day and to keep this evidence for at least two years.
  • Systematic time recording as a compliance issue: In its decision of 13 September 2022 (case no. 1 ABR 22/21), the Federal Labour Court stated that employers are obliged, according to § 3 Para. 2 No. 1 ArbSchG, employers are obliged to record the start and end of daily working hours (system obligation).

For managers, this means that even if a company has trust-based working hours, the obligation to organise working hours in accordance with the rules and make them transparent remains. From a management perspective, this only works if working time management is understood as part of the management routine - with clear rules on availability, weekend/evening work, delegation and escalation.

Practice check:

  • Is overtime subject to approval and technically traceable?
  • Is there a clear rule as to who "approves" working hours (manager vs. employee)?
  • Are rest periods for business trips, on-call duty or project-intensive phases actively monitored?
  • Is the data stored in an audit-proof manner and can it be found in the event of an audit/dispute?

In this way, "labour law for managers" does not become a bureaucratic project, but risk management: management controls capacity - compliance ensures that this happens in a legally compliant manner.


Implementation plan 2026: Remuneration transparency, termination security and training

With a view to 2026, two dynamics come together: stricter verification logic in separation processes (access to notice/default of acceptance) and increasing transparency requirements for remuneration. The EU Directive (EU) 2023/970 strengthens pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms; member states must transpose it into national law by 7 June 2026.

For managers, pay transparency is not purely an HR/comp topic, because in practice it works via role profiles, classifications, performance assessments and team communication. At the same time, Germany already has targets and instruments for equal pay in the Pay Transparency Act - the upcoming EU requirements will raise the standard for transparency and verifiability.

A pragmatic 10-point plan for managers and HR (without a "major project")

  1. Clearly describe roles (tasks, level of responsibility, requirements) as a basis for comparable jobs.
  2. Document remuneration logic (e.g. salary bands, criteria for classification).
  3. Standardise performance evaluation (scales, examples, calibration) to increase comparability.
  4. Give written reasons for decisions (promotion, salary increase, bonus) so that they can be understood later.
  5. Standardise termination processes (reasons, consultation, deadlines, proof of delivery).
  6. Include cost risks in separation templates (incl. default of acceptance scenario in the event of disputes).
  7. Operationalise working time management (approval rules, monitoring of rest periods).
  8. File evidence in an audit-proof manner (time sheets, delivery receipts, meeting minutes).
  9. Determine interfaces (who decides, who checks, who communicates - management/HR/legal).
  10. Train managers in a targeted manner - not as lawyers, but along typical management and HR situations.

Point 10 in particular is underestimated in many organisations: individual guidelines help, but the effect only comes about when managers have a common "baseline" (terms, processes, documentation logic). One example of a compact, roll-out-capable training programme offers knowledge about "employment law for managers" with a focus on typical stages in the employment relationship (from the application phase to the right to issue instructions to termination/AGG), designed for senior executives (including 30 minutes learning time, 2 languages) and with e-learning features such as quizzes, interactive elements and a certificate of participation.

 

In the same subject area (HR Legal), two labour law modules can also be usefully included because they cover typical everyday situations for managers and HR - especially where errors often occur in practice or where evidence is required. These include the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) and Intellectual Property and Copyright. In this way, qualification can be built up on a role-related basis: Managers receive a reliable basis in labour law and more security in processes, HR can delve deeper into special topics and teams are specifically sensitised to operational risk areas - such as discrimination, property rights or the practical implementation of working hours.

 

Conclusion

Labour law is above all process and decision-making security for managers: those who manage working hours, remuneration and separation professionally reduce conflicts, protect the company from follow-up costs and strengthen trust in the team. The current case law on default of acceptance and access to termination shows that "perceived" security through standard clauses or posting letters is not enough - evidence and processes must be robust.

In parallel, organisational pressure is growing due to working time compliance (ArbZG/time recording system) and the EU pay transparency requirements with an implementation deadline of 7 June 2026.If you want to avoid having to make adjustments under time pressure in 2026, you should now bring together roles, criteria, documentation and training logic in a lean implementation plan.


Note: This blog was supported in its research with AI.