German employees’ statutory notice entitlement is linked to their length of service, as in section 86 of the UK’s Employment Rights Act 1996. However, in Germany, service completed before an employee’s 25th birthday is not included in the calculation. The claimant in this case argued this was age discriminatory. The German Higher Labour Court referred this and another question on national court procedure to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling.

On the question of age discrimination, the ECJ decided the German law did give less favourable treatment to employees who entered an employer’s service before the age of 25.