3 minute read | July.02.2026
As insolvencies and restructurings continue to rise in Germany, employers are increasingly carrying out mass dismissals (Massenentlassungen) – the formal notification requirements for such mass dismissals are under intense scrutiny.
Employers must issue a mass dismissal notification (Massenentlassungsanzeige) with the competent Employment Agency before carrying out a large number of layoffs within 30 calendar days. The notification requirement applies when certain thresholds are reached, depending on the size of the business and the number of planned dismissals.
In April 2026, the Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) (“BAG”) held that a dismissal was invalid because the employer had entirely failed to submit the required mass dismissal notification before issuing the dismissal (6 AZR 157/22). That decision left an important question open:
What happens not when the notification is missing entirely, but when it has been filed and merely contains error(s)?
The BAG has now answered that question in its ruling of June 25, 2026 (6 AZR 7/26). The BAG held that, depending on the circumstances of the individual case, dismissals can still be valid despite errors in the mass dismissal notification. In the case at hand, the court found the notification proper even though it stated a slightly too high number of employees to be dismissed.
The claimant worked as a machine setter at a key and machinery manufacturer. In November 2024, the company became insolvent and decided to shut down its business. After the employer agreed to a reconciliation of interests (Interessenausgleich) and social plan (Sozialplan) with the works council, a mass dismissal notification was filed and subsequently the employee’s employment was terminated effective May 31, 2025.
The employee challenged the dismissal, arguing it was invalid because the mass dismissal notification stated 34 intended dismissals when only 31 or 32 actually occurred.
The BAG held that the notification was still proper and the subsequent dismissal was therefore not invalid.
The purpose of the notification procedure is to enable the Employment Agency to seek solutions to the problems that will arise following the dismissals, particularly to prepare for placing dismissed employees or examining labor market policy measures. According to the BAG, the slight discrepancy between the number of planned and actual dismissals did not impair the Employment Agency's ability to fulfil its statutory functions.
While the full written ruling is not yet available, the press release makes clear that the key test is whether the error impairs the Employment Agency's ability to carry out its statutory tasks that come along with a mass dismissal.
This ruling should not be read as an invitation to be careless. The BAG only accepted a minor overstatement of the number of intended dismissals. Whether a downward deviation, or a more significant discrepancy or other errors would be treated the same way remains open.
Employers should continue to prepare mass dismissal notifications with care and ensure figures are as accurate as possible.
Until the written reasons are available, employers should regard the decision as limiting the consequences of minor, immaterial errors, but not as relaxing the substantive requirements governing mass dismissals.