Declaratory claim for existence of employment relationship: failure to establish substantive prerequisites for declaratory relief under German civil procedure and labour law

The Federal Labour Court reversed the Lower Court of Labour of Lower Saxony’s ruling in favor of the claimant and rejected his appeal in its entirety, thereby upholding the defendant’s defense against the declaratory claim. The dispute concerned an employee’s request for a declaratory judgment confirming the existence of a specific employment-law matter, which the Lower Court had granted but the Labour Court had dismissed. The decisive legal basis was the assessment that the claimant failed to establish the prerequisites for the requested declaratory relief under German civil procedure and labour law standards, resulting in the plaintiff bearing 96% of the first and second instance costs and 100% of the revision costs.