Update on antitrust law – Extension of examination period for merger control and cooperation between competitors in times of the corona pandemic

1.         Merger control – in the case of mergers, extended examination periods may have to be observed

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the German government intends to extend the examination periods for merges which are subject to merger control.

CONTENT

• New exceptions in working time law
• New occupational safety standards
• Working in the home office | Checklist
• Increase in short-time work compen-sation | FAQ Short-time work
• Collective agreement COVID in the public sector
• Webinar: ZL Employer Breakfast

The new Section 14 para. 4 of the Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz – ArbZG), which was inserted with the statutory social protection package (Act to facilitate access to social security and to the deployment and protection of social service providers on account of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2e), authorises the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to issue statutory ordinances in order to permit uniform nationwide exemptions from the requirements of working hours legislation. Based on this, the COVID-19 Working Hours Regulation was issued on 07 April, 2020. This regulation provides the following essential regulations, initially limited until 31 July, 2020:

On 16 April 2020, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales – BMAS) published concrete uniform safety standards for working during the corona (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Below we summarize the practical significance for employers and the main measures taken:

As the restrictions to contain the corona pandemic will continue to be eased only in small steps, the coalition partners decided on 22 April 2020 to adopt some new measures to mitigate the social and economic consequences of the corona crisis.

In particular, these include an increase in short-time work allowance after a certain period of entitlement. With regard to the first three months of short-time work, the existing short-time allowance rates remain unchanged. The increase will take effect from the 4th month of short-time working compensation and is subject to the condition that at least 50% of regular working hours are lost. In this case, the short-time working allowance increases to 70% (or 77% for employees with children) of the net remuneration difference, i.e. the difference between the flat-rate net remuneration from the target remuneration (contractual remuneration without short-time working) and the flat-rate net remuneration from the actual remuneration (remuneration reduced as a result of short-time working). From the 7th month of receiving reduced hours compensation, this then increases to 80% (or 87% for employees with children) of the net remuneration difference. As things stand at present, an increase in short-time working compensation will be granted until 31 December 2020 at the latest.

In the past few weeks, further prerequisites for the protection and safeguarding of employers and employees in the coronavirus pandemic were created at federal level. In the following we summarize the current developments for you:

Enabling home office quickly during the corona epidemic is right and necessary. However, the issues and risks associated with the establishment or arrangement of remote working must be kept in mind. Necessary measures to be taken include ensuring compliance with data protection regulations, guaranteeing the confidentiality of know-how and business secrets, as well as IT security. Codetermination of the works council might also be required in some cases. Once working from home has been set up technically and physically, and thus the ability to work is guaranteed, you should not fail to follow up with the legal framework.

On 25 March, 2020 the Bundestag passed the law to protect the population in the event of an epidemic situation of national importance. In addition to creating a far-reaching power of authorization for the Federal Ministry of Health and Care in the event of the occurrence of an epidemic situation of national importance, the legislator has extended the compensation claims provided for by the Protection against Infection Act (IfSG) in favour of working persons with custody.

The following explanations are of course neither to be understood as conclusive nor as generally valid. In particular, a different assessment may be required on the basis of the applicable employment contract, company and collective bargaining regulations as well as personal, company and other circumstances.

The following explanations are of course neither to be understood as conclusive nor as generally valid. In particular, a different assessment may be required on the basis of the applicable employment contract, company and collective bargaining regulations as well as personal, company and other circumstances.