Temporary employment once, entitlement to a permanent job thereafter

Of course, many employers assume that they will be able to offer temporary employment to a former employee after these three years, without this employee being entitled to a permanent job. However, a recent judgment delivered by the Bundesverfassungsgericht, the German Supreme Court, now stipulates that temporary employment contracts between the same contracting parties without stating factual reasons are allowed only once, which means that every further employment relationship of such nature on a temporary basis with the same employer is prohibited by law.

In principle, this is in conformity with the constitutional guidelines, as the government is obliged to protect employees as structurally weaker partners in the employment relationship, to prevent such chain agreements, and to ensure that regular permanent jobs remain the standard. However, this only applies insofar as, measured by the nature and scope of the previous employment, employees actually have to be protected against chain agreements and the principle of permanent employment as a standard is called into question. Employers that applied the supposedly correct principles in the past and are still applying them today should pay proper attention to any impact that this fundamental judgment of the highest German judicial authority may have on them.