Discrimination help

If you experience discrimination at work, you normally have two months to put a claim for damages or compensation in writing. A separate three-month deadline applies to filing a court claim for non-financial harm after you make that written claim. The General Equal Treatment Act (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz) sets these rules. Seek legal help promptly; counselling does not replace either step.

In short

• Normally put an employment claim for material damages (Schadensersatz) or compensation for non-financial harm (Entschädigung) in writing within two months, unless a collective agreement says otherwise. For an application or promotion, receipt of the rejection is the earliest possible start; the deadline also depends on when you knew facts that can give rise to a presumption of a link to a protected ground. If you already know those facts, do not wait for more evidence about that ground: it does not automatically restart the deadline. Another protected ground may have a different start date. Seek advice promptly about the dates.
• For an employment compensation claim for non-financial harm (Entschädigung), section 61b of the Labour Courts Act adds a separate court deadline: bring the action within three months after asserting the claim in writing. Do not wait for the employer’s reply before getting legal help.
• Make a claim under section 21 within two months as well. That section does not require writing. A late claim is possible only if you missed the deadline without fault.
• The Act covers disadvantage on grounds of race or ethnic origin, sex, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual identity. A breach does not by itself create a right to be hired, trained, or promoted.
• You can ask the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency for counselling. Contacting it is not a demand to the employer or a court filing. Do not assume it preserves either deadline.
• A government bill would extend the two-month periods in sections 15(4) and 21(5) to four months. It is not law. Until a statute says otherwise, two months is the safe rule. The three-month court deadline in section 61b is unchanged.

What you need to know

Section 1 says the purpose of the Act is to prevent or remove disadvantages on grounds of race or ethnic origin, sex, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual identity.

Section 15 applies when the ban on disadvantage in employment is breached. The employer must compensate the resulting damage, unless the employer is not responsible for the breach. For harm that is not financial loss, the employee can claim appropriate compensation in money. If the person was not hired, that compensation must not exceed three months’ salary where the person would not have been hired even if the selection had been free of disadvantage.

A claim under section 15(1) or (2) must be asserted in writing within two months, unless the parties to a collective agreement have agreed otherwise.

For an application or promotion, receipt of the rejection is the earliest possible start. The Federal Labour Court says the period also requires knowledge of facts that can give rise to a presumption of a link between the disadvantage and a protected ground. The timing can differ for another protected ground. Further evidence about a ground already known does not automatically start a new period.

For other disadvantages, the statute refers to when the employee learns of the disadvantage, with the same knowledge requirement. Seek prompt advice on your own dates. A breach does not by itself create a right to be hired, trained, or promoted, unless another legal ground gives that right.

For the employment compensation action for non-financial harm, section 61b(1) of the Labour Courts Act requires filing at the labour court within three months after the claim was asserted in writing. This court clock does not replace the initial two-month assertion period. Get advice on the claim, form, receipt and court filing as soon as possible. Waiting for counselling or a settlement discussion is not a court filing.

Section 21 applies outside that employment claim, where the Act’s ban is breached in the civil-law situations the Act covers. The person can demand that the impairment be removed and, where further impairments are likely, can sue for an injunction. The other party must compensate the damage unless that party is not responsible. For non-financial harm, appropriate money compensation can be claimed.

A claim under section 21(1) or (2) must be asserted within two months. After that, it can be asserted only if the person missed the deadline without fault. The section does not say the two-month civil claim must be in writing. The employment claim in section 15 does.

Section 19(5) limits that civil-law protection for housing. The rules of that part of the Act do not apply where the contract creates a special relationship of closeness or trust between the parties or their relatives. For a tenancy, that can in particular be so when the parties or their relatives use housing on the same plot of land.

Letting housing for more than a temporary stay is generally not a mass transaction under section 19(1) No. 1 if the landlord lets no more than 50 apartments in total. That limit does not remove the ban on disadvantage because of race or ethnic origin in section 19(2).

The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency says it works on the basis of the Act. It says that in 2006 the Act introduced protection against disadvantage on the grounds above, in working life and in parts of civil law. The agency says it can inform people about claims under the Act, point out legal options within the statutory rules, arrange counselling by other bodies, and seek an amicable settlement.

Where a commissioner of the Bundestag or the Federal Government is competent, it forwards the matter promptly if the person consents. It is not the employer, and it is not the court that hears a late claim. Official-letter deadlines on another page are a different statute.

What to do

1. Write down the ground in section 1 that you believe applies, and whether the event was work or another civil-law situation the Act covers.
2. For an employment damages or compensation claim, normally assert it to the employer in writing within two months. The Federal Labour Court says text form is enough: a qualifying email or fax can be used. Name yourself, describe the incident and the protected ground you believe applies, and clearly demand compensation or damages. Make sure the claim reaches the employer in time and keep evidence of receipt. Record when you received any rejection and when you learned facts that can give rise to a presumption of a link to a protected ground. If you already know such facts, do not wait for more evidence about that ground or assume it restarts the clock. Ask for urgent labour-law advice.
3. Record a separate deadline for an employment compensation action for non-financial harm: three months after the written assertion under section 61b. Seek labour-law advice promptly or ask the competent labour court’s Rechtsantragstelle about filing. Do not wait for the employer or a counselling service to reply before protecting the court deadline.
4. For a claim under section 21, assert it within two months as well. That civil-law route is separate from the employment court clock. Keep evidence of what you asserted and when it reached the other party.
5. You can ask the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency for counselling and referrals. It is not the labour court. Contacting it alone does not assert the claim to the employer or file a court action.

Common mistakes

• Treating the employment and civil-law rules as the same. Section 15 requires writing. Section 21 states a two-month period and an exception if you missed it without fault.
• Expecting the Act to force the employer to hire you. Section 15(6) says a breach does not by itself create that right.
• Treating counselling as a court filing. The agency describes information, referral, and settlement.