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ARTICLE · 03 NOVEMBER 2026

Minor Errors In A Collective Redundancy Notification

The Federal Labour Court has ruled on whether minor procedural errors in collective redundancy notifications invalidate dismissals, establishing that what matters is whether such errors prevent employment authorities from fulfilling their statutory duties. This decision clarifies the threshold for procedural compliance following recent CJEU guidance, examining when inaccuracies in the number of planned dismissals affect the validity of terminations.

GermanyEmployment and HR

Minor errors in a collective redundancy procedure do not automatically make the dismissals based on it invalid. What matters is whether the error prevents the employment authorities from carrying out their statutory task. The Federal Labour Court decided this on 25 June 2026 (case no. 6 AZR 7/26).

Facts

After insolvency proceedings had been opened, the insolvency administrator decided to close the business and dismissed 31 employees. However, the number of planned dismissals was stated differently during the consultation and notification procedures. Besides the 31 employees to be dismissed, the figure was given at various points as 61, 32 and 34. One employee brought an unfair dismissal claim, which succeeded at first instance but was dismissed by the Regional Labour Court of Hamm. The Sixth Senate of the Federal Labour Court dismissed the claimant's appeal on a point of law and upheld the dismissal as valid.

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