Evolving Protections Against Discrimination

Things are changing when it comes to protection against discrimination in the workplace.

Twenty years after the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) went into effect, a comprehensive reform is being discussed at the federal level. The proposed changes primarily focus on providing better protection against discrimination in the workplace. Here’s an overview of the key points:

• Longer time limits: Affected individuals will have more time to assert claims following an act of discrimination.

• Easier legal action: Enforcing the law in such cases will be simplified.

• Reform of the “church clause”: Religious communities are no longer permitted to treat employees differently based on their religious affiliation. In such cases, there must be a clear connection between faith and work going forward.

Further motions from various parliamentary groups were introduced during the first reading; these called for, among other things, improved enforcement of the law in cases of discrimination, the inclusion of grounds for discrimination such as chronic illnesses, parenthood, language, or gender identity in anti-discrimination protections, and the right to file lawsuits for the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency.

The government’s draft bill is now going through the parliamentary process, and even though the amendments to the AGG represent progress, there is still room for improvement.

We were also interested in these topics:

• The paradoxical skilled labor shortage: According to a new study by KfW, by 2026 only 21% of German companies will report a shortage of skilled workers—a figure that stood at 49.7% in 2022. However, the reason for this trend is not a growing labor force, but rather the ongoing economic weakness.

• Berlin’s capital city advantage creates jobs: An analysis by the IAB shows that Berlin is booming as a place to work. Between 1999 and 2023, the capital recorded the strongest growth nationwide among all federal states in the number of jobs subject to social security contributions. Most of these are in the service sector, ranging from IT and consulting to healthcare, education, and administration.

• Headhunting for spies: Anyone who handles sensitive information in the fields of politics, the military, and science as part of their job should be especially cautious about inquiries on LinkedIn from alleged representatives of Chinese companies, according to a warning from five intelligence agencies.

This text first appeared as an editorial in the weekly politjobs newsletter. If you’d like to receive this newsletter with the latest jobs in the political arena directly by email every Wednesday, you can here subscribe to it.