Costs for reminder procedures involving labor law issues (brought after July 1, 2004)

These costs arise during the reminder procedures involving labor law issues:

[Image]  About the costs in general
[Image]  Costs prior to labor court proceedings
[Image]  Legal charges
[Image]  Charges for retaining an attorney
[Image]  Charges for legal execution
About the costs in general
With labour law reminder procedures both sides - the debtors and creditors – must bear the court costs and the attorney fees themselves. This is in contrast from civil court cases and means that even when the creditor can enforce a claim and the debtor repays the debt, the court- and attorney costs must not be paid by the debtor.

Legal expense insurance – If you have legal expense insurance that includes labour law matters, this insurance will as a general rule cover the expenses for the labour law reminder procedure.

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Costs prior to labor court proceedings

Pre-labour court costs are expenditures that arose before requesting the reminder procedure, e.g. your prior efforts in requesting your employer to pay wages and salaries owing.

Typical pre-labour courts costs include:

  • Postage costs
  • Interest
  • Costs for identifying the debtor’s place of residence
  • Costs for reminders (a charge of € 2,50 per reminder is legally accepted)

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Costs for obtaining a legal court order and execution
Calculation of court costs – Labor court charges for issuing a legal late-payment notice depend on the amount of the claim:

Claim amount
up to x.xxx  €

Court costs in €

Claim amount
up to x.xxx.

Court costs in €

900

10

4,750

95

1,050

21

5,000

100

1,200

24

5.500

110

1,350

27

6.000

120

1,500

30

6,500

130

1,750

35

7,000

140

2,000

40

7,500

150

2,250

45

8,000

160

2,500

50

8,500

170

2,750

55

9,000

180

3,000

60

9,500

190

3,250

65

10,000

200

3,500

70

10,500

210

3,750

75

11,000

220

4,000

80

11,500

230

4,250

85

12,000

240

4,500

90

more than 12,000

500

Delivery charges – In addition to the legal expenses, a € 4.50 fee is charged for delivering the court order to the debtor. If there are several debtors, this expense is charged for each debtor.

Charges for the enforcement order – If an enforcement order is needed following a court order because the debtor fails to comply with the payment obligation, no additional legal fees arise to issue an enforcement order.

Maturity of the charges – Legal expenses are considered by the courts upon completion of the dunning.

Charges for the lawsuit - If the debtor files an objection or protest against one of the orders, the proceeding will enter into a lawsuit. For the labour court procedure there are expenses which are credited against the dunning costs. Here legal expenses can be as high as 4.7-fold of the dunning costs. For example, if the claim amount is € 2,500, then 50,00 € is due for the issue of the court order or the enforcement order. There is normally an additional € 75 charge for a possible subsequent lawsuit.

Payment by the debtor – Legal expenses must be paid in all cases by the creditor or the creditor’s defence insurance, even if the debtor settles the claim completely thanks to the dunning procedure.

 

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Charges for retaining an attorney
Calculation of attorney’s fees – If you retain an attorney to issue a late-payment notice, the attorney’s fees and court expenses are based on the amount of the claim:

Claim amount
up to x.xxx. €

Attorneys fees in €

Claim amount
up to x.xxx. €

Attorney’s fees in €

300

25

40,000

902

600

45

45,000

975

900

65

50,000

1,046

1,200

85

65,000

1,123

1,500

105

80,000

1,200

2,000

133

95,000

1,277

2,500

161

110,000

1,354

3,000

189

125,000

1,431

3,500

217

140,000

1,508

4,000

245

155,000

1,585

4,500

273

170,000

1,662

5,000

301

185,000

1,739

6,000

338

200,000

1,816

7,000

375

230,000

1,934

8,000

412

260,000

2,052

9,000

449

290,000

2,170

10,000

486

320,000

2,288

13,000

526

350,000

2,406

16,000

566

380,000

2,524

19,000

606

410,000

2,642

22,000

646

440,000

2,760

25,000

686

470,000

2,878

30,000

758

500,000

2,996

35,000

830

    

Extent of attorney services - The attorney fees cover services for the entire dunning procedure.

Charges for enforcement order - If an enforcement order is required following a court order because the debtor does not comply with the obligation to pay despite the court order, the attorney will levy an additional 0.5-fold charge for issuing an enforcement order based on the claim amount.

Charges for the lawsuit – If the debtor files an objection or protest against one of the orders the proceeding will enter into a lawsuit. The attorney must substantiate in writing why the claim is justified. Here the attorney receives another 0.3-fold charge.

Additional charges occur if a court hearing becomes necessary. A 1.2-fold charge must be paid if a court hearing occurs where the debtor is present or represented. A 0.5-fold charge must be paid if the debtor is not present or represented.

Payment of the debtor – All attorney fees for the court order or enforcement order must be paid by the creditor or the creditor’s legal insurance even if the debtor fully settles the claim thanks to the dunning procedure.

All information is presented to the best of our knowledge. We assume no responsibility for its correctness.

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