Labor law of Germany

In the field of labor law, the main labor law that regulates labor relations in Germany between the employer and the employee is being studied. The importance and fundamentality of the law, its scope and features of legal regulation regarding a particular category of employees and employers and their associations are emphasized. Particular attention is paid to the fact that German labor law is a certain part of a holistic system of civil law that regulates legal relations between employees and employers, as well as between collectives of employees (trade unions, employee representatives) and their partners regarding the emergence, change and termination of labor relations. Theoretical research is carried out taking into account the basic legal norms, the corresponding special model of legal regulation and taking into account the possible adaptation of the labor legislation of Ukraine to the standards of the European Union. It is emphasized that German labor law is, first of all, legislation that deals with the protection of workers’ rights, and which is designed to protect workers from unfair, difficult and harmful working conditions and at the same time provide them with guarantees of protection of violated labor rights together with other workers. This approach of the legislator directly creates proper protection and defense of labor rights, including a positive impact on labor relations, which are covered by associations (works councils, personnel councils, authorized representatives of employees) and through inter-company associations (trade unions). It is important that the basic rules have binding legal force in favor of the protection of employees, that is, they can be canceled or limited by contractual agreements, although the principle of freedom of contract is also widely applied, and, nevertheless, typical for the norms of German labor law is the restriction of freedom of contract in the form of mandatory minimum standards. Attention is drawn to the fact that many provisions of labor law do not originate from the legislative body, but are negotiated by the parties to collective bargaining, therefore there are many different levels of regulation in labor law.