The Labour Court Braunschweig recently ruled against 55 lawsuits filed by former VW employees who had taken action against the fixed-term nature of their contracts, which were most recently extended by six months for a material reason.
Prof. Dr. Horst Call from the Faculty of Law at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences clarifies in the Braunschweiger Zeitung article that the first fixed-term employment contract with employees who were not previously employed by the employer can be extended for up to two years without any problems. If the employment relationship is to be extended beyond this, an objective reason is required for the new fixed term to be valid. Call emphasises in the article that the employer must present and prove the objective reason in proceedings against the fixed term in order for the fixed term to be effective. "The legal requirements are high. It has to be absolutely watertight," says Call.