German labor law lets the employer direct the work, but only within billiges Ermessen, fair discretion. Since a ruling in 2012, the Federal Labor Court had held that an employee must follow even an unfair instruction until a court has ruled on it.
On 14 June 2017, the court’s Tenth Senate said it would decide otherwise. An employee need not follow an unfair instruction, not even for the time being. In September 2017, the Fifth Senate gave up its earlier view.
The case was about an employee whom his employer had transferred from Dortmund to Berlin. Since 2017, employees may refuse an instruction they consider unfair. They carry a risk. If a court later finds the instruction fair, they lose their pay for the time they refused to work. Even a dismissal without notice may be upheld.