Hi all,

This is an important piece/s of information I would like to know since my knowledge is a bit limited here.

My wife is working in a US based company which is only registered with the german goverment but it does not have a 'niederlassung' or a registered address for a office here in Germany.

therefore howare the german work laws applicable here ??

-Is she capable to take mutterschafts urlab.. is she protected by the german law where she can take 3 years of leave from here present job to stay at home and take care of the child.

-Is she protected under the german law where if she tells her employer that she intends to take elternzeit ... the company will not fire her... you know how fragile us economy nowdays is ..!!

She pays the renteversicherung, arbeitslosgeld etc etc from her monthly salary.

Thanks in Advance.

Please folks someone help me here or atleast tell me whom can i contact to clarify the above doubts ..

much appreciated !!

Is it possible that a company does not have any address?

All companies here register their address in the Trader registry.

hi stutt,

thats the thing which is baffling me ... since all the formalities and taxes are paid as per german laws ...only that the company doesnt have a registered 'niederlassung' address in Germany...but yes has a registred office in UK.. is the company obliged to follow german rules ???

Please advice ..

Hi,

if the head office of the company is outside Germany, which means that all decisions are made out side and there is no special accounting here in Germany, the foreign company ( UK Limited or US Corporation or any other ) can have a dependent office (unselbständige Zweigniederlassung) in Germany. This branch will get a tax number and a 'Betriebsnummer' but it is not registered in the Trade Registry (Handelsregister).

But for the employees German laws are effective!

Detlef

Thanks Detlef ,

Now i get a better understanding of this whole thing and also the new thing that we experienced is that the company contribution of the taxes have to be made by the employee itself and the 'salary acccouting' company do not have any rights to do it by themselved on behalf of the employee..

Do we get any special tax benefits etc for this !!

No, no!

Please do not get me wrong. The company is still responsible for deducting the social contributions and the salary taxes and for paying it.

And the company needs at least a German address for the dependent branch. They can pay everything form the head office but they are still responsiblle for the payments.

This can be the problem if they are not working correctly, because the German authorties might catch the employee in Germany for payments because it is to difficult to get the foreign company to the law court. But you should discuss this with a tax adviser for your individual case. I could be wrong ;-) and we are talking about money, maybe lots of money.

Good luck
Detlef

What will happen if the company closes its German office during elternzeit?

@Unnithan

so what is Elterzeit?

what is that you are exactly afraid of or want to know? Be specific and dont confuse between Elterngeld and Mutterschutz

hi Raj,

What he ,is asking is that if the german branch closes and the lady is in elternzeit then how is the situation handled??

A very valid point ... is there some compensation or what ?

There is a distinction between the law applicable to foreign companies as such and the question of which law is applicable to an employment contract with a foreign company.
First, the parties are free to choose the applicable law in the employment contract itself. Compulsive provisions protecting the employee in the country where one actually works, though, or other certain provisions that are mandatory cannot be derogated by such a choice of law. Those provisions remain effective even though foreign law has actually been chosen. The one thousand euro question then is which laws are affected. On first analysis, this is the case regarding the provisions protecting the mother during pregnancy under German law i.e. the prohibition of work six weeks before and eight weeks after child birth (so called “Mutterschaftsurlaub”) and protection of dismissal on the occasion of pregnancy. The whole provisions regarding “Elternzeit”, i.e allowing the parent to pause his or her work for a certain period of time without pay, however, do not seem, at least on a rough first glance, to belong to this category of laws.

Rechtsanwalt_Jain@yahoo.de

thanks Vakalat.. for the detailed explanation and as the chain was opened to search my answer .... do i conclude or can summarise in simple words that whatever is the situation of the german branch of the company ...both the mutterschutz and Elternzeit are enforced on the company as per German laws .

am i right?

@Vakalat

Am i eligible for the NE for Hochqualifizierte if i work for a branch office of a foreign company by the new rule if my salary exceeds 64.800.

To brief me about my situation, I work for an Indian company having its niederlassung in Germany. We dont have HRB registration but registered in the Gewerbeamt.

My salary has been revised from Jan 09 and I have more than 64.800 now. Shall i apply showing this as a proof or should i wait 1 year to get the 64.800 and apply. ABH is stuttgart.

Your reply is highly appreciated.

Prlamun

Just drop into the Foreign office and say you want to apply for NE with the new rule. They maybe able to guide you better.