AGG Complaints Office: Obligation, structure and evidence according to Section 13 AGG

According to Section 13 Paragraph 1 of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), in force since August 18, 2006 and last amended by the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act of October 23, 2024, every employer in Germany is obliged to designate a responsible body to which employees can lodge complaints about discrimination for racist reasons, ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, disability, etc age or sexual identity. The obligation applies from the first employee, regardless of industry, size and legal form. The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency registered a total of 10,772 requests for advice in 2024, an increase of 27 percent compared to 2023.

This article is aimed at management, human resources management and legal departments who either want to set up the AGG complaints office for the first time or want to check the existing office for audit integrity. You will find out what Section 13 AGG specifically requires, what tasks the complaints office has in day-to-day business, how it is to be distinguished from the internal reporting office according to the Whistleblower Protection Act, what documentation supervisory authorities and labour courts want to see and how CIVAC operationally represents the role as a compliance platform and officer-as-a-service. Both models are covered: the workspace for internal representatives and the external appointment by CIVAC as part of a mandate.

§ 13 AGG is only three short paragraphs long, but has far-reaching consequences for every employer organisation. Paragraph 1 obliges the employer to determine the responsible body for complaints. Paragraph 2 refers to the supplementary right to lodge a complaint with the works or staff council, without replacing it. Paragraph 3 makes it clear that the employer must actively inform employees of the name and how to reach the position. A specific form is not required, but the Federal Labour Court made it clear in its ruling of May 16, 2007 (file number 8 AZR 709/06) that the announcement must be made in a verifiable manner, for example via a notice board, intranet, employee handbook or employment contract appendix. According to established case law, a mere verbal mention in the interview is not enough.

The complaints office can be freely chosen. The HR management, the compliance officer, an external ombudsperson, the company doctor, a law firm or a specialised service provider may be considered. The person must be accessible, qualified and independent. In the decision of October 13, 2016 (8 AZR 109/16), the Federal Labour Court emphasised that the appointment of a high-ranking person alone is not enough if this person lacks professional training in anti-discrimination law. You can find a complete overview of the role, including the appointment certificate template and rules of procedure, on our role page for the AGG Complaints Office. The obligation under § 13 AGG is in addition to the training obligation under § 12 paragraph 2 AGG, the posting obligation under § 12 paragraph 5 AGG and the ban on reprimands under § 16 AGG. All four duties operate side by side and complement each other. It is also relevant in practice that the announcement should be made in German and, for international workforces, in the respective working language. The appointment certificate is signed personally by the managing director or board of directors; delegation to the human resources department is possible, but then the power of attorney must be in writing.

The core task is to receive, examine and respond to complaints in accordance with Section 13 AGG. Employees can complain in writing, orally, in person or anonymously if they feel disadvantaged because of one of the eight criteria of discrimination. The body must document each complaint, clarify the facts, listen to the people affected, communicate the outcome in writing and, if necessary, propose corrective measures. § 12 Paragraph 3 AGG obliges the employer to take appropriate, necessary and appropriate measures if discrimination is discovered, starting with a warning and transfer through to the extraordinary termination of the responsible employee or employees.

Operationally, this means a defined input channel via e-mail inbox, information portal or telephone number, a written procedural order with responsibilities and representation, a confirmation of receipt within seven days analogous to the deadline in § 17 HinSchG, a clarification period of usually 30 days and a final notification with comprehensible reasons. CIVAC structures these steps in the workspace with 490 ready-to-use audit templates, including confirmation of receipt, hearing minutes, final notice, action plan and annual report to management. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives, or have our representatives order it. The reporting line ensures direct escalation to management with a time stamp and read confirmation so that the employer can provide evidence in accordance with Section 12 Paragraph 3 AGG. Escalation thresholds are already set in the template, for example in the event of repeated complaints against the same manager or if criminal acts are suspected. The rules of procedure determine in which cases the complaints office decides itself, in which it proposes a measure to the management and in which external arbitration or mediation is offered. Employees receive a simplified overview of the procedure in the form of one-page information.

The complaint office is appointed by the management in writing. The appointment certificate states the first and last name, the function, the accessibility, the time of effectiveness and the powers transferred. It is stored in the appointed person's personnel file and in the AGG file folder. The announcement is made in parallel to all employees, usually by posting on the bulletin board in accordance with Section 12 Paragraph 5 AGG, by publication on the intranet and by inclusion in the employee handbook. The Federal Labour Court has ruled in several judgments that simply mentioning it in the employment contract is not enough if the contract is five years old and the employee does not actively know or contact the person. An annual refresher information is therefore de facto standard, even if the law does not specify a fixed frequency.

The rules of procedure describe the process from receipt to completion of a complaint. It contains deadlines, responsibilities, representation regulations, escalation paths to management, documentation obligations, data protection information in accordance with Art. 13 GDPR and measures to protect against reprimands of the complaining person. CIVAC supplies the rules of procedure as a German template, which can be adapted to the specific company structure in 30 minutes. The appointment certificate, signed, filed, verifiable. The template references § 12, § 13, § 15 and § 16 AGG and names the special regulations relevant to the respective industry, such as § 75 BetrVG for co-determined companies and § 67 BPersVG for the public service. Adjustments for group structures, foreign subsidiaries and matrix organisations can be accessed as modules and rely on structural data already stored in the platform so that there are no duplicate entries. The rules of procedure are countersigned by the data protection officer so that data processing is checked and approved in accordance with the GDPR.

Since July 2, 2023, companies with 50 or more employees must also set up an internal reporting office in accordance with Section 12 of the HinSchG. The AGG Complaint Office and the HinSchG Reporting Office are not identical and may not simply be merged. The AGG Complaints Office processes discrimination complaints within the meaning of the eight features of Section 1 AGG, while the HinSchG Reporting Office processes reports of violations of criminal law, tax law, data protection law and 14 other legal areas of Section 2 HinSchG. A dual personnel function is permissible, but procedurally two separate procedures must be carried out because the protection rules, deadlines and confidentiality obligations are designed with different levels of strictness and result in different sanctions.

Specifically, Section 17 HinSchG prescribes confirmation of receipt in seven days and feedback in three months, with strict confidentiality and identity protection obligations in accordance with Section 8 HinSchG. § 13 AGG does not recognise such fixed deadlines, but the special prohibition on disciplinary measures under § 16 AGG applies here with independent consequences for damages. If you combine both roles in one person, you need two file management systems, two procedural rules and clear routing at the entrance. The CIVAC platform automatically sorts incoming reports according to keywords and self-declaration of the person providing the information and places them in the relevant file. Others run compliance like a filing cabinet. We run it like software. You can find out more about the HinSchG role on the page Whistleblower Protection Reporting Office. A later recategorization is possible as long as it is recorded and is transparent to the person providing the information. Anyone who combines both roles gains operational efficiency, but must be able to prove the legal separation in the filing system. The data protection officer and the compliance officer are included in both procedural regulations so that duplication of work is avoided and conflicts between the areas of responsibility are identified at an early stage. The respective person also discloses the role in which they act in the individual case so that confidentiality and intellectual property rights are not lost due to confusion.

In the AGG process, a graduated burden of proof applies. According to § 22 AGG, it is sufficient if the plaintiff presents evidence that suggests discrimination, then the burden of proof is reversed and the employer must prove that there was no discrimination or that it was objectively justified. In this constellation, the documentation from the complaints office determines the outcome of the process. In its ruling of March 14, 2024 (file number 5 Sa 982/23), the Berlin-Brandenburg State Labour Court awarded compensation of 7,500 euros because the employer had not documented receipt of a complaint. Conversely, clean documentation protects against claims for damages and supports management during external audits.

The minimum scope of the file includes the appointment certificate, the rules of procedure, the confirmation of receipt, the hearing minutes, the notification of results, the action plan and the annual report. In terms of data protection law, Art. 5 and Art. 32 GDPR apply with the principles of purpose limitation, data minimization and technical-organisational measures. The retention period is at least three years in accordance with Section 15 Paragraph 4 AGG, in many cases longer due to pension relevance and compensation periods according to Section 195 BGB. CIVAC stores all documents encrypted under an EU data residence with access protocol, four-eyes principle for final notices and automatic deletion routine after the retention period has expired. The auditor calls, the evidence is ready. If you keep the file centrally in the workspace, you avoid typical breaks between the HR, compliance and legal departments, which regularly lead to gaps in evidence in processes. The file remains confidential in any case and can only be viewed by the appointed person, their representative and, in the event of a dispute, the court. To preserve evidence, it is also recommended to briefly release documents for destruction before the retention period expires, which is documented in the workspace with a time stamp. In this way, the life cycle of the file itself can be verified.

§ 12 Paragraph 2 AGG obliges the employer to provide employees with appropriate training to protect them from discrimination. In its guidelines from February 2024, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency recommends at least one annual training unit of 90 minutes, documented with a list of participants, a summary of the contents and individual confirmation of participation. New employees must be trained within the first 60 days. Managers with human resources responsibility need advanced training on appraisal procedures, promotion decisions, job advertisements and conflict moderation. The training of the complaints office itself goes beyond this and covers the law of evidence, hearing techniques, data protection and the prohibition of reprimands.

Section 12 paragraph 5 AGG requires the display of the legal text and the announcement of the complaints office. For purely teleworking positions, the notice is replaced by an electronic publication with an activated confirmation requirement. The annual AGG report to the management summarizes the number of complaints, the subject areas, the processing time, the results and the measures derived. CIVAC generates the annual report from the workspace logs in 20 minutes, including graphical evaluation according to discrimination feature and location. The CIVAC SLA for the complete AGG package consisting of the appointment certificate, rules of procedure, notice template, training module and annual report is two working days instead of the classic two to six weeks. Audit-proof, documented, § 13 AGG-proof. The annual report can also be supplemented with an anonymized diversity indicator if the company fulfils ESG reporting obligations under the CSRD. The annual report also supports reporting on social factors in the CSRD sustainability statement without the need for double data entry. The workforce receives an anonymous short version of the report to strengthen the basis of trust. The content of the training units is updated annually because the case law on indirect discrimination, harassment in the workplace and promotion procedures is constantly changing. The CIVAC platform automatically delivers the updates to the training plan.

The complaints office can be staffed internally or externally. Section 13 AGG contains no restrictions on this issue. In practice, companies often resort to an external ombudsperson when internal staffing levels are thin, when perceived proximity to management increases the inhibition threshold for complaints, or when special discretion is required, for example in cases of suspicion against managers. In its judgment of November 22, 2022 (file number 8 Ca 384/21), the Hamburg Labour Court determined that an external ombudsperson meets the requirements of Section 13 AGG, provided that it is appointed in writing, made known to employees and has the necessary powers. The order must also be actively communicated and not just passively stored on the intranet.

The limits of the external order lie in the accessibility during normal business hours in German, in the data residency (personal data may not leave the EU without protection guarantees according to Chapter V GDPR) and in the binding nature of the proposals. The external person cannot decide on personnel measures on his own authority, but he can propose them in a binding manner for the employer. CIVAC appoints the external AGG complaints office as an officer-as-a-service via German fully qualified lawyers with AGG specialization. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives, or have our representatives order it. The mandate includes the appointment certificate, accessibility by email and telephone, monthly check-in, annual staff training and the AGG annual report. Data is stored in Frankfurt under ISO/IEC 27001:2022 with 93 controls. The monthly reporting to the management is structured via the CIVAC reporting line and is stored in a comprehensible manner in the workspace. If you later switch from an external mandate to an internal solution, CIVAC will take care of the orderly handover of the file and hand over the checked rules of procedure to your new representative.

Anyone who does not set up a complaint office or only fulfils the obligation formally risks compensation according to Section 15 Paragraph 2 AGG, fines according to Section 130 OWiG and reputational consequences in the press and social media. Section 15 Paragraph 2 AGG provides for compensation of up to three months' salary for the person discriminated against, in recruitment matters up to three monthly gross salaries of the position offered, and in non-recruitment matters there is no fixed upper limit. In the decision of April 28, 2022 (file number 8 AZR 314/21), the Federal Labour Court confirmed compensation of 12,000 euros because the complaints office could not be reached and the company had not updated the notice in the break room.

In addition, there is the risk of a collective action according to Section 23 AGG as well as public attention if the federal anti-discrimination agency issues statements or press releases published. Section 130 OWiG also imposes fines on board members for breaches of supervisory duties, in practice up to 1 million euros per incident. CIVAC reduces this risk through a documented order, a contactable person, a verified procedure and a central file in the workspace. Deadline begins as soon as we become aware of it. For corporations with multiple locations and subsidiaries, CIVAC offers a matrix configuration with a central reporting line to the corporate legal department without diluting the legal responsibility of the respective employer unit. More about the combined compliance architecture on the Compliance Officer Role Page. The risk assessment is updated every six months. A standardised escalation matrix ensures that every case is placed in the correct processing line within 24 hours. If inaction is found several times, the labour court can also allow a representative action, which significantly worsens the reputational consequences. The workspace documents every reaction completely and reduces the process risk.

If you want to set up the AGG complaints office or check the existing office for audit integrity, you go through three steps. First: a 30-minute screening with the CIVAC Compliance Matrix clarifies the status quo, identifies gaps in the order, notice, procedure and documentation and prioritises the measures. Second: choice of model. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives, or have our representatives order it. Third: conclusion of contract, delivery of appointment certificate, rules of procedure, notice and training package within two working days, plus inclusion in the central compliance file with EU data residency and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 ISMS including 93 controls.

CIVAC is a compliance platform and officer-as-a-service based in Frankfurt, 25 officer roles live and 490 ready for use Audit templates. The AGG complaint office is managed in the workspace together with the HinSchG reporting office, the compliance officer and the data protection officer, without data mixing and with a separate authorisation scheme per role and per case. Turn reading into an assignment. Write to info@civac.de or use the contact form on civac.de to arrange the AGG screening. The screening is non-binding, lasts 30 minutes and ends with a written recommendation on the order, model, schedule and, if necessary, a training plan for the workforce. Upon request, we will provide references from comparable companies under NDA. Consultation appointments are usually available within five working days; an early appointment is possible in acute cases. If requested, we can personally accompany the first announcement of the new complaints office to the workforce, for example in an all-hands event or via video. The inclusion of the AGG complaints office in the CIVAC system can also be combined with an introductory phase in which existing cases are taken over and systematically transferred to the central file so that no procedure is lost.