31 Jan 2025

Complaints office in the company

Companies in Germany are legally obliged to have a complaints office for employees who are discriminated against in the workplace. 

It is not uncommon for employees to become victims of discriminatory behaviour in the workplace. Examples include women who are sexually harassed or foreign employees who are subjected to racist insults. Employers must take certain precautions to track and prevent such incidents. This includes setting up a company complaints centre. 

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Contact point for discrimination

The obligation to Company complaints office The obligation to have or set up an equal treatment programme is set out in Section 13 of the German General Equal Treatment Act (AGG). According to this provision, employees have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent bodies of the company if they feel that they have been feel discriminated against by their employer, superiors, other employees or third parties in connection with their employment relationship because of a characteristic mentioned in § 1 AGG.

A complaint may be lodged in the event of discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual identity. 

Disadvantage or discrimination "because of race" refers to "racial" discrimination in terms of content. The use of the term "race" in this context is controversial, as scientifically all people belong to the same race and therefore there are no different human races. There are therefore endeavours to replace the term "race" in the legal context, particularly in the German Basic Law. 

Important: The obligation to set up a complaints office exists regardless of the size of the company. Small and medium-sized companies must also set up such a centre. 

Who is authorised to be the complaints office?

The designation of the complaints office falls within the organisational sovereignty of the employer. This means that companies can decide for themselves where to locate the complaints office and who to entrust with this task. 

For example, it is possible to appoint a specific employee as a person of trust and have this person act as a "complaints centre". However, you can also use an existing body as a complaints office, such as the works council or the HR department. 

Make sure that the complaints office acts independently and enjoys the trust of the employees. 

Tip: The complaints office should have at least one female representative so that a person of the same sex is available as a contact person in cases of discrimination that mainly affect women. This is particularly important in cases of sexual harassment. 

Complaints office must be accessible to all employees

The complaints office must be accessible to all employees. This applies not only in terms of space (keyword "accessibility"), but also in terms of time. The "opening hours" of the complaints office should be such that part-time employees and employees working shifts also have the opportunity to visit the complaints office. 

Publicise the complaints office in the company 

To ensure that employees have the opportunity to use the complaints office, employers must inform employees where the complaints office can be found and when it can be contacted. 

Make sure that you also send this information to new employees. For employees who do not speak German well, it may be advisable to provide the information in their native language. 

Complaints office

Tasks of the complaints office

The first task of the complaints office is to 

  • examine incoming complaints 
  • to clarify the facts described in the complaint as far as possible 

It must therefore also endeavour to find out whether the circumstances underlying the complaint occurred as described. The result of this investigation must be communicated to the person who made the complaint. 

If the complaints office comes to the conclusion that the complaint is justified and informs the employer of this, the employer must take action and take the necessary measures to protect the person concerned. This duty of protection on the part of the employer arises from Section 12 AGG.

Reporting office in accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act

Companywhich At least 50 employees are also obliged to have a Reporting office in accordance with whistleblower protection to be set up. This refers to a contact point for people who wish to report internal breaches of the law (so-called whistleblowers). 

In principle, the reporting centres have a duty to process incoming reports and follow them up. According to the legislator, reports received anonymously "should" also be processed. 

The reporting office can be either a individual as well as a department function. It is also possible to use an external service provider as a reporting centre. Private companies with fewer than 250 employees may join forces to set up an internal reporting centre and operate a joint reporting centre. 

Employers must ensure that the tasks and duties arising in connection with the hotline do not lead to conflicts of interest. The reporting office must be informed about the "Necessary expertise" available. 

It is also permitted to appoint a central office that acts both as a reporting centre for whistleblowers and as a complaints office under the AGG.