Ferda Ataman, the Federal Commissioner for Anti-Discrimination, has called for a longer window for people who want to push back against misconduct. She pointed to a new short briefing from her agency. Instead of the two months currently provided under Germany’s General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) for both employment law and the use of private services or goods, affected individuals should in the future have at least twelve months to report discriminatory incidents.
“Those who are discriminated against need time — and not pressure of time,” Ataman said. “Germany is not a pioneer with its short deadline in a European comparison; on the contrary: in many countries victims have three to five years to initiate legal action.” A longer deadline would not only benefit victims but also businesses, Ataman added. “The short deadline escalates conflicts because people feel compelled to sue quickly, even though many would prefer out-of-court solutions.” While in traffic accidents people have three years to take legal action, discrimination or sexual harassment at the workplace has only a two-month window, the federal commissioner said.
According to the anti-discrimination office, victims need time to process stressful experiences, to seek advice, and to make well-founded decisions. Many would also not even know that they must act within this short window. Those who miss the deadline permanently lose their claims—regardless of how severe the discrimination was.
A longer deadline could also help resolve conflicts amicably and avoid unnecessary court proceedings. According to the short briefing, such a change could contribute to greater legal peace in Germany.
France and Denmark are ahead
Other countries have already set the pace: In France there is already a uniform five-year deadline for both labor law and civil law. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Norway, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, the typical limit for both areas is three years. In Denmark, the deadline in the working-life context is five years and otherwise three years.
In June, the federal anti-discrimination office reported that more than 11,400 people had contacted the agency in the previous year about experiences with discrimination. That marked a new record. In almost half of the inquiries, the focus was on experiences with racism. In 2023 and 2024, four percent of advisory inquiries concerned the AGG-protected characteristic “sexual identity.”
Ataman has repeatedly called for improvements to the General Act on Equal Treatment, which has been in effect since 2006. For example, she criticized that state actions should be exempt from the scope of the law. People who are harassed by the job center or the police would not be able to rely on the Equal Treatment Act here in Germany. So far only Berlin has a state anti-discrimination law protecting its citizens in their dealings with the state. The NRW state government announced earlier this month that it intends to follow the capital’s example. (TheColu.mn reported). (dk)
