Do you need information about your rights at work in Germany?

In order to find suitable, qualified employees in the face of a shortage of skilled workers, companies are increasingly turning to recruitment agencies. This service is offered by job placement agencies and is designed to match vacant positions with suitable candidates.

The job placement agencies bring applicants and employers together by referring potential employees from Germany and abroad.

Depending on the scope of the service, there are different types of job placement:

1. basic placement (matching supply and demand, mediation/referral of job offers)
2. placement on behalf of employers who need candidates with specific qualifications and expertise (headhunters),
3. placement and supervision of the entire process from recruitment, employment and termination of employment, as well as other additional services.

The job placement agencies offer jobs or employment agreements in Germany on behalf of companies looking for employees. The primary service provided by job placement agencies is matching candidates with companies looking for them. Sometimes they also offer other ancillary services, e.g. support in finding accommodation, registering with authorities, arranging preparatory language courses in the home country or in Germany.

They can also help with official recognition of professional qualifications obtained abroad.

In the preparatory phase, the agencies organise health tests, preparation of visa applications, integration and language courses or testing of language skills (B1- B2 level).

They organise online interviews with potential employers and prepare candidates for the skill level tests or adaptation courses for official recognition of professional qualifications. Some agencies offer a variety of other support services, such as translations, travel and health insurance before entering Germany as well as pick-up service at the airport.

These services can be charged to the applicant or the client. Sometimes they demand payment from both parties for the same service.

Be careful! An additional fee is required for many services.

The job placement agencies almost always charge a fee. You do not have to pay the fee until you have signed an employment agreement. The job placement agency must provide you with a job placement agreement that outlines how much you have to pay in fees and what the agency does for it. The law stipulates that the job placement agency may not demand more than €2,000 from you. This law only applies to the fee for the job placement itself. The additional services of the job placement agency are often subject to a separate fee.

Sometimes it looks like the job placement agencies offer all services for free, even a free language course but this can be deceptive. This is because the placement agencies prepay these benefits for you and collect the money from your employer later. Sometimes they are reimbursed by the companies, depending on the length of your employment with them, for example, through monthly instalments for the first three years of your employment. It becomes problematic if you do not stay with the company for the three years and the job placement agencies do not get their prepaid funds back. In that case, they may claim this money from you. 

Unfortunately, there is no official agency that verifies job placement agencies. Therefore, you must always read contracts very carefully.

A job placement agency should draft the contracts in such a way that it is always clear which services the agency is sure to provide and which services/payments you must provide. All actual services should be clearly defined. Often, the obligations of the job placement agencies are formulated in a very broad and non-binding manner. For example, the contracts do not specify that the job placement agency will only support you in finding a flat instead of actually providing you with a flat. In that case, they could simply refer you to housing advertisements.

The risks should also be presented and discussed in a clearly comprehensible way. What happens if you terminate your employment prematurely or fail the language test? The employment agreement should not only be in German, but also in your native language or at least in English.

You sign the job placement agreement with the job placement agency and the employment agreement with the employer.

Correlations between the two only come into play if you do not comply with the job placement agreement and do not fulfil your obligations. For example, this may be the case if you do not take part in the language course or the lessons for the proficiency test.

Generally, agreements can contain contractual penalty clauses. They enable the contracting party to demand money from you if you do not fulfil all the agreed obligations. Sometimes, however, these agreements are invalid or the penalty is set far too high. If that happens to you, you should definitely seek advice.

Often the services are vaguely formulated. Therefore, it is not always certain that you will actually receive the benefits/services or that the lessons in language courses or the additional lessons needed for recognition of vocational qualifications will actually take place.

Most of the time, the job placement agreement states actions that you must take. For example, it may stipulate periodic participation in a language course including passing the final examination; translation of all documents necessary for recognition of the trained profession; timely VISA application to start work in the company. The duration of the agreement is often mandatory.

The risk here is that you will not be able to take the actions required of you and that the job placement agency will demand a penalty payment from you. The penalty must be clearly stated in the agreement.

Important: There are certain risks!

1. For example, a long-term employment relationship may be agreed if the employer pays for further training for you and releases you from work for this time. Another possibility is that the job placement agency pays for the training for you and asks you to reimburse it later.
    
2. If there are official charges, for example for a visa application or an accreditation notification, you will owe the fees, not the job placement agency. If the job placement agency promised to pay the fees for you and they do not, you will have to pay these fees yourself.
    
3. Sometimes accommodation is included in the agreements. However, the rent for the accommodation may be deducted from your salary and you may have to pay a very high rent. If the agreement is terminated, you can also lose the accommodation very quickly.

No, the job placement agencies are not allowed to do that. However, if this happens to you, the embassy of your country or the police can help you.

Your employment agreement cannot simply be changed. Your employer can only make unilateral changes with proper notification of alteration.

Of course, you can jointly sign a change agreement and, for example, redefine a higher wage. But it is only valid if both sides agree.

The employment agency is itself a job placement agency. The International and Specialized Services division of the German Federal Employment Agency (ZAV, Zentrale Auslands- und Fachvermittlung der Bundesagentur für Arbeit) works closely with other organisations, even in the respective home countries, in an effort to fill positions in Germany with applicants from abroad. At information and selection events abroad, the ZAV presents job openings in German companies and recruits qualified applicants. The current focus is on mechanical, electrical and ICT engineers, technical and IT specialists, doctors and nurses as well as specialists for the hotel and gastronomy industry.

Germany has negotiated special recruitment agreements with some countries. The Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) is also involved in the implementation processes of these agreements.  It also sets the standards for the private job placement agencies that place workers in Germany under these special arrangements.