Labor Law: Enforceability of an Agreement Regarding an Employment Reference
A court settlement in unfair dismissal proceedings that obliges the employer to issue a reference letter based on the employee’s own draft is an enforceable title – and failure to comply can trigger enforcement proceedings. Germany’s Federal Labour Court (BAG) has confirmed this in a landmark ruling dated 7 May 2026 (Case No. 8 AZB 25/25).
The case involved a former hospital director whose ex-employer refused to issue the agreed reference, disputing the duties described in the draft. The employee applied for a coercive fine under § 888 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO), but was initially unsuccessful before the Düsseldorf Regional Labour Court, which held that the settlement lacked sufficient certainty to be enforceable.
The BAG overruled this assessment. The court’s 8th Senate clarified that a settlement granting the employee the right to submit a draft reference – from which the employer may deviate only for good cause – constitutes a sufficiently definite enforceable title within the meaning of § 794(1)(1) ZPO. The fact that the draft did not yet exist at the time the settlement was concluded is irrelevant: it can be produced later in the enforcement proceedings. Equally, the employer’s limited right to deviate on grounds of truthfulness and clarity (§ 109(2) of the German Trade Regulation Act) does not affect the settlement’s enforceability.
In the specific case, no fine was ultimately imposed, as the employer had raised substantive objections regarding the accuracy of the reference – questions that must be resolved in separate main proceedings if necessary. For practitioners and employees alike, the message is clear: the right to enforce a reference commitment under a settlement is real. Anchoring the draft directly in the settlement agreement eliminates ambiguity and significantly strengthens the employee’s position.
