News-Archive

The approval of several rapid antigen tests as well as the expected future approval of further rapid test methods provide new opportunities in the working world, but also raise some questions. By way of a government-supported appeal, the leading associations of German industry have called on companies to offer their employees weekly self-tests or rapid tests. An obligation to do so, however, currently still does not exist.

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About a year ago, the European Commission published its factsheet for a new industrial strategy for a globally competitive, environmentally friendly and digital Europe. At that time, the corona pandemic had already demonstrated that new industrial value chains are essential if Europe is to remain strategically independent and competitive.

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It was to be expected that, due to the increased use of home offices during the pandemic, the courts would also increasingly have to deal with this form of work. Not only are issues arising directly from the use of the home office, such as employees’ reimbursement claims or employers’ recall options, the home office is also increasingly finding its way into legal assessments of unfair dismissal actions, as a decision of the Labour Court [Arbeitsgericht, ArbG] of Berlin shows. However, in our first "Labour Law Focus" of 2021 we also present other interesting decisions, such as those of the Federal Labour Court [Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG] on "blank" dismissals or of the Regional Labour Court [Landesarbeitsgericht, LAG] of Düsseldorf on the reduction of holiday entitlement during short-time work. Of course, we also inform you as ever of important legal developments.

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Oppenhoff has advised Dietmar Axt, the former CEO and shareholder of Mustang, on his withdrawal from the Baden-Württemberg textile company.

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The effects of the corona pandemic are also being felt on the recruitment mar-ket. Although it appears easy to obtain personnel at first glance, unexpected hurdles seem to have become stumbling blocks for companies. Our partner Jörn Kuhn talks to Thomas Hartenfels, Director at Robert Walters, a leading international executive personnel consultant.

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Oppenhoff has advised the Canadian Hydro66 Group on the sale of a data centre complex in northern Sweden to Northern Data AG. As part of the sale, all shares in an English holding company of the Hydro66 Group were transferred, including its Swedish subsidiaries.

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Non-US companies must also be aware of US export control regulations and - to the extent permitted under EU law - comply with them. The US authorities have recently demonstrated again that, when it comes to prosecuting violations, they do not stop at national borders: The US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has sanctioned a medium-sized German aerospace company for alleged violations of Iran sanctions between September 2011 and July 2012 – in addition to imposing a fine, it also imposed a three-year export ban.

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On 10 February 2021, the Federal Cabinet agreed on a joint draft of the German Telecommunications-Telemedia Data Protection Act [Telekommunikation-Telemedien-Datenschutzgesetz, TTDSG-RegE]. The planned Act, which is to be passed shortly (the first reading in the Bundestag took place on 25 March 2021), will adapt data protection provisions from the German Telecommunications Act [Telekommunikationsgesetz, TKG] and the German Telemedia Act [Telemediengesetz, TMG] to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) as well as implement essential parts of Directive 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy Directive).

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Myriam Baars-Schilling is the new chairwomen of the law firm Oppenhoff. The 43-year-old lawyer will lead the four-member Executive Board in the future. The Oppenhoff partners also elected Dr. Jürgen Hartung as a new member of the management. Among other things, the 51-year-old IT lawyer is going to drive forward the firm’s digitisation.

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The new law addresses the enormous challenges faced by Chile in the area of energy efficiency: energy-intensive companies in particular must implement energy management systems (so-called “SGEs” [Sistemas de Gestión de Energía]), which require a great deal of equipment, technology and know-how. German and international suppliers and service providers can play a relevant role in providing this.

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