Employee Dismissal in Germany and Uzbekistan: Key Differences

In Germany, employer-initiated dismissals are governed by numerous provisions of the German Civil Code (BGB) and, where applicable, the Protection Against Unfair Dismissal Act (KSchG) and the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG). These provisions interact and must be considered together. Taken together, they impose various requirements that an employer must satisfy when terminating an employment relationship. As a result, the demanding dismissal procedure serves to protect employees.

In Uzbekistan, employment law is consolidated in a single Labour Code, which may appear particularly clear and straightforward at first glance. On closer examination, however, this apparent clarity can be misleading. The Labour Code is not a self-contained body of law but rather refers to presidential decrees, government resolutions, and decisions of the Supreme Court. Important aspects, such as procedural requirements and the interpretation of legal concepts, are regulated in these additional sources. Moreover, the current Labour Code is relatively recent: the new version was adopted in 2022 and entered into force in 2023. As a result, an extensive body of case law has not yet developed, unlike in Germany, where decades of decisions by the Federal Labour Court have shaped employment law practice. Despite its unified codification, the level of legal certainty for employers is therefore lower than might initially be expected.

This uncertainty is further compounded by the substantive differences between Uzbek and German employment law. These differences make it difficult for employers to rely on familiar legal concepts and approaches. Under German dismissal law, employers enjoy a certain degree of discretion; however, their decisions are subject to judicial review as to whether the dismissal is socially justified. By contrast, the Uzbek Labour Code contains an exhaustive list of permissible grounds for dismissal, including the liquidation or restructuring of an enterprise, an employee’s insufficient qualifications, or repeated or serious breaches of employment duties. There is no equivalent mechanism for case-by-case balancing comparable to that found under German law.

In addition, in certain cases, a dismissal requires the consent of a trade union or another employee representative body. Collective employee rights of this kind are not entirely unknown to German law, but their scope is considerably narrower. Consent requirements apply, for example, to the dismissal of a works council member pursuant to Section 103 BetrVG or a severely disabled employee pursuant to Section 168 SGB IX. As a general rule, however, the involvement of the works council is limited to a prior hearing under Section 102 BetrVG. Failure to conduct this hearing renders the dismissal invalid, but an objection by the works council does not prevent the dismissal from taking effect. Moreover, German consent requirements are limited to particularly protected groups of employees. Uzbek law, by contrast, links the involvement of employee representatives to specific grounds for dismissal and collective agreements, meaning that its scope may, in individual cases, be significantly broader than under German law.

The comparison shows that the clear structure of the Uzbek Labour Code does not mean that no additional requirements exist beyond those expressly set out in the Code. Nevertheless, both legal systems pursue the same objective: protecting employees against arbitrary dismissal. However, they achieve this objective through different regulatory approaches. German law relies on a complex interaction of statutory provisions, complemented by case-by-case balancing subject to judicial review. Uzbek law, by contrast, is based on an exhaustive list of permissible grounds for dismissal, which may only be invoked if strict procedural requirements are satisfied and, in certain cases, the involvement of employee representatives is ensured.

For German companies operating in Uzbekistan, these differences have important implications for personnel management and employment contract planning. They affect everything from the drafting of employment contracts to the design of internal dismissal procedures. Given the complexity of the legal framework and the potential compliance risks, obtaining legal advice tailored to the specific circumstances of each case is therefore highly advisable.