EMPLOYMENT LAW NUREMBERG

Employment Law in Nuremberg for Employers

As an employer you are facing a dismissal, planning a restructuring or defending a claim before the Nuremberg Labour Court (Arbeitsgericht Nürnberg). Karina Malancea, a specialist lawyer for employment law (Fachanwältin für Arbeitsrecht), and her team act for companies only, out of court and in litigation.

We Act for Employers, Not the Other Side

In employment matters we advise one side only: the employer. We do not act for employees. This is a deliberate choice, not a gap in what we offer. It stops us from defending a company against a dismissal today and helping an employee challenge such a dismissal tomorrow. For you as a client, the firm's full expertise is therefore on your side of the employment relationship.

We look after mid-sized regional companies as well as international groups with a site or subsidiary in Nuremberg. Our work ranges from day-to-day advice through the drafting of employment contracts to representation in dismissal protection proceedings. Our page on employment law for employers shows how far this practice reaches.

At our Leipziger Platz office, employment law is one of several fields we cover locally. The page on our commercial law firm in Nuremberg sets out which ones.

Dismissal Protection Proceedings at the Nuremberg Labour Court

When a dismissed employee files an unfair dismissal claim (Kündigungsschutzklage), the case follows a set sequence at the labour court. Knowing the stages and their deadlines means you enter every hearing better prepared.

THREE-WEEK DEADLINE UNDER SECTION 4 KSCHG

The employee has three weeks from receipt of the written dismissal to file a claim. This is a cut-off period: if it passes unused, the dismissal is treated as valid from the outset. For you as the employer, the leverage therefore lies in delivery. Once you can prove the dismissal was served, the expiry of the period brings certainty.

CONCILIATION HEARING

The court first sets a conciliation hearing (Gütetermin), usually two to four weeks after the claim is filed. The presiding judge alone explores a settlement, often covering the leaving date, release from duties, the reference and severance. Whether the separation succeeds here on workable terms or the dispute continues comes down to your negotiating line, which we agree with you in advance.

HEARING BEFORE THE FULL CHAMBER

If conciliation produces no result, the hearing before the full chamber (Kammertermin) decides the case. The presiding judge now sits with two lay judges and examines whether the grounds for dismissal hold and whether the social selection (Sozialauswahl) is sound. What the business has documented pays off here: we present the grounds and support them with records and witnesses.

WORKS COUNCIL CONSULTATION UNDER SECTION 102 BETRVG

The costliest mistake often happens before the case even starts. Where a works council (Betriebsrat) exists, you must consult it before every dismissal: one week before an ordinary dismissal, three days before an extraordinary one. If the consultation is missing or incomplete, the dismissal is invalid, however good the reason may be. We carry out the consultation before the notice goes out.

APPEAL TO THE REGIONAL LABOUR COURT

An appeal against the labour court's judgment lies to the Regional Labour Court (Landesarbeitsgericht Nürnberg), which sits in the same building at Roonstraße 20. You cannot appear there yourself: representation by a lawyer is mandatory. We run the matter at both levels of the labour court, without you having to change firms.

Restructuring and Mass Dismissals

As soon as you reduce headcount on a larger scale, the individual dismissal is no longer enough. A mass dismissal notification under Section 17 of the Dismissal Protection Act (KSchG) is added. It goes to the employment agency for the business location. For Nuremberg operations, that is the Nuremberg employment agency (Agentur für Arbeit Nürnberg). Whether the notification becomes necessary depends on the size of the business: in operations with 60 to 499 employees the duty applies once you dismiss at least 10 percent of the workforce, or more than 25 people, within 30 calendar days.

The notification is accompanied by a copy of the information given to the works council. If a formal error slips into this procedure, the dismissals already issued are invalid and the reduction starts again from the beginning. We therefore align the reconciliation of interests, social plan, works council consultation and mass dismissal notification in timing and content, so that the workforce reduction holds up in the end.

Karina Malancea: Employment Law Specialist in Nuremberg

Karina Malancea is a lawyer and has held the title of specialist lawyer for employment law (Fachanwältin für Arbeitsrecht) since 2024. She studied at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, with an employment law focus from the outset. She drafts the contracts companies use to manage their workforce and guides them through reorganisations. When a dispute arises, she represents the same clients before the labour court.

Alongside German and English, she advises in Romanian and is therefore a direct point of contact for Romanian-speaking clients. Where contentious proceedings are on the horizon, she works with Daniel Gößling, who leads our litigation and arbitration practice.

International Employers and Workforce Deployment

A large part of our employer work has an international dimension: a foreign parent company, secondments abroad or employment across borders. For you, this means that a second legal system often sits alongside German employment law.

We handle these intersections, from international workforce deployment to employer of record, together with our core employment practice. That way you get both legal systems covered by one firm, instead of coordinating between several advisers.

Our full employment law practice for employers →

Frequently Asked Questions from Employers

When does general dismissal protection apply in a business?

The Dismissal Protection Act (Kündigungsschutzgesetz) applies where you regularly employ more than ten people and the employment has lasted longer than six months. From that point, an ordinary dismissal requires a recognised reason, whether personal, conduct-related or based on operational needs. If you stay below this threshold, you have more room to act, which we map out precisely for your case.

What deadline applies to an unfair dismissal claim?

The deadline runs against the employee, not against you. They have three weeks from receipt of the written dismissal to file an unfair dismissal claim (Kündigungsschutzklage). If they let it pass, the dismissal becomes valid. What matters for you is that the receipt and timing of the dismissal are documented without gaps. That is exactly what we work on before the dismissal is issued.

Do I have to consult the works council before every dismissal?

Yes. As soon as a works council (Betriebsrat) exists, you must consult it before every dismissal under Section 102 of the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG). For an ordinary dismissal it has one week to respond, for an extraordinary one three days. If the consultation is missing or flawed, the dismissal is invalid, however justified the underlying reason may be.

When do I have to notify a mass dismissal?

Whether you have to notify follows Section 17 of the Dismissal Protection Act (KSchG) and the size of the business. In operations with 60 to 499 employees the duty applies once you dismiss at least 10 percent of the workforce, or more than 25 people, within 30 calendar days. The notification goes to the Nuremberg employment agency (Agentur für Arbeit Nürnberg). If something goes wrong here, the dismissals are invalid, which is why we coordinate the procedure closely.

Do you also represent employees?

No, we act for employers only. For you as a company that is an advantage: we run into no conflict of interest and advise you without ever acting for the other side. For the same reason, we cannot take on enquiries from employees.

Preparing a dismissal or restructuring, or already facing a claim?

Talk to us before the deadlines start to run. In a first conversation we assess your position and tell you what matters in the next steps.

Karina Malancea

Employment Law Specialist

Get in touch

Articles on Employment Law for Employers

The Works Council in Germany 6 July 2026
Dismissals in Germany: why they are more expensive and slower than foreign employers expect 18 June 2026
Employer of Record in Germany: What Is Actually Legal 19 March 2026
Employee Secondment From Germany 27 January 2026