The principle of equal pay was put to the test once again on Thursday before Germany’s highest labor court in Erfurt. In a landmark ruling, the Federal Labor Court (BAG) ruled in the dispute between a department head at Daimler Truck and her employer that women no longer have to be satisfied with the difference to the average if they demand identical pay to their male colleagues. In the best case scenario, they can orientate themselves on the top earner with a comparable job in their company, according to the ruling of the Eighth Senate (Az.: 8 AZR 300/24). Reference to European law “The average is irrelevant,” said the presiding judge Martina Ahrendt in the announcement, according to the dpa news agency. She also based the decision on the previous case law of the European Court of Justice. The BAG referred the case back to the Baden-Württemberg State Labor Court (LAG) for a decision on the matter. This gives Daimler Truck another opportunity to submit reasons for the plaintiff’s lower pay. “The arduous process of going through the courts was worth it – it’s finally clear: women don’t have to settle for mediocrity,” said Sarah Lincoln, the plaintiff’s lawyer, after the decision was announced. “You can compare yourself with any colleague who does the same work. If the employer cannot justify the difference in wages, he must adjust the wages,” emphasized Lincoln, who is a lawyer for the Society for Freedom Rights (GFF). Significant wage difference The manager, who had been working for the Daimler Group for around 30 years, discovered after returning from parental leave in the 1970s that she was earning significantly less than hers male colleagues at the same level. Daimler Truck created transparency in terms of pay through an internal comparison system, but differentiated between men and women. The defendant employer claimed in the proceedings that the colleagues used for comparison did not do the same work or work of equal value as the plaintiff. In addition, the different remuneration levels are based on deficiencies in the plaintiff’s performance. The judgment confirms that not only equivalent work, but also individual performance must be taken into account when determining remuneration, a spokeswoman for Daimler Truck said upon request. With the remittance, both parties could once again present their positions on equivalence, comparability and individual performance. LAG has to make a new decision. In the lower courts, the woman had still been defeated. The labor court only awarded her the difference to the median salary of her male comparison group, which, however, does not correspond to the average income of her male colleagues. In October 2024, the LAG awarded her around 130,000 euros gross for the period from 2018 to 2022. She had originally demanded around 420,000 euros gross from her employer.More on the topicIn a further revision, a veterinarian sued her father, who runs a veterinary clinic. She demanded comparable remuneration to her brother, who also works as a veterinarian in his parents’ business but receives a significantly higher gross salary (ref.: 8 AZR 269/24). In the legal dispute, the (BAG) had to deal primarily with the burden of presentation and requests for information. With the EU Pay Transparency Directive, which must be implemented into national law by June 2026, such demands should be much easier to enforce in the future than under the current legal situation.
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