Two Hours Can Make or Break a Career: European Labour Rulings Reshape Time Compliance Rules
27.06.2026 - 09:53:53 | boerse-global.de
A logistics worker in Spain learned the hard way that showing up too early can be just as dangerous as showing up late. A court in Alicante upheld her summary dismissal in 2026 after she repeatedly arrived 30 to 45 minutes before her shift started — even after a formal warning and her employer's explicit ban. The court ruled that her persistent defiance of instructions, combined with time-recording irregularities and unauthorised use of a vehicle part, constituted a serious breach of trust. The problem, the judges stressed, was not punctuality per se, but the violation of contractual working hours and the employer's managerial authority.
Across the border in Germany, a senior consultant surgeon at Regensburg University Hospital won a very different outcome. The Regensburg Labour Court declared her dismissal invalid on 26 June 2026, ordering the hospital to keep her employed. The employer had accused her of falsifying her working time by 80 minutes. The court found the allegations unsustainable. The dispute value was set at €50,000, and the ruling is not yet legally binding.
Another high-profile case is pending before the Esslingen Labour Court, where hearings began on 23 June 2026. A chief physician faces summary dismissal over allegations of file tampering and multiple operations performed against a patient's will.
The timing of sick notes also came under fresh scrutiny. Germany's Federal Labour Court (case reference 5 AZR 335/22) clarified that the evidentiary value of a medical certificate can be undermined if the sick note coincides precisely with a notice period — especially when the employee has already accepted a new job. The Nordhausen Labour Court (3 Ca 438/25) added a nuance: a properly issued sick note retains strong evidentiary weight unless the employer can concretely prove the employee announced the sick leave in advance.
The broader backdrop is sobering. According to a study by Pronova BKK, 60 percent of employees admitted they had called in sick while still fit to work. Average sick days climbed from 13 in 2021 to 17 between January and November 2025.
On mass dismissals, the Federal Labour Court (6 AZR 7/26) ruled on 25 June 2026 that minor discrepancies in a mass-dismissal notification do not invalidate a termination. In that case, the employer reported 34 dismissals instead of 31 or 32 — the purpose of the notification, the court held, remained intact.
Employers also received a reminder that they may contact workers during annual leave when a suspicion-based termination is on the table. The Federal Labour Court ruled back in December 2025 that, to comply with the two-week deadline for extraordinary dismissals, a contact attempt can even be required. There is no blanket ban on contacting employees during their rest period.
