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Virtual participation programs have long been highly popular, particularly in the venture capital and technology sectors, where limited financial resources meet strong competition for highly skilled talent. Against this background, companies frequently implement comprehensive employee participation programs to retain key personnel or to attract them in the first place. The Federal Labour Court’s (Bundesarbeitsgericht – BAG) revised legal interpretation, reflected in its decision of 19 March 2025, makes it necessary to fundamentally rethink the set-up of virtual participation programs. This article outlines the implications of the decision and highlights practical consequences for employers.

As of July 1, 2025, the process for determining parental status and the number of children to be considered for the calculation of long-term care insurance contributions has been digital-ized. The German authorities now automatically transmit the relevant data to the contribution-paying entities. Under certain conditions, this procedure also allows for retroactive corrections of long-term care insurance contributions, going back as far as July 1, 2023. What does this mean for you as a company and employer?

For companies and creators: Basics, news, opinions and practical tips – always up to date.

The tax authorities have currently got their sights on influencers – will this be followed by a second wave, with the focus moving from the influencers to the companies they collaborate with? Is your company prepared for this second wave and does your influencer marketing comply with tax and social insurance requirements? It can be expected that sponsoring and incentives will again also be closely examined.

The break-up of the “traffic light” coalition and the Bundestag elections that were brought forward to 23 February 2025 are having a considerable impact on tax reforms and plans for legislation. The lack of a majority makes concluding key legislative plans more difficult.

If the person giving third-party notice does not provide information on an upcoming date for proceedings, the information on the status of the dispute under Section 73 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung – ZPO) is considered incomplete. The third-party notice thereby neither has the effect of suspending the statute of limitations in terms of material law nor that of procedural intervention. This is what Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court decided in its judgment of 16/05/2024 (2 U 75/23), cf. IBRRS 2024, 2416.

The Federal Court of Justice’s decision on ambiguous terms related to the environment (specifically, the case was about using “climate neutral” in relation to confectionery, but it also applies generally to terms like “carbon-neutral”, “greenhouse gas neutral”, “environmentally friendly”, etc.) set strict standards on environmentally related advertising. Companies must already be clear and unambiguous in their advertising when using terms related to the environment, otherwise they can face cease and desist letters from associations or competitors. They can also receive bad publicity for greenwashing.

If a construction contract is terminated for an important reason under Section 8(2) of the German Construction Contract Procedures (VOB/B), this is valid and permissible for insolvency law. But creating a set-off situation (payment of work against claims for damages) is detrimental to the creditor and can be contested.

Legislation and case law have massively increased the importance of having a proper and effective HR compliance management system (HR CMS). If the rules are not complied with, directors, board members and the supervisory board can be directly liable. This liability risk can be avoided by using the right instruments to prevent such infractions. An HR compliance management system (CMS) can help here. We’ll design a customised HR CMS for you and give you assistance with implementing it, or we can audit your existing HR CMS. You’ll gain assurance, be able to identify risks and comply with your statutory duties.

If a contractual partner gets into difficulties, there is often a desire to dissolve the contract. Many long-term contracts such as supply or distribution agreements contain so-called insolvency-dependent termination clauses (insolvenzabhängige Lösungsklauseln) for such cases. However, whether a termination can in fact be successfully based on such a clause must be examined on a case-by-case basis. Here, we inform about the legal requirements regarding the effectiveness for such clauses.

The EU is creating a new legal framework for digital business models. Legislation like the Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, Data Act and AI Act includes a multitude of provisions that have to be complied with and legally implemented.

We assist you with the organisation of your personal emergency planning and with long-term succession planning.