Labour law

General Equal Treatment Act (AGG)

German anti-discrimination law covering employment and civil-law areas, addressing gender, age, origin, religion and more.

The General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) has been Germany's central anti-discrimination law since 2006. It protects employees and candidates from disadvantage on grounds of gender, age, ethnic origin, religion or worldview, disability, and sexual identity – both in hiring processes and during ongoing employment.

Concretely this means: job postings must be gender-neutral ("m/w/d"), selection criteria must not unjustifiably rely on protected attributes, and employers must take active preventive measures such as training and complaints procedures. Anyone who was disadvantaged can claim damages – deadlines are short, often only two months from awareness.

In hiring, questions about pregnancy, religion or family plans are generally not permitted. Not every difference in treatment is discriminatory – objective reasons such as specific professional requirements or protection from harm can justify permissible exceptions.

Lunigi supports low-discrimination selection by matching profiles semantically rather than relying on photo, age or name as a primary criterion.

    AGG – Scope, Examples & Workplace Protection | Lunigi