Exclusion periods/expiration periods
Claims arising from an employment relationship are subject to a three-year statute of limitations. However, exclusion or forfeiture clauses often apply, which are included in collective bargaining agreements and many employment contracts.
Claims must then be submitted in writing within very short timeframes – according to some collective bargaining agreements, within two months. Failure to do so risks the loss of one's claims. Some clauses also stipulate a second short deadline within which legal action must be taken if the written claim is unsuccessful. These deadlines must be strictly observed.
From an employer's perspective, it should be noted that only clauses that withstand the strict scrutiny of the labor courts are valid. An excessively short agreed-upon deadline does not simply result in the application of a reasonable deadline, but rather in its complete invalidation.
