Pseudo self-employment: When are “freelancers” employees after all? 

Bogus self-employment is a recurring issue for companies that employ freelancers and for freelancers themselves. And yet both sides tend to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to this issue and hope that everything will work out. However, it would be better to address this problem proactively and find solutions.

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Termination without notice due to chat comments: Current labor law ruling creates clarity!

Focus on the BAG ruling from August 24, 2023

In a recent employment law case, an employee was terminated without notice after insulting, racist, sexist and violence-glorifying remarks surfaced in a chat group with colleagues. The members of the group were long-time friends and colleagues, but the employer learned of the remarks and terminated the employee.

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Workation revolution: working abroad as an unbeatable benefit!

How to inspire top talents with flexible working models and keep legal and tax aspects in focus.

In today’s working world, flexibility is becoming increasingly important, both for employers and employees. One innovative option that has emerged in recent years is workation.

Workation combines work and leisure by allowing employees to work in an attractive location abroad.

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Flat-rate payroll tax according to §37b EStG for benefits in kind  

The lump-sum wage taxation according to §37b EStG offers employers the possibility to tax certain benefits in kind to employees with a uniform tax rate of 30%.

There is a choice between taxing the benefits in kind at the employee’s individual tax rate or lump-sum taxation, in which the employer bears the amount of payroll tax alone.

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Whistleblower Protection Act & Protection against Dismissal: How the law protects whistleblowers

The Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG) is currently on everyone’s lips – after all, the legislator has managed to transpose the EU Whistleblower Directive into federal law: the Whistleblower Protection Act will come into force on July 2, 2023.

The main focus of discussion is the obligation, from a compliance point of view,

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Employment of full pensioners: what employers should know!

Employing full pensioners is a good way for employers to fill staffing gaps in times of a shortage of skilled workers and general staff shortages. In particular, the use of full pensioners is relatively uncomplicated for employers: in many respects it is no different from the use of non-pensioners, and in some cases there are even advantages.

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Tax-privileged fringe benefits: How companies can score points in the battle for satisfied employees  

Everyone is talking about a shortage of skilled workers – but what can companies do to retain good employees in the long term? In addition to a good working atmosphere, performance-related pay is of course a very important factor. However, more than half of every euro of a salary increase often goes to taxes and social security contributions.

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Vertrauensarbeitszeit Zeiterfassung

Working time recording & trust-based working time: will it still work in the future?

At the end of 2022, the German Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht – BAG) issued a landmark ruling stating that recording working hours is no longer a “can” but a “must”. Employers must – even now! – record the working hours of their employees. For new-work models based on trust-based working time,

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Federal Labor Court (BAG) ruling: Vacation is only time-barred after notice from the employer

Whether and when vacation becomes time-barred is a question that can of course also be of burning interest to employers: After all, whether their own employees are still entitled to vacation or not can become relevant above all if an employee leaves the company and in this context asserts claims for vacation compensation.

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Inflation compensation premium: what employers need to know now!  

The inflation compensation premium is currently the talk of the town. After all, it gives employees hope that they will receive a payment of up to 3,000 euros from their employer to compensate for the current rapid inflation – tax-free and free of social security contributions.

What is correct is that employers have the option of paying employees an inflation compensation bonus.

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Social security audit and external wage tax audit – what to watch out for in the future?

As part of the irregularly scheduled external wage tax audit, checks are made to see whether employers are properly paying wage tax for their employees. During the social security audit, the German Pension Insurance checks every four years, among other things, whether social security contributions have been correctly paid.

Our experience shows: The auditors are looking ever more closely and demanding more information or evidence.

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Facility-based mandatory vaccination against Corona: authorities get serious!

Since March 16, 2022, the facility-based vaccination obligation has been in effect: employers must report to the health department all employees* – including all external service providers in the company (!) – who have not been vaccinated against the Corona virus, have not recovered, or have not been vaccinated for medical reasons.

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Payroll 2022 – important changes

The new year brings a number of changes in wage tax and social security law. What do you have to bear in mind in 2022? We have summarised the relevant changes for you.

  • Increase in the minimum wage
  • Minimum remuneration for apprentices
  • Employer subsidy for deferred compensation
  • Reporting of tax identification number for marginally employed
  • Insurance status of short-term employees
  • Electronic certificate of incapacity for work
  • Tax-free remuneration in kind
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Mini-jobs – what do you have to bear in mind when employing mini-jobbers?

Hiring mini-jobbers is an interesting way for employers to cushion peak workloads, especially in times of fluctuating orders. Of course, some important organisational and verification obligations must also be observed for marginally employed workers.

Important change in 2022: Notification of the tax identification number and statutory health insurance

From January 2022,

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Flood disaster: How can employers provide assistance to affected employees?

Many employers would like to provide financial assistance to their employees who have been affected by environmental catastrophes. The following payroll tax simplifications apply to support affected individuals:

Affected employees can receive up to EUR 600 per calendar year tax-free from their employer as aid and assistance. If the aid is paid out to affected employees due to an extraordinary emergency situation,

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Corona measures: Labour law issues – and how the courts see it

Some of the Corona provisions and measures introduced by the government since the beginning of the crisis have led to interesting questions and, in some cases, to legal proceedings. In the meantime, some decisions from the first and second instance are available.

Read decisions on issues such as “Right of access to place of work”,

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Salary extras – What benefits can I pay my employees in addition to their salary?

Particularly with regard to personnel recruitment, employers can offer additional, attractive benefits that go beyond mere payment in the form of salary.

With selected salary extras, employees’ pay can be optimized through tax-privileged and social security-free benefits to achieve a higher net payout. Employers can thus reward employees for good work performance,

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Introduction of short-time work by instant notice of dismissal pending a change of contract ?

Especially in the Corona pandemic, many employers have discovered short-time work as an effective means of bridging this difficult phase. Nevertheless, short-time work cannot simply be imposed by the employer.

Rather, a legal basis is required. This can result from a collective agreement, a works agreement or the employment contract.

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Corona crisis – Working from home: Home office & Co – what rules apply?

In order to contain the corona pandemic and reduce social contacts – also in the work environment – the Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales/ German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) has issued the Corona-Arbeitsschutzverordnung/ Corona Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance (Corona-ArbSchV). This also contains regulations on home office.

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Dismissal protection proceedings: Does the employee have a duty to provide information regarding job offers?

A lawsuit by an employee against the employer to protect against dismissal is always accompanied by a high cost risk for the employer.

If it turns out at the end of the often lengthy proceedings that the termination was invalid, the employment relationship is not terminated. But what is much more serious is that the employer must pay the contractually owed remuneration,

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What are the changes in 2021?

The new year brings with it a number of changes in payroll tax and social security law. We have summarized the most relevant changes in 2021 for you here. Here are the most important facts and key data:

  • Increase in the general minimum wage
  • Elimination of solidarity surcharge
  • Electromobility: increase in monthly flat rates for charging
  • Increase of the distance allowance
  • Mobility bonus as an alternative to the distance allowance
  • Increase in relief amount for single parents
  • Contribution rates and levy rates in 2021
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No short-time work compensation without German company headquarters?

Recently, there has been an increasing number of inquiries from concerned clients who employ employees in Germany subject to social security contributions but do not have a registered office in Germany.

This is usually due to notifications from the German Employment Agency which, referring to the lack of a company seat in Germany,

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What changes in short-time work and short-time allowance?

We have summarized all the changes in short-time working and short-time allowance for you. This applies in detail:

  • the increase in the short-time working allowance
  • the new rules for new mini-jobs during short-time work in the main job
  • a summary of the recording obligation for marginally employed and short-term workers

You can find all details here.

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