In Germany, can he start a lawsuit against his employer?

[Anonymous]

One of my German friends has been hired by a company in Köln 4-5 months ago. He is able to perform his job remotely and therefore he had asked his employer if he can move to Poland and work remotely but unfortunately, his employer rejected this. Yesterday, my friend furiously told me that he thinks of starting a lawsuit because some people in his company work from home remotely but he is not allowed.

I am not really familiar with German law but in any case, his employer would not want to work with him anymore. Besides, I really don't think my friend would won the lawsuit unless it is clearly stated in his contract that he can start working remotely anytime. Am I correct?

[BetaBucks]

I'm 100% certain that an employer can reject a request to move countries. Unless it was contractually agreed to ahead of time. There are a ton of reasons for this. Some are even a legal requirement for the company itself (this is my company's case). As far as switching to remote, within the same country, this will most likely be answered in your contract. Unless Germany has a law that requires companies to allow remote work (like for covid reasons) then your friend's only real chance for forcing them to accept a remote work situation would be if he can articulate some form of discrimination against a protected class. Like, imagine he's the only Jew in the company, and also the only person in the company that can't work remotely.

[DryGermanGuy]

He would have to check his contract and that of others. I doubt the current law is on his side. He also could be fired within the first six months without reason.