Der Betriebsrat. A German works council must be heard before any dismissal, and the employer must give it the reasons. A dismissal issued without that consultation is void. Not contestable — void.
law
No reminder needed when the date was agreed
German law normally requires the creditor to send a reminder before the debtor is formally in default. But where the parties have fixed a performance date by the calendar, no reminder is required at all — § 286 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 BGB. Default begins the moment the date passes.
The Latin maxim is quoted in German textbooks: dies interpellat pro homine — the day admonishes in place of the man.
A German who agreed a date does not expect to be chased, and the law agrees with him.
The ordinance
German regulation is issued as a Verordnung derived from an enabling statute, which is itself derived from constitutional competence. Every rule can be traced upward to the provision that authorised it. The chain of derivation is formal and checkable.
Provisions
Rückstellungen. German firms are required to make provisions for uncertain future obligations — pensions, warranties, litigation, maintenance not yet carried out. The money is set aside against a thing that has not happened yet and may not. The obligation to reserve arises from the possibility.
Deemed acceptance
If the contractor sets a reasonable deadline and the client neither accepts nor refuses with at least one named defect, the work counts as accepted anyway — § 640 Abs. 2 BGB. The client cannot simply go quiet. Silence is a decision the statute makes for him.
Who may sign
German building applications, structural calculations, gas and electrical installations, and safety inspections must be signed by a person holding a specific qualification, entered in a specific register. The signature is not an approval of somebody else’s work. It transfers the liability to the person qualified to carry it.
Dismissal protection
Das Kündigungsschutzgesetz. Dismissal protection applies in German establishments with more than ten employees, after six months of service. From that point a dismissal requires a legally recognised ground. The employer must justify the dismissal. The burden does not sit with the employee.
Yes, but
Under German law an acceptance that departs in content from the offer is not an acceptance at all. It counts as a rejection combined with a new offer — § 150 BGB. The same applies to an acceptance that arrives too late, and a rejection extinguishes the original offer outright under § 146 BGB.
Ja, aber is legally a no. The original offer is gone, and the roles reverse — the person who made the first offer is now the one deciding.
Subsumption
German legal method teaches a formal syllogism, called Subsumtion: state the rule, establish the facts, apply the one to the other. Law students are drilled in it, and examination answers are marked on whether the structure was followed. Deduction is taught as a procedure with a name.
The conciliation board
Die Einigungsstelle. Where a German employer and works council cannot agree on a matter subject to co-determination, either may call a conciliation board — an equal panel with a neutral chair whose decision binds. The deadlock has a named institution attached to it, and using it is normal rather than hostile.