Digital employment agreements are now possible
Within the framework of the Bureaucracy Reduction Act IV (Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz IV, BEG IV), amendments were also made to the Act on the Notification of Conditions Governing an Employment Relationship (Nachweisgesetz, NachweisG) and these took effect on 1.1.2025. Consequently, the path to digital employment agreements has now been cleared. Those involved should however be acquainted with the requirements that need to be satisfied and take account of the exceptions.
Amendments to the NachwG enable electronic text form
Until 31.12.2024, employment agreements and their key terms and conditions could only be concluded in writing, thus in paper form, because of the written form requirement under Section 2(1) sentence 3 NachwG. The electronic format, also referred to as the text form, was explicitly excluded. Since 1.1.2025, employment agreements can now be concluded digitally via e-mail.
The aim of the amendments in Section 2 sentence 2 NachwG is to facilitate the conclusion of employment agreements. With immediate effect, the key terms and conditions of an agreement can be drawn up in text form within the meaning of Section126b of the German Civil Code and thus electronically. Nevertheless, the following prerequisites must be observed for the transmission: the document that is transmitted must
- be accessible to the employee,
- be a document that can be stored and printed out, and
- include a request from the employer for the employee to acknowledge receipt.
If an employment agreement is transmitted as a PDF document, then this format would normally be accessible to the employee and it would be possible to both store it and also print it out. In order to conclude an employment agreement in text form, it is now sufficient to sign the document electronically, for example, by using DocuSign.
If, during the employment relationship, there are changes to the key terms and conditions of the agreement (such as, e.g., working time or remuneration), then these changes may also be drawn up in text form.
Exceptions in certain sectors ...
There are however areas where it is not possible to conclude a digital employment agreement and the analogue written form will still have to be used. According to Section 2(1) sentence 6 NachwG, this applies to the sectors that fall under Section 2a of the German Act to Combat Undeclared Work and Unlawful Employment.
... and in the case of fixed-term employment agreements
Furthermore, for fixed-term employment agreements the written form requirement under the rules of the Part-Time Work and Fixed-Term Contracts Act (Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz, TzBfG) will also remain in force. Only by satisfying the written form requirement will it be possible to effectively conclude a fixed-term employment agreement. However, if the employment agreement includes an age restriction, according to which the employment contract would automatically be terminated once the statutory retirement age has been reached, then in such a case the electronic format would be permitted by way of exception. This type of time limitation of an employment agreement is exempted from the written form requirement under Section 14(4) TzBfG by the relevant provision in Section 41(2) of Volume VI of the German Social Security Code.
Amendments to the Parental Allowances and Parental Leave Act (Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz, BEEG)
Besides changes to the conclusion of an employment agreement, BEG IV also provides for simplifications in the BEEG. For example, the request for parental leave pursuant to Section 16 BEEG and exercising the right to request part-time work during the period of parental leave pursuant to Section 15 BEEG can now also be made in text form. Up to now, the written form had to be complied with for both requests.
