The background

The focus is on a social education worker who worked at a Catholic pregnancy counseling service run by Caritas. During her parental leave, she left the Catholic Church. The reason was the church fees levied by the diocese of Limburg. She was dismissed shortly afterwards. The special thing: Church membership was not actually a requirement for her job. People who were not Catholic also worked for her employer.

Why was the termination problematic?

Church employers are generally allowed to make religious demands on their employees on the basis of their constitutionally protected right to self-determination. However, this right is not unlimited. It must be in line with European anti-discrimination law – in particular the Equal Treatment Framework Directive 2000/78/EC. Accordingly, a religious requirement may only be imposed if it constitutes a genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirement by the nature of the activity.

The Advocate General at the ECJ had already tended to classify the dismissal as inadmissible in her Opinion. Although the ECJ itself took a more differentiated approach in its ruling and gave more weight to the church’s right to self-determination, it also came to the same conclusion: If a job is also carried out by non-church members, church membership cannot be a mandatory professional requirement. In this case, dismissal solely on the grounds of leaving the church constitutes discrimination under the Equal Treatment Framework Directive 2000/78/EC.

What does the ruling mean for employees?

The ruling significantly strengthens the rights of employees.

In future, this will be simplified:

• Leaving the church must not automatically lead to dismissal.
• The decisive factor is whether the religious affiliation is really necessary for the specific activity.
• Employers must give more detailed reasons why a dismissal is justified.

This means that employees in church institutions are better protected than before.

And what does this mean for church employers?

It is becoming more difficult for church employers to invoke their special status.

You will have to provide clear evidence in future:

• Why a particular religious requirement is important for the job.
• Whether the employee’s behavior actually violates the church’s mission.

A blanket reference to “duties of loyalty” is no longer sufficient.

A step towards more equal treatment

The ruling is part of a series of decisions that strengthen the rights of employees vis-à-vis church employers. The ECJ has already emphasized in previous cases that churches must also comply with European anti-discrimination law.

Classification and significance

The ruling has far-reaching consequences, and not just for this specific case. Many people in Germany work for church organizations, for example in hospitals, daycare centers or social institutions. For them, the decision means more job security. The decisive factor is therefore whether the specific institution also fills positions with people of other faiths or non-beliefs and whether religious affiliation is a decisive factor for the job. At the same time, there is still an area of tension: Churches may continue to protect their values, but not indefinitely. There must be an appropriate balance of interests between the religious beliefs of the church and the employee’s interest in non-discriminatory employment. A danger to the church’s world view must appear probable and significant, so that strict standards must be applied to a dismissal.

Key message: More security for employees of church employers

The ECJ ruling clearly shows that leaving the church alone is not enough to justify dismissal, at least not if religious affiliation does not play a central role in the job and non-believing employees are also employed. This is an important signal for employees. For employers, it means: take a close look and give good reasons.

You can also find out what rights you have in the event of dismissal in our podcast episode “Dismissal from the employer’s perspective“.