Germany: Operating a Business

Legal Forms of Companies

Types of Companies and Capital (Max/Min)	Number of Partners/Shareholders and Liability
Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung (GmbH) is a limited liability company EUR 25,000 minimum with at least half fully paid up at the creation of the company.	No minimum Liability is limited to the amount of capital contributed.
Aktiengesellschaft (AG) is a public limited company . EUR 50,000 minimum with a quarter fully paid up at the creation of the company.	No minimum Liability is limited to the amount of capital contributed.
Offene Handelsgesellschaft (OHG) is a general partnership. No minimum capital.	Minimum: 2 Their liability is joint and indefinite on the obligations and debts of the company.
Kommanditgesellschat (KG) is a limited joint-stock partnership. EUR 500	There are two types of partners, the active partners and the silent partners. The liability of the active partners is personal and indefinite. The liability of the silent partners is limited to the amount of capital contributed.

Enterprises Federation: Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V., BDI - Federation of German Industries
Search a Company or a Financial Report: Handelsregister, Common register portal of the German federal states
Ebundesanzeiger, in German

Source: Doing Business.

For Further Information: Consult Doing Business Website, to know about procedures to start a Business in Germany.
Judicial register of the federal states
Company Register
The Competent Organization: The Common register portal of the German federal states.

	2010
Labor Force	43,350,000

Source: CIA - The world factbook

Source: UN - United Nations

Opening Hours
Legal Weekly Duration: Maximum 48 hours a week.
Maximum Duration: An employee work day should not technically be more than 8 hours a day. The time schedule can be increased to 10 hours only if in the period of 6 months or 24 weeks an average of 8 hours a day has not been exceeded.
Night Hours: At least 2 hours worked between 11 pm and 6 am..

Working Rest Day: Employees are not allowed to work on Sundays and public holidays. But there are exceptions according to the branch of activity.
Paid Annual Vacation: 20 days
Retirement Age: 67 years old
Child Labor and Minimum Age For Employment: In Germany, the minimum age one can start working is 18 years old.

Minimum Wage: There is no legal minimum wage. However, some occupations have had, in practice, a minimum wage since July 2007: building work (8.40 EUR to 12.40 EUR per hour), roofing (10 EUR per hour), painting (7.15 EUR to 10.73 EUR per hour), demolition (8.80 EUR to 11.60 EUR per hour), cleaning (6.36 EUR to 7.87 EUR per hour), electricity (7.70 EUR per hour for East Germany and 9.20 EUR per hour in West Germany), caregivers since 2010, and possible future minimum wage for temporary jobs.
Average Wage: Average wage is EUR 28,000 per year, ie EUR 2,000 per month.
Other Forms of Pay
Pay For Overtime: There is no obligation, it depends on sectorial agreements and individual negotiations. Overtime may be compensated for financially or by extra days of vacation.
Pay For Rest Days Worked: To be negotiated.
Pay For Night Hours: In practice compensated for, but it depends on the sector.
Pay For Overtime at Night: According to the sector and negotiations.

The Areas Covered: Health insurance (medical care, maternity, disability, death), retirement pensions, family allowances, unemployment benefit.
Contributions: Contributions Paid By the Employer: 20.9 %
Contributions Paid By the Employee: 20.9%
Competent Organization: Invest in Germany (Information on the job market)
Ministry of Labor

Method of Recruitment: By adverts in the national press (FAZ, die Zeit), in the regional press, by head hunters (Michael Page, Manpower, Arbeitsagentur), by job centers.
Recruitment Agencies: Job centers.
Recruitment Websites: Job scout
Monster
Jobpilot
Manpower
National Daily FAZ

Type of Contract: The work contract is usually open ended with a trial period which may be up to 6 months. The contract may also be fixed term; it can be renewed 3 times maximum, and for a maximum duration of 2 years.

Breach of Contracts
Dismissals: Termination by the employer can be done under different conditions:
- Redundancy either individual or of a group
- Termination because of professional misconduct, absenteeism or end of seasonal employment
Other Possible Methods: - Because of reasons tied to the person.
Labor Laws: Labor Law
Labor Law
Law on the work hours

Cases of Dispute: Work Conditions, unfair dismissal, sexual and moral harassment, verbal violence and physical violence
Procedure: Labor law (first section), Labor law (second section)

Legal Framework: A social conflict is deemed to be present when a collective labor agreement has expired or when salary negotiations have failed. For more information, refer to the Labor law
Competent Legal Body: See the Labor law (first section and the second section)

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: Unions are strong in Germany, however, the eastern side is more union orientated than the west. The overwhelming majority of trade union members are in eight unions grouped by industry or service sector. They are affiliates of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), which counted 6.3 million members in 2009. At the company level, works councils represent the interests of workers vis-à-vis their employers.
Unionization Rate: 21%
Unions: DGB
Verdi
IG Metall
Regulation Bodies: Ministry of Agriculture
Deutscher Bauernverband
BOLW

Any Comments About This Content? Report It to Us.