HR Regulatory Radar

Directive (EU) 2023/970 should have been transposed by 7 June 2026. In June 2026, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs announced that the implementing legislation would not be introduced until 2027. No draft was available by summer. Since 8 June 2026, courts must interpret national law in conformity with the directive, and for public employers, the directive applies directly. On 23 October 2025 (8 AZR 300/24), the Federal Labour Court allowed a 'pair comparison': a better-paid comparator person is sufficient to presume discrimination.

What needs to be done now: build job architecture and job evaluation, calculate pay gaps per group, document salary bands and criteria. Those who need to report from 2027 will require the data in 2026.

Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 entered into force on 27 July 2026 and postpones obligations for high-risk systems under Annex III, which include AI systems for personnel selection, promotion, termination, task allocation and performance appraisal, until 2 December 2027. Prohibitions, including emotion recognition at the workplace, have remained in effect since 2 February 2025, and transparency obligations, including the labelling of chatbots, have applied since 2 August 2026. New prohibitions will be added on 2 December 2026. The Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) is responsible for market supervision in Germany.

What needs to be done now: conduct an AI inventory in HR systems, classify risk per use case, establish approval processes and documentation, and add AI clauses to works council agreements.

The obligation to record all working time has applied since the Federal Labour Court ruling of 13 September 2022 (1 ABR 22/21). In June 2026, a draft bill from the Federal Ministry of Labour became known: electronic recording of start, end, and duration on the day of work, staggered transition periods based on company size, permanent easements for micro-enterprises, a weekly maximum working time of an average of 48 hours instead of a daily limit. The coalition committee of July 2026 did not include the reform in its package of measures. Nothing has been decided.

What needs to be done now: introduce recording for all employees, if not already in place; select a system with the draft in mind; conclude a works council agreement on purpose, data, and evaluations.

Companies with 50 or more employees must operate an internal reporting channel. Submissions must be acknowledged within seven days, and feedback on measures given within three months. The identity of whistleblowers must be treated confidentially, and reprisals are prohibited. Fines of up to 50,000 euros are possible.

What needs to be done now: check whether the reporting channel is being used and whether complaints from other channels are processed within the same process and deadlines.

The statutory minimum wage has been 13.90 euros since 1 January 2026 and will rise to 14.60 euros on 1 January 2027. The minijob threshold is linked to the minimum wage and stands at 603 euros per month in 2026, rising to 633 euros in 2027.

What needs to be done now: review working time models for minijobs, adjust hourly wages in the lower pay bands, update the payroll system at the turn of the year.

Since 2025, for proof of essential contractual terms under the Nachweisgesetz (Proof of Employment Terms Act), text form is sufficient in most cases; exceptions apply to certain industries and when employees request written form. Applications for parental leave can be submitted in text form since May 2025. Employment references can be issued electronically with the employee's consent.

What to do now: Handle pre-boarding, contract dispatch, and absence requests digitally, adapt templates and processes in the HR system.

According to § 167 (2) SGB IX (Social Security Code, Book IX), all employees who have been unable to work for more than six weeks within a year must be offered reintegration management. Participation is voluntary, but the proper offer is mandatory and crucial in unfair dismissal proceedings.

What to do now: Automatically detect deadlines in the system, document the offer with instructions, store health data separately.

Since the Betriebsrätemodernisierungsgesetz (Works Council Modernisation Act) 2021, the involvement of an expert is considered necessary if the works council has to assess AI (§ 80 (3) BetrVG [Works Constitution Act]), and selection guidelines involving AI are subject to co-determination (§ 95 (2a) BetrVG). Case law confirms that the objective suitability of a system for monitoring is sufficient for co-determination under § 87 (1) No. 6 BetrVG. The EU Commission will conduct a consultation of social partners on algorithmic management in 2026 and intends to submit a proposal by the end of 2026.

What to do now: Supplement framework works agreements for IT systems with AI clauses and a procedure for new functions.

In 2023, the European Court of Justice declared a state regulation corresponding to § 26 BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act) to be contrary to Union law. Since then, it has been unclear whether § 26 BDSG serves as a legal basis. A dedicated employee data protection act has been discussed for years, but a legislative process has not been concluded.

What to do now: Base and document processing in the employment context on Articles 6 and 88 GDPR, properly structure works agreements as a legal basis, implement deletion concepts.