Knowledge
HR glossary
Key terms from new work and agile working – each with a definition, context and practical tips. The German glossary covers a further 75 terms of German employment, tax and social security law; those are not translations but a different subject, and they stay in German.
Terms beginning with A
- AAG-Verfahren (employer expense reimbursement scheme)
- How the German employer expense reimbursement scheme works, who takes part in U1 and U2 and how the reimbursement is claimed.
- Abfindung (severance payment)
- When severance is paid in Germany, why there is no statutory entitlement, how it is taxed and what it does to unemployment benefit.
- Agile leadership
- What agile leadership is, how it differs from classic leadership and how to get started – with core principles, examples and pitfalls.
- Agile working
- What agile working is, which methods give it structure and where its limits lie – with the manifesto values, the legal frame and tips for employers and teams.
- Altersteilzeit (partial retirement)
- How German partial retirement works in the block and the split model, what the top-up does and why the accrued credit must be secured.
- Arbeitgeberzuschuss zum Mutterschaftsgeld (employer top-up to maternity benefit)
- How the German employer top-up to maternity benefit is calculated, why it is tax-free and how the U2 reimbursement works.
- Arbeitszeitkonto (working time account)
- How German working time accounts work, which forms exist and what applies to balancing, insolvency protection and the boundary with long-term accounts.
- Aufhebungsvertrag (termination agreement)
- When a German termination agreement is valid, why wet-ink signature is mandatory, what the benefit risk is and what fair negotiation requires.
Terms beginning with B
- Baulohn (construction payroll)
- Why payroll in German construction follows its own rules: the sector funds, the holiday scheme, seasonal short-time work and collective particularities.
- Befristetes Arbeitsverhältnis (fixed-term employment)
- When a German fixed term is valid with and without an objective reason, why the written form decides everything and which deadline applies to a challenge.
- Beitragsbemessungsgrenze (contribution assessment ceiling)
- How German contribution assessment ceilings cap employer cost, why there is more than one and what they mean for higher salaries.
- Beitragsnachweis (contribution statement)
- When the German contribution statement is due, why contributions fall due before the month ends and why the statement works as an enforceable demand.
- Betriebliche Altersversorgung (occupational pension provision)
- Which implementation routes and types of promise German occupational pensions use, who funds them and what duties fall on employers.
- Betriebsrat (works council)
- What a German works council is, where genuine co-determination differs from mere consultation, and which decisions cannot be made without its consent.
- Business agility
- What business agility means, how it differs from classic management and how to introduce it – with core elements and examples from practice.
Terms beginning with C
- Candidate Experience (how applicants experience the process)
- What candidate experience covers, where German hiring processes lose people and which measures actually work.
- Change Management (managing organisational change)
- How change projects are structured, why resistance is a signal rather than an obstacle and where change actually fails in practice.
- Compensation & Benefits (pay system design)
- How a German pay system is built, which four legal frames bound it and why added benefits rarely set an employer apart for long.
- Compliance (regulatory compliance in HR)
- What compliance covers in German HR work, which fields of duty exist and what an effective system looks like beyond written policies.
- Corporate Benefits (additional employee benefits)
- Which additional benefits exist in Germany, how they are treated for tax and what makes a benefits programme fail in practice.
- Cultural Fit (fit with the way an organisation works)
- What cultural fit means, why the criterion rewards similarity and how to test fit without breaching German equal treatment law.
Terms beginning with D
- Datenschutz für Beschäftigte (employee data protection)
- What German employers may base employee data processing on, why consent rarely holds and what a works agreement achieves that consent cannot.
- DEÜV-Meldung (DEÜV report)
- What a DEÜV report is, what the ordinance demands of data records and transmission, and why only certified programs are allowed to file at all.
- Dienstwagenbesteuerung (company car taxation)
- How private use of a German company car is taxed, when a logbook pays off and what applies to electric vehicles.
- Digital transformation
- What digital transformation covers, who benefits and how it succeeds – with practical approaches, examples, advantages, drawbacks and the usual hurdles.
- Digitale Personalakte (digital personnel file)
- What a digital personnel file achieves, which data protection duties attach to it and what matters in structure, access rights and deletion.
- Diversity Management (managing diversity in the workforce)
- What diversity management covers, where its legal core lies and why the usual business-case arguments deserve caution.
- Doppelte Haushaltsführung (maintaining two households for work)
- When a second home at the place of work is recognised for tax, which costs qualify and how an employer can reimburse them free of tax.
Terms beginning with E
- Elektronische AU-Bescheinigung (electronic sick note)
- How the German electronic sick note works, what employees still have to do and where the retrieval reaches its limits in practice.
- ELStAM (electronic wage tax deduction characteristics)
- How employers in Germany retrieve wage tax deduction characteristics, why inbound assignees start on tax class VI and what a wrong employer registration costs.
- Elternzeit (parental leave)
- Who is entitled to German parental leave, which notice periods apply, how part-time during leave works and when protection from dismissal begins.
- Employer Branding (building an employer brand)
- What makes an employer brand, why it begins inside the business and why a flattering picture costs you people in the probationary period.
- Entgeltfortzahlung (continued remuneration)
- Why German employers pay six weeks of full salary during sickness, how the qualifying period works and what recurring illness means for the entitlement.
- Entgeltumwandlung (salary conversion)
- How German salary conversion works, what the entitlement and the employer top-up are and what to watch on tax, contributions and the chosen route.
Terms beginning with F
- Fachkräfteeinwanderung (skilled worker immigration)
- Which routes the German Residence Act opens for skilled workers, why recognition of qualifications is the bottleneck and what employers must do.
- Fachkräftemangel (shortage of skilled workers)
- Where the German skills shortage comes from, why it does not bite everywhere alike and which levers businesses actually have.
- Fehlzeitenmanagement (absence management)
- How German businesses handle absence, when occupational integration management becomes mandatory and where data protection sets the limits.
- Freistellung (release from duties)
- Which forms of release from duties exist in Germany, what revocable and irrevocable mean and how each affects holiday, pay and outside earnings.
- Führungskräfteentwicklung (leadership development)
- How leadership capability is built systematically, why seminars alone achieve little and what the first transition into leadership decides.
- Fünftelregelung (one-fifth rule for extraordinary income)
- How the one-fifth rule eases tax on a lump sum, why the payment must fall in a single year and why payroll no longer applies it.
Terms beginning with G
- Gehaltsbenchmarking (pay benchmarking)
- How a sound pay comparison is built, which data sources hold up and which errors make the result useless.
- Geldwerter Vorteil (non-cash benefit)
- What counts as a non-cash benefit in Germany, how it differs from cash pay and why that distinction decides the entire tax treatment.
- Generation X
- Which cohorts count as Generation X, which circumstances shaped them and why generation models need caution in HR work.
- Generation Y
- Which cohorts count as Generation Y, which claims circulate about them and how much those claims actually hold.
- Generation Z
- What is attributed to Generation Z, why the evidence is weak and which changes can actually be demonstrated.
- Geringfügige Beschäftigung (marginal employment)
- What a German mini-job is, why the threshold moves with the minimum wage and which full employment rights apply despite the low pay.
- Gewinnbeteiligung (profit sharing)
- Which forms of profit sharing exist in Germany, when the payment counts for tax and why the March rule governs the contribution year.
- Gleichbehandlungsgrundsatz (equal treatment principle)
- What the German equal treatment principle requires, how it differs from the AGG and which deadlines apply where someone is disadvantaged.
Terms beginning with H
- Haftung im Arbeitsverhältnis (employee liability)
- How German law grades employee liability by fault, who has to prove what and where the limits of cash-shortfall liability lie.
- Höchstarbeitszeit (maximum working time)
- How the German Working Time Act caps hours per working day, why there is no opt-out and why the rest period is breached more often than the maximum.
- Homeoffice-Regelung (remote work arrangement)
- What remote work means in German employment law, how Telearbeit differs from mobile working and what belongs in an agreement.
- HR-Analytics (people analytics)
- What HR analytics can deliver, where German data protection and co-determination draw the line and why individual predictions are delicate.
- HR-Business-Partner (HR business partner)
- What the HR business partner role covers, which organisational model it comes from and why it often looks different in practice.
- HR-Outsourcing (outsourcing HR administration)
- Which HR tasks can be outsourced in Germany, which models exist, what should stay in house and how the working relationship holds.
Terms beginning with I
- Individualarbeitsrecht (individual employment law)
- How statute, collective agreement, works agreement and contract relate to each other, what the favourability principle means and where established practice arises.
- Inklusion und Schwerbehindertenvertretung (disability inclusion and its representative body)
- What rights severely disabled employees hold, what the SBV does and why failing to involve it makes a dismissal ineffective.
- Insolvenzgeld (insolvency pay)
- What German insolvency pay covers, which event triggers it, why the application deadline is absolute and what pre-financing achieves.
- Interim Management (management on a temporary mandate)
- When interim management makes sense, how it differs from consultancy and agency work, and what the status question requires.
- Internes Kontrollsystem (internal control system)
- What an internal control system does in payroll, which controls matter in Germany and how their effectiveness is evidenced to auditors.
- ITSG-Zertifizierung (ITSG system audit for payroll software)
- What the ITSG system audit means, why it is the precondition for German social security reporting and what to watch when choosing software.
Terms beginning with J
- Jahresarbeitsentgeltgrenze (compulsory insurance income threshold)
- How the German income threshold decides compulsory health insurance, why it is a forecast and when a change of status takes effect.
- Jahresmeldung (annual social security report)
- What the annual social security report contains, when it is due, when it falls away and why its figure differs from the annual payroll tax record.
- Jobrotation (job rotation)
- What job rotation delivers, which forms exist and why it is announced far more often than it is actually carried out.
- Jobsharing (job sharing / sharing one workplace)
- How two employees share one job in Germany, why there is no general duty to cover and what happens when one of them leaves.
- Jobticket (employer-provided transport ticket)
- How German employers can provide public transport tickets tax-free or at flat-rate tax and what the choice between the two turns on.
- Jubiläumszuwendung (long service award)
- Why German long service awards are fully taxable, how they count for social security and when a provision may be recognised for them.
Terms beginning with K
- Kanban
- What Kanban is, how the board, WIP limits and the pull principle work and where the method helps – with variants, limits and tips for getting started.
- Kinderfreibetrag (child tax allowance)
- Why the German child allowance does not reduce wage tax, what the ELStAM counter actually affects and how it is weighed against child benefit.
- Kontinuierlicher Verbesserungsprozess (continuous improvement process)
- How continuous improvement works, why it hangs on implementation and where employee suggestion schemes typically fail.
- Krankengeldzuschuss (sick pay supplement)
- What a German sick pay supplement is, what it rests on and what to watch for in tax, contributions and drafting.
- Kündigungsfrist (notice period)
- How German notice periods lengthen with service, why they apply only to the employer and what can and cannot be varied by contract.
- Kündigungsschutzgesetz (Dismissal Protection Act)
- How German dismissal protection works, which three grounds a dismissal must rest on and why the three-week filing deadline decides more than the merits.
- Kurzarbeitergeld (short-time work allowance)
- When German short-time work allowance applies, how notification and payroll work and what the final audit will ask for.
Terms beginning with L
- Lean management
- What lean management is, which five founding principles carry it and where it works – with origins, variants, advantages, drawbacks and tips for getting started.
- Leiharbeit (temporary agency work)
- How German agency work operates, what equal treatment requires and what disguised hiring-out costs the client company.
- Lohnart (wage type)
- What a wage type is, how it controls tax and contribution treatment and why the wage type catalogue decides the quality of every payroll run.
- Lohnkonto (payroll ledger account)
- What German law requires in the payroll ledger, which three retention periods apply and why a system migration puts compliance at risk.
- Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung (payroll tax return)
- What the German payroll tax return is, why no assessment notice is issued and why filing and payment fall due on the same day.
- Lohnsteuer-Außenprüfung (payroll tax audit)
- How the German payroll tax audit works, which matters it concentrates on and when the employer is liable for tax it failed to withhold.
- Lohnsteuerbescheinigung (annual payroll tax certificate)
- What the German annual payroll tax certificate contains, why it cannot be amended after transmission and what employees need it for.
Terms beginning with M
- Massenentlassung (collective redundancy)
- When a collective redundancy must be notified in Germany, why consultation comes first and what procedural errors cost.
- Meldewesen (social security reporting)
- Which social security reports German employers must file, why they go to a health insurance fund rather than an authority and why certified software is required.
- Midijob (transitional zone)
- How contributions rise gradually in the German transitional zone, why the employer bears the difference and why pension entitlement is unaffected.
- Mindestlohn (statutory minimum wage)
- Who the German minimum wage covers, why it cannot be waived and how liability reaches up the supply chain to the client.
- Mitarbeitergespräch (structured employee conversation)
- Which kinds of employee conversation exist, what belongs in the personnel file and why an annual review alone achieves too little.
- Mutterschutz (maternity protection)
- Which protection periods apply, when a work ban bites, how maternity allowance and the employer supplement interact and who bears the cost.
Terms beginning with N
- Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung (sustainability reporting)
- Which HR data sustainability reporting requires, where they come from and why payroll becomes the source for an audited report.
- Nachvertragliches Wettbewerbsverbot (post-contractual non-compete)
- When a German non-compete binds, why nothing applies without compensation and what to watch when waiving it.
- Nachweisgesetz (Act on written statements of working conditions)
- Which working conditions a German employer must record, the staggered deadlines that apply and what happens when a condition changes.
- Nebenbeschäftigung (secondary employment)
- When outside work is permitted in Germany, which limits working time law and competition set and what a duty to notify means.
- Nettoentgelt (net remuneration)
- How German gross pay becomes net, why identical salaries yield different net amounts and why net is not the same as the amount paid out.
- Nettoentgeltoptimierung (optimising net remuneration)
- Which German pay components stay free of tax or contributions, why the additionality test decides almost everything and where the limits run.
- New work
- What new work means, which concepts and working models belong to it and where the opportunities and limits lie – with origins, examples and tips for both sides.
Terms beginning with O
- Offboarding (managed exit from the business)
- Which steps a German exit requires, which deadlines and documents belong to it and why the exit interview is worth more than the checklist.
- OKR (objectives and key results)
- How OKR is built, why decoupling it from pay is part of the concept and where its introduction usually fails in practice.
- Onboarding (induction of new employees)
- How onboarding works beyond the first day, which German administrative duties belong to it and where induction fails in practice.
- Organisationsentwicklung (organisational development)
- What distinguishes organisational development from single change projects, what participation rests on and where the approach reaches its limits.
- Outplacement (employer-funded career transition support)
- What outplacement achieves, when it pays for both sides and which tax questions meeting the cost raises in Germany.
- Outsourcing (transferring tasks to an external provider)
- What outsourcing means, which tasks suit it, which models exist and what the decision actually turns on.
Terms beginning with P
- Payroll-Outsourcing (payroll outsourcing)
- What payroll outsourcing covers, which operating models exist, what responsibility stays with the employer and what makes a transition fail.
- Personalcontrolling (HR controlling and reporting)
- Which HR measures actually steer, why benchmarks mislead and how to avoid the perverse incentives that measures create.
- Personalkostenplanung (workforce cost planning)
- What German staff costs consist of, how a sound plan is built and which items are regularly forgotten in it.
- Pfändung von Arbeitseinkommen (attachment of earnings)
- How a German wage attachment works, what duties the employer has as garnishee and how the attachable income is determined.
- Pflegezeit und Familienpflegezeit (care leave and family care leave)
- Which three release entitlements exist for caring for relatives in Germany, how they differ and which deadlines and dismissal protection apply.
- Probezeit (probationary period)
- What a German probationary period actually does, why it is not the same as the qualifying period for dismissal protection and what applies to fixed terms.
Terms beginning with Q
- Qualifiziertes Arbeitszeugnis (qualified employment reference)
- What the German right to a qualified reference covers, how such a reference is built and which principles govern its wording.
- Qualifizierungsgeld (qualification allowance)
- What the German qualification allowance is, when it applies and how it differs from short-time work allowance and other training support.
- Qualitätssicherung in der Entgeltabrechnung (payroll quality assurance)
- Which control points secure a German payroll run, what the duties rest on and which classes of error actually surface in audits.
- Quellensteuer (withholding tax at source)
- How German withholding works for employees with limited tax liability, what the 183-day rule really requires and where Section 50a EStG applies.
- Quereinstieg (entry into a field without a matching qualification)
- What a career change into a new field means in Germany, where it is possible and how businesses can make it hold.
- Quiet Quitting (limiting work to what the contract requires)
- What quiet quitting means, why it is no breach of duty under German law and which workplace causes lie behind it.
Terms beginning with R
- Recruiting (hiring and selection)
- How a German hiring process is built, which measures actually say something and which legal limits apply from the job advert onwards.
- Reisekostenabrechnung (travel expense claims)
- Which costs a German business trip creates, how the first place of work and time away govern the claim and what businesses have to watch.
- Rentenversicherung (state pension insurance)
- How the German state pension is funded, how earnings points arise and what employers have to watch in reporting and special cases.
- Rückstellungen (provisions in the HR context)
- Which staff-related provisions have to be recognised in German accounts, how they arise and why smaller businesses regularly miss them.
- Rückzahlungsklausel bei Fortbildungskosten (training cost repayment clause)
- When a German training repayment clause is valid, which tie-in period is proportionate and why an overbroad clause falls away entirely.
- Rufbereitschaft und Bereitschaftsdienst (on-call and standby duty)
- How standby duty and on-call differ in German law, when they count as working time and why the response time decides more than the label does.
Terms beginning with S
- Sabbatical (extended paid or unpaid career break)
- How a German sabbatical is implemented in law, why a time-value account beats unpaid leave and which safeguards are compulsory.
- Sachbezug (benefit in kind)
- What counts as a benefit in kind in Germany, how it is valued, where the line to cash pay runs and what payroll has to watch.
- Schatten-Payroll (parallel payroll run)
- What a parallel payroll run is, how it secures a change of provider or system and what makes such a run fail.
- Scrum
- What Scrum is, which roles and events belong to it and where the framework helps – with advantages, limits and tips for employers and employees.
- Sonn-, Feiertags- und Nachtzuschläge (Sunday, holiday and night work supplements)
- When German supplements for Sunday, public holiday and night work stay tax-free, why the contribution limit differs and what the evidence requires.
- Sozialversicherungsbeitrag (social security contribution)
- How German social security contributions are structured, why the employer alone owes them and what the assessment ceilings mean for employer cost.
- Statusfeststellungsverfahren (status determination)
- How Germany determines whether a contractor is genuinely self-employed, why the contract wording does not decide and what retrospective reclassification costs.
Terms beginning with T
- Talent Management (talent and succession management)
- What talent management covers, how it becomes workable in a mid-sized business and where the classic approach regularly fails.
- Tantieme (performance bonus)
- How German bonuses are agreed and processed, why the date of receipt fixes the tax year and what applies when someone leaves mid-year.
- Tarifvertrag (collective agreement)
- How German collective agreements arise, when they apply to a business and what being bound means for payroll and HR.
- Teamentwicklung (team development)
- How teams develop, what phase models do and do not deliver, and which conditions actually carry collaboration.
- Teilzeit (part-time work)
- When German employees have a right to reduce their hours, how bridge part-time works and what applies to holiday, pay and equal treatment.
- Transfergesellschaft (transfer company)
- How a German transfer company works, what the three-party agreement does and which conditions transfer short-time allowance has.
Terms beginning with U
- Überstunden und Mehrarbeit (overtime and extra work)
- When overtime must be paid in Germany, who has to prove what in a dispute and why blanket settlement clauses are usually void.
- Umlageverfahren (pay-as-you-go funding and employer levies)
- Why the German term covers two things — pay-as-you-go funding of social insurance and the employer levies U1, U2 and U3 — and what follows from that.
- Umzugskostenerstattung (reimbursement of relocation costs)
- When a move counts as work-related, which costs an employer may reimburse free of tax and where the benchmark for the flat rates comes from.
- Unfallversicherung (statutory accident insurance)
- Who is covered by German statutory accident insurance, what counts as an accident at work or commuting and which duties fall on businesses.
- Urlaubsabgeltung (payment in lieu of untaken holiday)
- When untaken holiday must be paid out, why it does not lapse without an employer reminder and why limitation only starts with that reminder.
- Urlaubsanspruch (holiday entitlement)
- How much statutory leave German law grants, why it is counted in working days and why untaken leave does not expire without a reminder from the employer.
Terms beginning with V
- Vermögenswirksame Leistungen (capital-forming payments)
- What German capital-forming payments are, which investment forms qualify and how the state savings bonus fits alongside them.
- Verpflegungsmehraufwand (additional subsistence expenses)
- When German subsistence flat rates arise, how the three-month rule works, why provided meals reduce them and how employers reimburse tax-free.
- Versetzung und Direktionsrecht (transfer and the right to give instructions)
- How far a German employer's right to give instructions reaches, what reasonable discretion requires and why a transfer must pass two separate tests.
- Vertragsstrafe im Arbeitsvertrag (contractual penalty)
- When a contractual penalty is valid in a German employment contract, which triggers are permitted and why an overbroad clause falls away entirely.
- Vertrauensarbeitszeit (trust-based working time)
- What trust-based working time means in Germany, why it does not exempt anyone from recording and what to settle before introducing it.
- Vier-Augen-Prinzip (four-eyes principle)
- What the four-eyes principle is, where it bites in payroll and how it differs from approval workflows and segregation of duties.
Terms beginning with W
- Wegeunfall (commuting accident)
- Which journey is covered by German accident insurance, when detours and interruptions cost the cover and what the employer has to report.
- Weiterbildungsbudget (training budget)
- How a training budget is designed, what applies for tax and when a clawback clause actually holds in Germany.
- Werkstudent (working student)
- When the German working student exemption applies, which hours limit governs, which exceptions exist and what payroll has to watch.
- Werkvertrag (contract for work and services)
- What makes a German works contract, how it differs from employment and agency work, and what follows where the arrangement is only nominal.
- Wertguthaben (long-term credit account)
- How German long-term credit accounts fund extended release from work, why they need insolvency protection and how they differ from working time accounts.
- Wiedereingliederung, stufenweise (phased return to work)
- How the German phased return works, why incapacity for work continues throughout, who has to agree and how it differs from the mandatory BEM.
Terms beginning with X
- X-Theorie (Theory X)
- Which view of people Theory X describes, how it shapes leadership and why it works as a self-fulfilling assumption.
Terms beginning with Y
- Y-Theorie (Theory Y)
- Which view of people Theory Y describes, what it means for leadership and why it is a counter assumption rather than a recommendation.
- Young Potentials (early-career development schemes)
- How graduate and talent schemes are built, why age references create an AGG risk and what can make the selection a problem.
- Young Professional (early-career professional)
- Who the term young professional means, how it differs from an entry-level hire and what to watch in a German job advert.
Terms beginning with Z
- Zeiterfassung (working time recording)
- How working time recording works in Germany, why it became mandatory for salaried staff too and how recorded time reaches payroll.
- Zeitlohn (pay by time worked)
- What pay by time worked is, how it differs from performance pay and a fixed salary, and what matters in recording and payroll.
- Zielvereinbarung (target agreement)
- How target agreements are built, what applies where pay depends on them and which distortions target systems regularly produce.
- Zusatzbeitrag zur Krankenversicherung (supplementary health insurance contribution)
- How the fund-specific supplementary contribution is levied and borne, what the average rate is for and when a special right to leave arises.
- Zusatzurlaub für schwerbehinderte Menschen (additional holiday for severely disabled people)
- Who is entitled to the five extra days, how the entitlement is converted for part-time patterns and why equal-status employees do not receive it.
- Zwischenzeugnis (interim reference)
- When an interim reference can be requested in Germany, how it differs from the final one and why it binds what comes later.
No term in the glossary matches this search. Do write to us if a term you need is missing.
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