Can you be sacked in Germany for a workplace romance?

The subject of relationships between colleagues is once again in the headlines after a married American startup CEO was caught on the 'kiss cam' at a Coldplay concert cuddling the company's head of HR. He has since resigned.

All countries have different rules on this tricky issue, so could an inter office hook-up - even an adulterous one - get you fired in Germany?

Companies in Germany tend to take a more relaxed view of personal relationships in the workplace, especially compared to places where office romances are frowned upon, such as at companies in the United States. 

This is due in no small part to German law, which puts heavy emphasis on preserving human dignity and peoples' privacy.

For their part, most workers in Germany are not afraid of dating around the office. A 2012 survey found that more than half of German workers have had an office romance, and nine out of ten reportedly said they thought sleeping with colleagues was okay. However the majority of people surveyed thought kissing at work was completely unacceptable. 

There are other limits to what's accepted, and German companies can enforce certain rules around personal relationships at the workplace. 

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Article 2.1 of Germany's Basic Law (Grundgesetz) protects every person's right to "the free development of his or her personality", and this broad protection also extends to the workplace.

Generally speaking, German law therefore prevents employers from having a say over who you have a relationship with - so long as the nature of the relationship doesn't disrupt your work for the company.

This was upheld in a 2005 ruling by the Düsseldorf Higher Labour Court against the American retail group Walmart.

The company, which was operating in Germany at the time, had attempted to ban romantic relationships among its employees. According to media reports, workers had received a notice which said they were not to date or enter into romantic relationships, and additionally prohibited "lustful looks, ambiguous jokes and sexually interpretable communication of any kind".

The Düsseldorf Higher Labour Court ultimately ruled that the blanket ban on romantic relationships between employees was a violation of human dignity, it added that the company must make efforts to protect workers from sexual harassment but that the limits for such provisions would need to be agreed with its works council.

What are your rights around workplace relationships?

In Germany, a person's right to a free choice of partners extends to the workplace, where workers cannot be prohibited from dating or falling in love, even with people they meet in a professional context.

Also, there is no obligation for employees to report their relationship to the boss or to a works council.

Put simply, if your love life is not affecting your work, then it's no-one's business but yours.

This is generally true even if the relationship is between an employee and their superior. However employers may transfer an employee or engage in restructuring to avoid conflicts of interest.

How much can companies regulate romance? 

While companies cannot legally enforce a blanket ban on love, or inter office relations, they can take steps to ensure that their business is not negatively affected by personal relationships.

This could include prohibiting intimate acts at the office or during working hours, or making sure that company property - including work phones or computers - are not used for personal chats.

If you are in a senior position and engage in office romance, you should be conscious of the risk of favouritism and may be expected to take steps to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

According to an article by Jura law firm, which focuses on employment law in North Rhine Westphalia, companies could therefore require employees to disclose relationships that cross certain levels of hierarchy. 

At German media giant Axel Springer SE, for instance, executives are required to disclose relationships with their subordinates. This policy was introduced following a 2021 scandal in which the editor-in-chief of the Bild daily newspaper was dismissed after multiple allegations surfaced that he had affairs with, and exploited, young colleagues.

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Employees cannot be dismissed solely for having initiated a workplace relationship. But if a relationship, or its disclosure in the workplace, leads to disruptions then an employer can take certain sanctions such as giving warnings, or even dismissing workers in extreme cases.

Dismissals are usually only justified when a worker has engaged in conduct that violates the terms of their employment contract, and usually requires a warning first.