AGG training for employees online: Mandatory, content and evidence in the audit

According to Section 12 Paragraph 2 AGG, the employer is obliged to point out in an appropriate manner the inadmissibility of discrimination due to the characteristics of Section 1 AGG and to ensure that such discrimination does not occur. The standard applies to every employer, regardless of the number of employees. According to Section 12 Paragraph 2 Sentence 2 AGG, training that has been carried out is considered fulfilment of the obligations from sentence 1.

Anyone who treats AGG training as a purely compulsory exercise is overlooking two consequences. Firstly, the labour court effect: According to the case law of the Federal Labour Court, documented training has a relief in discrimination proceedings. Secondly, the preventive effect: In the event of a dispute, the court examines whether the employer has fulfilled its overall obligations under Section 12 AGG. This article explains the mandatory content, the requirements for online formats, the documentation, the interface to the complaints office and the consequences of failing to provide training.

The General Equal Treatment Act of August 14, 2006 protects employees from discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual identity. Section 12 Paragraph 1 obliges the employer to take measures to prevent such disadvantages. Paragraph 2 specifies: The employer should point out in an appropriate manner, particularly within the framework of vocational training and further training, the inadmissibility of such disadvantages and work to ensure that these are avoided.

Section 13 AGG obliges the establishment of a responsible body to which employees can turn with complaints about disadvantages. The complaints office and the training belong together. Without a named and internally announced complaint body, the wording of the training remains incomplete. An external appointment of the AGG complaints office is possible and is common in medium-sized businesses. CIVAC offers the order as an officer-as-a-service as part of the AGG complaint office.

An auditable AGG training course covers seven subject areas. (1) Protective features according to § 1 AGG with concrete examples from applications, hiring, promotion, termination of the employment relationship and everyday operational life. (2) Distinction between direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment. (3) Permissible different treatment according to § 8 to § 10 AGG, for example due to professional requirements, religion or age, each with examples from the case law of the BAG.

(4) Obligations of the employer according to § 12 AGG and sanction mechanisms, including damages and compensation according to § 15 AGG. (5) Burden of proof rules according to Section 22 AGG with the result that the evidence speaks in favor of the disadvantaged person. (6) Right to complain according to Section 13 AGG, right to refuse performance according to Section 14 AGG. (7) Behaviour as a manager and as a colleague when discrimination is observed, including an escalation path to the complaints office. A complete training course takes 45 to 75 minutes online and ends with a knowledge query. CIVAC integrates the training into the workspace with version history and automated participation documentation.

§ 12 AGG refers to all employees within the meaning of § 6 AGG. This includes employees, trainees, employee-like persons, applicants and employees whose employment relationship has ended, as far as follow-up obligations are concerned. In practice, the employer trains three groups: all existing employees at least once, new employees in onboarding within the first few weeks, and managers with an in-depth program for personnel selection, evaluation and promotion.

Temporary workers must be trained by the hiring company. Contractors and self-employed people are not included unless there is an employee-like relationship. An annual refresher is not required by law, but is common practice in larger organisations and is often agreed upon in employment contracts. In the event of a dispute, the labour court will ask for the last documented training date. If it was more than three years ago, the relief effect according to Section 12 Paragraph 2 Sentence 2 AGG becomes unstable.

The law does not prescribe a format. Online training is permissible and the standard in medium-sized companies because it scales, documents and verifiably repeats. In order for online AGG training to meet the requirements of Section 12 Paragraph 2 AGG, five criteria should be met. Firstly, identifiable participation: Each participant completes the training using their own user ID. Collective accounts invalidate the proof.

Secondly, complete processing: Jumping through the modules must be technically impossible, but at least documented. Thirdly, knowledge test at the end with a defined minimum score. Fourth, documented confirmation of participation with date and content version. Fifth, regularly updating the content to reflect current case law. An online training course from 2019 will no longer be up to date in 2026. Each training version is stored in the CIVAC Workspace with the version date so that participants in an old version can be visible and can be specifically trained. Audit-proof, documented, § 12 AGG-proof.

The documentation of an AGG training course contains six components. (1) Training content with version number and update date. (2) List of participants with name, function, department, date of participation and, if applicable, score of the knowledge survey. (3) Proof of identifiable registration, for example via the connection to central identity management. (4) Proof of the mandatory content via the module table of contents.

(5) Proof of announcement to the workforce, usually via the intranet or a circular email. (6) Documentation of the order and accessibility of the complaints office in accordance with Section 13 AGG. Anyone who can present these six components within hours in a labour court dispute or in an audit of the supervisory authority has fulfilled the formal obligation. Anyone who collects them from emails and Sharepoint folders risks the relief effect. The appointment certificate, signed, filed, verifiable. More about the platform dimension on the CIVAC facts page.

The complaints office is the second pillar of Section 12 AGG. It must be named, accessible and known internally. In practice, employers choose between three options. First variant: internal HR management or dedicated HR role. Advantage: Proximity to the workforce. Disadvantage: possible conflict of interest in complaints against managers. Second variant: joint position with works council. Advantage: acceptance. Disadvantage: conflicts of responsibility and processing times.

Third variant: external complaints office. Advantage: Independence, confidentiality, professional processing, uniform documentation. An external AGG complaints office is set up via an appointment certificate with a scope of tasks, a reporting line to management and a defined response time. CIVAC appoints the AGG Complaints Office as Officer-as-a-Service with the same appointment document as all other 25 officer roles. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives, or have our representatives order it. The interface to the internal reporting office according to HinSchG is maintained in parallel.

Failed or inadequate AGG training has three consequences. Firstly, the relief effect pursuant to Section 12 Paragraph 2 Sentence 2 AGG no longer applies. In discrimination proceedings, the employer then bears the full burden of proof in accordance with Section 22 AGG. Evidence of discrimination is already reversing the burden of proof. A lack of training significantly increases the evidence.

Secondly, there is a risk of damages and compensation according to Section 15 AGG. In case law, compensation without financial loss ranges between one and three gross monthly salaries, or more in individual cases. Compensation for lost transport, lost income or travel costs for unsuccessful application procedures is also included. Thirdly, reputational damage occurs in B2B sales. Supplier and customer codes of conduct increasingly require proof of functioning AGG structures, in addition to supply chain care according to LkSG. Anyone who cannot deliver here will lose tenders. Others run compliance like a filing cabinet. We run it like software.

In medium-sized companies, a self-constructed AGG training course costs two to four person-days to create, plus annual maintenance in the event of legal changes. In addition, there are shipping, reminders, participation recording, knowledge queries, evaluation. A platform-supported solution with ready-made, maintained content, single sign-on, automatic reminders and consolidated evaluation reduces the annual effort to just a few hours of administration.

More important than the hours saved is the verifiable quality. A central learning platform with version history shows at all times which content version which person has completed. An update of the content, for example on the BAG's case law on sexual harassment, reaches all employees within a few days. The CIVAC Workspace integrates AGG training, AGG complaints office and the interface to the internal reporting office according to HinSchG into an evidence layer with EU data residence. The auditor calls, the evidence is ready. More information about whistleblower protection: Whistleblower Protection Reporting Office.

An AGG training course only fulfils its purpose if its content is complete, organizationally achievable, documented and procedurally linked to the complaints office in accordance with Section 13 AGG. Online formats are the only scalable answer in medium-sized companies, as long as identification, completeness and knowledge retrieval are technically adhered to. The relief effect in the event of a dispute does not depend on a nice set of slides, but on the verifiability of each step.

CIVAC is a German compliance platform and officer-as-a-service with EU data residency and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 ISMS. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives, or have our representatives order it. The AGG complaints office is set up via an appointment certificate within two working days, and the online training including knowledge queries is available from day one. Turn reading into an assignment. Write to info@civac.de or use the contact form for a 30-minute scoping discussion.