Kirchliches Arbeitsrecht

In this textbook, Gregor Thüsing examines church labor law as it pertains to labor law and church employment law. Apart from the government, the churches are the biggest employer in Germany. This fact alone demonstrates how important labor law is for churches as well. In the Weimar Constitution as well as in the German Basic Law, the churches were given the right to self-determination, which also has an effect on the evaluation of the relationship to the people they employ: church employment relations are »their own affair« as defined by Article 137 III 1 of the Weimar Constitution. If the dismissal protection act, the collective bargaining act or the works council constitution act are to be applicable for all, it must be born in mind when evaluating whether or not the dismissal is justified, a strike is permitted or if and in what form worker participation in decision-making is possible that the relationship between the church and their employees is a special one. Gregor Thüsing explains the special nature of this relationship.