Geltung und Abdingbarkeit des Betriebsrentengesetzes bei Versorgungszusagen von Organmitgliedern

The employment law provisions of the German Company Pensions Act also apply to pension commitments for board members, unless these individuals are to be classified as “entrepreneurs”. The resulting limitations for deviating contractual agreements are controversial.
The thesis examines the conditions under which board members with company shares should be excluded from the scope of the German Company Pensions Act. The author shows that the “addition solution” practiced for decades by the German Federal Court of Justice is materially wrong, and that exclusion is justified only if stricter requirements are met. The thesis further raises the question of whether it is possible to contractually deviate from the provisions of the German Company Pensions Act to the disadvantage of board members who are principally protected by this act. Considering the jurisprudence developed for this purpose, the author eventually elaborates on the legally permissible scope for such deviations.