Gestaltungsfreiheit in Tarifverträgen und tarifdispositives Gesetzesrecht

German statutory labour law has some provisions, which are obligatory for the parties of an individual contract or works councils to follow, unless a relevant collective agreement allows an opt-out. Examples of such obligatory provisions are: the length of the notice period, the right to equal pay of temporary workers or the maximum duration of limited employment contracts. The idea of the collective opt-out is to allow deviations, which though may weaken certain statutory protections for employees, allows flexibility to the special requirements of certain branches of trade. The parties to the collective opt-outs are expected to ensure that deviations are limited to appropriate situations. This book scrutinizes how far collective agreements can allow this opt-out and to the extent to which they can deviate.