German Court Clarifies: Home Pregnancy Test Not Enough to Meet Firing Challenge Deadline

Landmark German labor court ruling: Late dismissal challenge allowed when pregnancy is medically confirmed after three-week deadline, as home tests are insufficient proof of gestation timing.

She took a home pregnancy test inside the three-week window allowed for bringing a dismissal suit, but her doctor’s confirmation arrived only after that period had closed. The case arrived at Germany’s highest labor court, which ruled that the crucial moment for filing a complaint is not when a woman first suspects she is pregnant, but when a medical professional confirms it.

In a decision published on April 3, 2025 (file number 2 AZR 156/24), the Bundesarbeitsgericht (BAG) in Erfurt lowered the bar for pregnant employees seeking to challenge a termination. The ruling centers on what counts as “knowledge” of a pregnancy that already existed at the time the dismissal was handed out. A positive over-the-counter test, the court held, does not provide reliable information about when the pregnancy began or how far along it is. Only a gynecological examination can establish that with certainty.

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Late Filing Permitted Under Broader Interpretation

German labor law under Section 4 of the Kündigungsschutzgesetz (Protection Against Dismissal Act) requires that any challenge be lodged with the labor court within three weeks of receiving the written notice. The count starts the day after delivery and ends after 21 days; if the final day falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.

Section 5 of the same law allows a court to admit a claim after the deadline if the employee was prevented from filing on time through no fault of their own despite exercising reasonable diligence. The BAG now says that applies when a woman has a reasonable suspicion of pregnancy but lacks medical proof until after the window shuts. To take advantage of this, she must apply for late admission within two weeks after the obstacle — in this case, the date of the medical certificate — is removed.

The Berlin worker’s case was thus allowed to proceed, and the dismissal was declared void.

Growing Legal Risks for Employers

The clarification arrives as German companies face a tightening web of workplace regulations. A separate pending deadline — the transposition of the EU Pay Transparency Directive into German law — was due at the end of June 2026, but the government has yet to pass a final statute.

Legal experts say the combination of this ruling and the unfinished EU directive increases litigation exposure. National courts are already required to interpret existing German law in line with the directive’s intent, even before it is formally adopted. The trend, observers note, points toward expanding employee protections and shifting more of the burden of proof onto employers.

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For businesses, the message is blunt: when issuing dismissals or setting pay structures, objective criteria must be documented meticulously, and the timeline of any decision must be traceable down to the day. A home test alone will no longer shield a company from a successful late claim.