As of: April 5, 2024, 12:15 p.m
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Split
Many companies promise tempting special benefits in their job offers. However, it is not uncommon for new employees to be disappointed.
There is a shortage of skilled workers in many places, and many companies are desperately looking for capable employees. This also causes changes in the labor market. On the numerous job portals on the Internet, employers no longer entice their potential new employees simply by stating their annual salary. When signing a contract, companies often promise extraordinary benefits, such as free membership in the fitness center or regular special payments.
Benefits in job advertisements are not binding for companies
Many companies promise potential new employees benefits such as sports activities - the companies do not always keep their promises. © Pond5 Images/IMAGO
However, it is not uncommon for new employees to be disappointed to discover after a while that the offers that sounded great and were sometimes hard-negotiated were just empty promises and that neither the use of the sports facility nor the hoped-for bonus money were actually part of the employment contract. Nicole Mutschke is a specialist lawyer for labor law. In an interview with Der
Spiegel
, she explains why it is quite possible that companies do not keep the promised benefits: “What is promised in a job advertisement is not binding at first.” This applies equally to the private sector and to the public service.
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Applicants should under no circumstances rely on offers in job advertisements or verbal promises during the interview. As Mutschke further explains, companies can “basically” promise almost anything in their tenders. Only in a few cases do those affected have the opportunity to subsequently invoke their employer's obligation to provide information. For example, if it was concealed that the company was about to go bankrupt or that the eventual job was absolutely not what the advert advertised.
A labor court must then decide whether the plaintiff is actually entitled to compensation. However, these procedures are often lengthy, expensive and not always successful. In order to avoid trouble of this kind in advance, job candidates should always carefully check the employment contracts presented to them and, if in doubt, consult an expert.