German Court Rules Registered Mail Can No Longer Prove Delivery in Sick-Leave Cases
Published on 07/13/2026 at 11:45 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Employers across Germany face a new legal minefield after the Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) stripped the standard “Einwurf-Einschreiben” — a type of registered mail that is dropped into a recipient’s mailbox — of its automatic evidentiary value. The ruling, handed down on 7 May 2026 (case number 2 AZR 184/25), has deep implications for companies trying to manage long-term absenteeism through the mandatory Return-to-Work Management process known as Betriebliches Eingliederungsmanagement (bEM).
The case involved an employee who had been with the same firm since 2015 and was dismissed in December 2023 because of frequent sick days. The employer presented the delivery receipt of an Einwurf-Einschreiben as proof that it had properly invited the worker to a bEM meeting. The judges in Erfurt rejected that argument. They pointed out that under the modern scanning procedure used by the postal service, the delivery receipt is generated before the letter actually lands in the mailbox — making it an unreliable indicator of receipt. If the employee denies receiving the invitation, the employer must provide other evidence. In this instance, the company failed to do so, and the dismissal was ruled invalid.
Legal experts warn that a courier’s verbal testimony is rarely sufficient: delivery workers can seldom recall individual shipments. The judgement also forces employers to issue a fresh bEM invitation after every new period of incapacity exceeding six weeks within a single year — even if the employee ignored earlier invitations or a completed procedure took place only recently. Without that renewed attempt, any subsequent dismissal remains vulnerable to challenge. Employees who receive a termination letter have three weeks from receipt to file a protection-against-dismissal claim.
Partial Sick Leave Arrives in 2027
While the courts tighten procedural obligations, the legislature has meanwhile enacted a related reform. On 10 July 2026 the Bundestag passed the Contribution Rate Stabilisation Act (Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz), which the Bundesrat has already approved. Its centrepiece is the introduction of partial sick leave, effective 1 January 2027.
From that date, physicians will be able to certify an incapacity level of 25, 50, or 75 percent for illnesses lasting longer than four weeks — provided the employer agrees within seven days. During the first six weeks, employees receive proportional continued wage payments, followed by partial sickness benefits. The new rule does not apply to private patients or mini-jobbers.
Parental Leave Protection Sharpened
On 18 June 2026 the BAG issued another important ruling (case 2 AZR 213/25) clarifying parental leave protections. It held that the special dismissal protection arises anew before each individual period of parental leave requested — even when several leave segments are bundled into a single application. A dismissal served during the eight-week preliminary protection window before a given leave period is invalid without prior approval from the state authority.
Downside Risks: O? TelefĂłnica and Income Imputation
Against this backdrop of shifting obligations, O? Telefónica has announced a restructuring plan that will eliminate more than 1,000 jobs — roughly one in six or seven positions. The company is running a voluntary severance programme. Experts caution employees never to sign a settlement agreement without independent legal review; in the case of operational redundancies, strict rules on social selection and mass layoff notification apply.
A further point of confusion arises from a disagreement between the BAG (case 5 AZR 177/23) and the Baden-Württemberg Regional Labor Court (case 4 Sa 10/24) over how to treat earnings that an employee could have obtained after an invalid dismissal. Workers can demand back pay following an unlawful termination, but they must accept a deduction for any income they “wilfully failed to earn.” Practitioners advise clients to document every job application and job-search effort during ongoing proceedings to avoid losing compensation.
Disclaimer regarding our articles: No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Information on prices, companies, and markets is provided without guarantee; changes are possible at any time. Stock market transactions can lead to substantial losses. Our articles are created and reviewed in whole or in part automatically with the support of AI.
