Monthly Dose of Germany: March 2026

Authors: Klaus Gresbrand and Susanne Schenk

How compliance teams get the most out of their organization’s CLM systems – a checklist for turning your CLM into a compliance management system you never knew you had

In today’s increasingly complex regulatory landscape, compliance departments face mounting pressure to manage diverse legal obligations across multiple domains – from GDPR and data protection to anti-bribery regulations, sanctions, and industry-specific requirements. Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems offer a powerful solution to these challenges, but only when they’re designed correctly and with meaningful compliance involvement.

Authors: Dr. Lars Hinrichs, Elisa Ultsch, Leonie Scharwächter and Katja Sartori-Röthke

Our Monthly Dose of Employment Law on current case law deals in the first issue of 2026 with the following decisions:

(1) European Court of Justice (ECJ) dated 11 November 2025 (C-19/23) on the partial invalidity of the Minimum Wage Directive (Directive 2022/2041),

(2) German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) dated 29 September 2025 (2 BvR 934/19) concerning the admissibility of requiring church membership for employment with a church employer,

(3) German Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) dated 15 July 2025 (9 AZR 198/24) concerning the entitlement to compensation for leave following long-term illness and subsequent termination of employment,

(4) Higher Labour Court (Landesarbeitsgericht, LAG) Rhineland-Palatinate dated 2 September 2025 (4 SLa 200/24) on the scope of dismissal protection under the German Dismissal Protection Act (Kündigungsschutzgesetz, KSchG) in cross-border employment structures,

(5) LAG Hamm dated 11 September 2025 (13 SLa 316/25) on the (non-)expiry of additional leave under collective agreements during a ban on employment and during maternity leave and parental leave.

Authors: Dr. Söntje Julia Hilberg and Dr. Till Contzen

The KRITIS Umbrella Act (KRITIS-DachG), approved by the Bundesrat on March 6, 2026, marks a milestone in German security law. Germany is thereby implementing EU Directive (EU) 2022/2557 on the resilience of critical entities (CER Directive). For the first time, the KRITIS-DachG establishes a cross-sectoral framework for the physical and organizational protection of critical facilities against all hazards such as natural disasters, technical failures, sabotage, or terrorist attacks. Additionally, the act lays the foundation for a new national KRITIS resilience strategy, which will replace the outdated 2009 strategy and serve as the guideline for protective measures, risk assessments, and coordination between the federal government, states (Bundesländer), and operators.

Article by: Daniel Kai Fischer and Matthias Meinert

The Location Promotion Act (Standortfördergesetz, StoFöG) aims to mobilise private capital, facilitate the financing of young, growth oriented companies and strengthen Germany as a financial centre. Its core mechanism is a coordinated set of amendments to the German Investment Tax Act (Investmentsteuergesetz, InvStG) and the German Capital Investment Code (Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch, KAGB), designed to enable investment funds to invest in infrastructure and renewable energy within a legally secure framework. The Act also contains supplementary amendments to the German Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG). The StoFöG was published in the Federal Law Gazette on 9 February 2026 and its key provisions entered into force on 10 February 2026.

Article by: Dr. Mathias Hanten, David Gaida, Franz Schlothofer and Gerhard Dengl

The implementation of the Pay Transparency Directive (Directive 2023/970/EU, EUPTD) into German law is still pending, with a first draft of the German implementation law expected in the first quarter of 2026. The Commission appointed by the German Federal Government to implement the EUPTD into German law with as little bureaucracy as possible published its final report dated 24 October 2025 on 7 November 2025. This Client Alert summarises the key findings from the final report for the further legislative process.