CRIMINAL EMPLOYMENT LAW

Criminal employment law represents a complex sub-area of criminal commercial law. It covers all cases of misconduct directly related to the workplace, whether they are violations by the company against its employees or violations to the detriment of the company by employees.

Frequently, the provisions of criminal employment law interface with individual and collective employment law, fiscal and criminal fiscal law, administration and social law. Such complex constellations require in-depth knowledge of these legal fields and their interfaces.

The most common allegations in this area are

    • The withholding and misappropriation of pay
    • The illegal employment of foreigners
    • The illegal hiring out / posting of employees and
    • Breach of trust and fraud to the detriment of companies
    • Breach of business confidentiality
    • Unfair competition and corruption

Well-founded expertise in each of the areas of law as well as a high degree of practical experience are fundamental prerequisites for successful advice and representation in all matters of criminal employment law. We meet these requirements through regular training and long-term client relationships with medium-sized and large companies.

A large number of criminal employment law requirements are aimed at employers. Sedlatzek lawyers therefore represent supervisory boards, management boards, managing directors and senior executives in all phases of employment criminal proceedings. But also, offences to the disadvantage of the employer – such as breach of trust or fraud to the detriment of the company – are also covered by criminal employment law. We undertake internal investigations, the preparation of criminal charges and the enforcement of recourse claims.

One of our key competencies lies in dealing with personnel claiming to be employed as so-called self-employment cases. Such cases have, if necessary, substantial social security and tax law consequences which are subject to penalty (§ 266a StGB {Criminal Code} – non-payment of social security shares, § 370 AO {Fiscal Code} – tax evasion). In addition to our competence in criminal commercial law, we also have the relevant expertise in the other areas concerned and therefore also represent clients in these cases at the Employment and Social Security Court, as well as in criminal tax law proceedings.

The illegal hiring/posting of employees is also intensively pursued by the main customs offices and is therefore a frequently occurring case of criminal employment law.

In addition to the investigating authorities, the professional associations regularly alert non-compliance with occupational safety regulations. The violation of safety regulations and improper training of employees can lead to proceedings under criminal employment law, which also question the issue of possible organisational fault at management level.