{"id":635,"date":"2011-04-27T12:03:31","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T12:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/rechtsanwaltsblog\/?p=635"},"modified":"2025-12-29T07:14:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T07:14:15","slug":"arbeitsrecht-keine-rechtswidrige-kettenbefristung-wenn-ein-fruheres-arbeitsverhaltnis-mehr-als-drei-jahre-zuruckliegt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/labour-law-no-unlawful-chain-limitation-if-a-previous-employment-contract-dates-back-more-than-three-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour law: No unlawful chain limitation if a previous employment relationship dates back more than three years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Federal Labour Court, 06.04.2011, Ref.: AZR 716\/09<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pursuant to Section 14 (1) TzBfG, a fixed-term employment relationship is only permissible if it is justified by an objective reason.<\/p>\n<p>For reasons of legal certainty, Section 14 (1) sentence 2 TzBfG lists these objective reasons enumeratively:<\/p>\n<p>- The operational need for the work performance is only temporary<\/p>\n<p>- The time limit is set following training or studies in order to facilitate the employee's transition to subsequent employment.<\/p>\n<p>- The employee is employed to deputise for another employee.<\/p>\n<p>- The nature of the work justifies the time limit.<\/p>\n<p>- The time limit is for testing purposes.<\/p>\n<p>- Reasons relating to the person of the employee justify the time limit.<\/p>\n<p>- The employee is remunerated from budget funds that are intended for temporary employment under budgetary law and is employed accordingly<\/p>\n<p>- The time limit is based on a court settlement.<\/p>\n<p>The list in Section 14 (1) TzBfG is not exhaustive in this respect, so that other objective reasons are also conceivable which justify the limitation of an employment relationship.<\/p>\n<p>If there is no objective reason, a fixed-term employment contract is only permitted up to a total duration of two years in accordance with Section 14 (2) sentence 1 TzBfG and within this two-year maximum duration, the fixed-term employment contract may be extended a maximum of three times.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, a fixed term without objective reason is excluded in accordance with Section 14 (2) sentence 2 TzBfG if a fixed-term or permanent employment relationship has already existed with the same employer.<\/p>\n<p>In a new ruling by the Federal Labour Court, it has now addressed the question of whether a fixed-term employment relationship without objective grounds is possible if a previous employment relationship with the same employer dates back more than three years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Facts<\/strong>The plaintiff was employed as a student assistant for the Free State of Bavaria for a total of 50 hours during her studies from 1 November 1999 to 31 January 2000.<\/p>\n<p>6 years later, she concluded a fixed-term employment contract with the defendant Free State from 1 August 2006 to 31 July 2008 as a teacher. In her complaint, the plaintiff objected to the fixed-term contract, arguing that she had already had an employment relationship with the Free State during her studies, so that Section 14 (2) sentence 2 TzBfG precluded a fixed-term contract.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Federal Labour Court<\/strong>The BAG dismissed the action as unfounded, as did all lower courts. The plaintiff's previous employment dating back more than six years did not preclude the factual limitation of her employment contract.<\/p>\n<p>According to the BAG, \"previous employment\" within the meaning of Section 14 para. 2 sentence 2 TzBfG does not exist if the previous employment relationship dates back more than three years. This follows from the constitutional interpretation of Section 14 (2) sentence 2 TzBfG based on its meaning and purpose.<\/p>\n<p>This is because the application of the regulation is only justified to the extent that this is necessary to prevent chains of fixed-term contracts and is therefore typically not necessary in the case of previous employment dating back a long time.<\/p>\n<p>This is because the risk of abusive chains of fixed-term contracts generally no longer exists if there are more than three years between the end of the previous employment relationship and the new employment contract with an unfounded fixed term.<\/p>\n<p>This period also corresponds to the legislator's judgement, which is expressed in the regular limitation period under civil law.<\/p>\n<p>Source: Federal Labor Court<\/p>\n<p><b>Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, due to the complexity and constant evolution of the subject matter, we must exclude liability and warranty.<\/b> Important Notice: The content of this article has been created to the best of our knowledge and understanding. However, due to the complexity and constant changes in the subject matter, we must exclude any liability and warranty.<\/p>\n<p>If you need legal advice, feel free to call us at 0221 \u2013 80187670 or email us at info@mth-partner.de.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/services\/employment-and-labour-law\/\">Lawyers in Cologne advise nationwide on labour law.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Younger people and career starters are often confronted with the fact that they are only offered fixed-term contracts. With such contracts, the employer can plan its budget better and does not commit itself in the long term. However, a fixed-term contract instead of a permanent contract is not permitted to a certain extent.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3646],"tags":[2186,2188],"class_list":["post-635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-befristungen","tag-rechtsanwalt-koeln-betriebsbedingte-kuendigung","tag-rechtsanwalt-koeln-personenbedingte-kuendigung"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Arbeitsrecht: Keine rechtswidrige Kettenbefristung, wenn ein fr\u00fcheres Arbeitsverh\u00e4ltnis mehr als drei Jahre zur\u00fcckliegt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gem. \u00a7 14 Abs. 1 TzBfG ist eine Befristung eines Arbeitsverh\u00e4ltnisses nur dann zul\u00e4ssig, wenn sie durch 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