The European Court of Justice Update on Mass Dismissals
Insights 
Michael Magotsch · November 12, 2025
In two recent rulings, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) confirmed the strict and rigorous application of Section 17 of the German Employment Protection Act (KSchG): no relief for employers in the notification procedure for mass redundancies!
Two Senates at the German Federal Labor Court/BAG (the 2nd and the 6th Senates) disagreed over whether errors or inadequate notifications of mass dismissal redundancies might be “remedied” instead of resulting in all terminations being null and void. On February 1, 2024, the 2nd Senate referred the matter and submitted the case to the ECJ, requesting an answer to four questions on the interpretation of the EU Directive of July 20, 1998 (Directive 98/59/EC), which forms the basis of the German regulation on collective redundancies (Sections 17 et seq. Wrongful Dismissal Act/KSchG). For employers, this meant that until the ECJ had ruled on the referral (decision of 01.02.2024 – 2 AS 22/23 (A)), there was still legal uncertainty as to whether dismissals are null and void due to lacking or inadequate notification of collective redundancies at the Employment Agency. While the 6th Senate wanted to clarify this internally (decision of 14.12.2023 – 6 AZR 157/22 (A), the case rested with the ECJ for the last two years.
Now, in two rulings (ECJ-E dated October 30, 2025, Tomann C-134/24 and Sewel C-402/24), the ECJ has ruled against the hoped-for simplification of the complex notification procedure for mass redundancies.
What was the issue? The key question submitted to the ECJ was: Can employers remedy incorrect dismissals or dismissals made without notification of mass redundancies by subsequently submitting notifications and thus terminating employment relationships through previously declared dismissals? The ECJ ruled that this is not possible: employers must therefore continue to comply with all the requirements of Section 17 et seq. of the German Employment Protection Act (KSchG) in the future – without any ifs, ands, or buts.
To be clear, the necessary consultation procedure with the Works Council pursuant Sec. 17 II KSchG in the context of planned mass redundancies was and is not up for debate: the 6th Senate has expressly emphasized that errors in the consultation procedure will result in the nullity of the dismissal. This is undisputed, as it is the task of the Works Council to prevent or limit mass redundancies.
In addition to extensive Works Council consultation, including all necessary written documentation, the ECJ has now ruled that it is also mandatory to notify the employment agency of mass redundancies in a formal and complete manner. It is not getting any easier or clearer for employers in Germany. Given that various special features of German labor law are already difficult to communicate and to navigate – especially for foreign companies – extreme caution and care must be exercised in connection with major restructuring measures and planned significant staff reductions in Germany.
In practice, this means that not only the failure to notify mass redundancies, but also incorrect and incomplete notifications will render all dismissals invalid. It will not be possible to rectify or subsequently remedy errors. This may have heavy financial consequences for companies in Germany with, significant payroll costs for all affected employees until the dismissal can be reinitiated at the end of a new notice period.
Companies and their advisors therefore must prepare collective redundancies with ultimate care and precision to avoid any RIF programs becoming null and void. The risks are high.
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