Employment

Consulting focus

• Labor law

  In the area of “classic” labor law, we advise on all individual and collective law issues and represent our clients in all instances. We are represented at 16 locations in Germany and are therefore always on site with you when personal exchange is required. Our offer is completed by our international network of selected law firms, with whose support we can meet the challenges of our clients with solutions from a single source.

• Supervision of staff reduction measures

  We guide our clients through the complex procedures required for major staff reduction measures in a legally secure manner. In particular, we negotiate reconciliations of interests and social compensation plans with the works council, provide support in filing mass layoff notices and accompany the implementation of transfer companies. As a LegalTech market leader, we use unique software tools that allow us, for example, to optimize social selection.

• Company pension scheme

  Pension obligations – whether employee- or employer-funded – require sustainable and efficient management of costs and risks. A frequent challenge for necessary optimization measures is the complexity of the company’s own supply systems as well as the legal requirements for a secure design. As a provider-neutral legal advisor, we bring our many years of experience and expertise in occupational pensions to bear in developing customized and legally secure strategies and solutions for all of our clients’ pension issues. We provide all-round advice on occupational pension schemes – from the introduction and implementation to the restructuring or settlement of pension commitments. If necessary, further experts from the KPMG Pension Network are consulted on tax, accounting or actuarial issues. We accompany our clients through all the necessary steps, from analyzing the status, communicating with the works council and pension beneficiaries, and of course we also represent them in any legal proceedings.

• Operational and corporate co-determination

  One focus of our activities is the structuring of corporate co-determination, not only in the context of the reorganization of corporate groups. For example, we have already assisted a large number of companies on their way to becoming a European Company (SE). When it comes to co-determination at the workplace, we help our clients to open up and use the scope for design in a creative and legally secure manner.

• Third-party personnel assignments and employee leasing

  The use of external staff has become a necessity for many companies because urgently needed personnel resources, for example in the IT area, are not available elsewhere. The risks associated with the use of external personnel (keyword: bogus self-employment) are often accepted. On the other hand, there are the social security authorities, which check the use of external personnel with ever-increasing effort. We support companies in structuring the deployment of external staff in a legally compliant manner – for this purpose, we have developed a tool together with our colleagues from KPMG Lighthouse that also documents this securely.

• Managing director and board topics

  We advise shareholders and supervisory board members on all issues concerning the employment relationships of managing directors and board members. This ranges from the drafting of service contracts and the structuring of compensation models to support in the termination of employment relationships.

• Global Immigration Services

  Compliance with residence regulations when deploying employees in Germany or abroad is an important aspect of labor law compliance – not least because of a large number of national regulations and sometimes severe penalties. We advise on visa requirements and handle applications for work and residence permits worldwide. We use the KPMG Immigration Manager, an efficient IT tool to support our services.

  A special focus of our advice is the topic of US immigration: Here we can support you with a German-speaking team of US lawyers and with special expertise directly from Germany. Thus, we advise you not only on obtaining visas, but also on residence law issues in connection with business start-ups and other complex projects in the USA. In this way, we ensure that consulting is provided with an integrated perspective and from a single source.

  Further information on the topic of “Mobile Working Abroad” can be found on the
  page of our cooperation partner KPMG International Limited.
  

• International personnel assignments

  Cross-border employee assignments – whether longer-term secondments, project assignments or international business trips – are now part of everyday corporate life. However, this gives rise to a number of labor law issues, many of which are inevitably related to tax and social security law. We support you in designing suitable contractual structures and drafting secondment agreements, suspension agreements as well as local employment contracts. This is also done in accordance with specific posting guidelines within the company. A particular focus of our work is advising on tax and social security interface issues and on the consideration of residence law requirements.

• Re- and restructuring

  We provide comprehensive support for reorganizations and restructurings, from the planning phase to implementation, including negotiations with the works council and trade unions.

• Public service and civil service law

  For many years, we have successfully represented the public sector in all legal matters, including, of course, civil service law (including disciplinary law) and public employment law. We have made advising on this special matter and its often underestimated legal challenges one of our main areas of activity and advise the public sector with a team of specialists in the special features of the public sector.