Church Membership as a Hiring Requirement
Updated: Aug 23
Church employers in Germany may make church membership a hiring requirement, but not for every position. The Bundesarbeitsgericht (Federal Labour Court) has now closed a dispute that ran for more than thirteen years through every instance, including the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) (judgment of 21 May 2026, case no. 8 AZR 194/25 (F)); the full reasons have been available since 19 August. The decisive question: what does the job description say?
1. The Case: A Policy Officer Role With an Outward-Facing Profile
A church body attached to the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (Protestant Church in Germany) advertised a part-time policy officer position in November 2012, initially for two years. The core task was the parallel report on Germany's state report on the implementation of the UN anti-racism convention. Alongside that came position papers and specialist contributions, committee work, and project-related representation of the organisation towards politics, the public and human rights organisations.
Applicants were expected to belong to a Protestant church or to a church within the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen (Council of Christian Churches in Germany) and to identify with the diaconal mission. The applicant had no religious denomination. She was not invited to an interview; a Protestant candidate was hired.
She then claimed compensation for discrimination on grounds of religion under Section 15 (2) AGG (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz = General Equal Treatment Act), at least 9,788.65 euros. The Arbeitsgericht (labour court of first instance) awarded her 1,957.73 euros; the Landesarbeitsgericht (regional labour court) dismissed the claim in full.
2. The Decision: A Genuine Occupational Requirement
The applicant's appeal on points of law was unsuccessful. No compensation is due to her.
The Eighth Senate did not question that the advertisement points to discrimination on grounds of religion. It was justified here all the same, by way of Section 9 (1) alt. 2 AGG. The senate reads that provision in the light of EU law and the constitution: the self-understanding of the religious community must be respected, and depending on the nature of the activity and the circumstances in which it is carried out, denomination can be a “genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirement”. Alternatively, it is enough that requiring church membership is appropriate, necessary and proportionate for the role in question.
What tipped the balance was the task of representing the organisation externally – as expressly set out in the job description. What matters is therefore how the individual position is defined; the employer's status as a church institution is still not enough on its own.
3. The Reversal After Karlsruhe
Eight years ago the same senate assessed the same advertisement differently. Following a preliminary ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (judgment of 17 April 2018, case no. C-414/16), the Federal Labour Court awarded the applicant 3,915.46 euros in 2018 (judgment of 25 October 2018, case no. 8 AZR 501/14).
The church employer then took the case to Karlsruhe. The Federal Constitutional Court upheld its constitutional complaint, set the judgment aside and sent the case back to Erfurt (Second Senate, decision of 29 September 2025, case no. 2 BvR 934/19). The renewed review was therefore measured against Article 4 (2) of Directive 2000/78/EC together with Article 4 of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) in conjunction with Article 140 Basic Law and Article 137 (3) sentence 1 Weimarer Reichsverfassung (Weimar Constitution), that is, the right of churches to self-determination.
In the new balancing exercise the Eighth Senate expressly departed from its 2018 judgment. The room for manoeuvre of church employers is likely to be noticeably wider than in the years in between. It depends, however, on something the employer controls itself: how a position is described can determine whether the church membership required for it can later be justified.
Unsure whether church membership may be required for a position?
Whether a denominational clause in a job advertisement holds up is decided by the individual position and by how its duties are described.
If you are a church employer filling a position, or an applicant who has been turned down for not belonging to a church, we offer you a short, free initial assessment. In this conversation we will clarify how your situation should be assessed and which next steps make sense.
