Sexual harassment at work is not a “personal matter” you have to manage on your own — under German law it is a prohibited form of discrimination, and the legal duty to stop it lies with your employer, not with you (§ 12 AGG). If your employer fails to act, you have enforceable rights: a formal complaint procedure, financial compensation, in narrow cases even the right to stay away from work on full pay. For international employees, who often lack the informal networks German colleagues rely on and may worry about visa or job security, knowing these rights early makes a real difference. This article explains the legal framework factually and what to do first. It is written from the employee’s perspective — we represent employees only.
What counts as sexual harassment (§ 3(4) AGG)
Sexual harassment is any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of the person concerned — in particular where it creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. The statute expressly includes:
- Unwanted sexual acts and requests for such acts.
- Sexually determined physical contact — including “incidental” touching.
- Remarks of a sexual nature — comments about your body, sexual “jokes”, intrusive questions about your private life.
- Unwanted showing or visible display of pornographic images.
Three points employees often get wrong:
- A single incident can be enough. There is no requirement of a repeated “pattern”.
- “Unwanted” is judged from your perspective. You do not have to have protested or “made clear” beforehand that the conduct was unwelcome — objectively recognisable unwantedness suffices.
- Digital conduct counts. Late-night messages, unsolicited images, comments in team chats — the medium is irrelevant.
Your employer’s duties (§ 12 AGG)
The employer must prevent harassment (training, clear policies, a functioning complaint channel) and must intervene once it learns of an incident. The intervention must be suitable, necessary and appropriate to stop the harassment — the graduated toolkit includes:
- A formal warning (Abmahnung) to the harasser.
- Reassignment or transfer (Umsetzung, Versetzung) — of the harasser, not the victim.
- Ordinary or extraordinary dismissal of the harasser in serious cases.
The duty also covers harassment by third parties such as customers or contractors: the employer must take appropriate protective measures there too. An employer who responds with “don’t take it so seriously” or a vague appeal to team spirit is in breach of § 12 AGG — and that breach is what triggers your compensation claims.
The right to complain (§ 13 AGG)
You have a statutory right to complain to the competent body in the company — the designated Beschwerdestelle, HR, or your manager’s superior. The employer must examine the complaint and inform you of the result. Complaining may not lead to any disadvantage: § 16 AGG prohibits victimisation of complainants and of witnesses who support them. A written complaint has two functions: it forces the employer into its § 12 AGG duties, and it creates a dated record that the employer knew.
The right to stay away from work (§ 14 AGG)
If the employer takes no measures, or obviously unsuitable ones, to stop harassment at the workplace, affected employees are entitled to suspend work without loss of pay to the extent necessary for their protection.
Compensation (§ 15 AGG)
Where the employer breaches its duties — failing to prevent, failing to intervene, or retaliating — you can claim material damages (§ 15(1) AGG, e.g. therapy costs, lost pay) and Entschädigung for the non-material harm (§ 15(2) AGG). Awards in harassment cases are typically in the range of one to three gross monthly salaries and can go substantially higher for severe or prolonged cases. Two procedural points:
- The two-month written assertion deadline (§ 15(4) AGG) applies here too, followed by the three-month filing deadline (§ 61b ArbGG). Do not let internal processes eat this window.
- Claims against the harasser personally (injunction, damages for personality-right violations under general civil law) run on a separate track and can be combined.
In many cases the employment relationship is no longer tenable and the realistic goal becomes a well-structured exit: severance, a clean reference, agreed communication. See our article on settlement agreements in court for how such packages are built.
The criminal track (§ 184i StGB) — separate and optional
Sexually determined physical contact that harasses the victim is a criminal offence (§ 184i StGB); more serious conduct falls under other provisions of the StGB. Criminal proceedings run independently of your employment-law claims: you can pursue one, both, or neither, and no criminal complaint is required for your AGG rights. Whether and when to involve the police is a personal decision with its own strategic considerations — as employment lawyers we do not advise on criminal prosecution, but we coordinate with specialised criminal-law colleagues and victim-support organisations where clients want that route.
Documenting evidence
Harassment cases are won on contemporaneous records. What helps:
- A dated memo after each incident: what happened, where, exact words, who was present.
- Preserved messages, e-mails, chat screenshots — export them to a private device before access might be cut off.
- Names of witnesses, including colleagues who saw your reaction immediately afterwards.
- Medical or therapy records if the situation affects your health.
- Copies of your complaint and every employer response (or non-response).
Practical first steps
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Write everything down, dated
Start a private log the same day. Contemporaneous notes carry far more weight in court than reconstructions months later.
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Short, factual, dated — to the Beschwerdestelle or HR. This activates the employer’s duty to act and creates a record that it knew.
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Watch the two-month deadline
§ 15(4) AGG runs from each incident and from the employer’s failure to act. A short assertion letter preserves your compensation claims.
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Do not go through it alone
Involve a trusted colleague, the works council, or a counselling service. Witness support and your own wellbeing both matter.
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Get legal advice early
Before invoking § 14 AGG, before signing anything, and immediately if you receive a warning or dismissal after complaining.
Worked example
Marketing specialist at a 150-employee Cologne agency, gross salary €3,800/month. Over four months, her team lead sends increasingly explicit late-night messages and twice touches her shoulder and lower back at office events. She files a written § 13 AGG complaint with dated screenshots. HR’s response: a “mediation talk” in which she is asked to consider “whether she may have sent mixed signals”, followed by a proposal that she move to another team. The team lead receives no warning.
Our assessment: the conduct clearly meets § 3(4) AGG; the employer’s response is an obviously unsuitable measure, breaching § 12 AGG; moving the victim is itself a detriment contrary to § 16 AGG. We assert claims in writing within the two-month window and file at the Arbeitsgericht.
Outcome at the Gütetermin: the employer pays an Entschädigung of €11,400 (three gross monthly salaries), the team lead is transferred and receives an Abmahnung, and the client — who by then preferred a clean exit — negotiates termination with a severance of €13,300 (0.7 monthly salaries per year over 5 years), a Grade-1 reference and three months of garden leave. Total package value: approximately €36,000 plus the reference.
Frequently asked questions
Was what happened to me “bad enough” to count legally?
The threshold is lower than most employees assume. A single unwanted sexually determined touch, a single explicit message, repeated sexualised “jokes” — all of these can meet § 3(4) AGG. If it was unwanted, sexual in nature and violated your dignity, take it seriously and have it assessed.
Will I be fired if I complain?
Retaliation for a complaint is prohibited (§ 16 AGG), and a dismissal in reaction to a complaint is attackable — often very successfully, because the timing itself is strong evidence. If you do receive a dismissal, the three-week deadline for a Kündigungsschutzklage applies without exception.
Do I have to confront the harasser before doing anything formal?
No. There is no legal requirement to “clear it up personally” first, and in many situations that would be unreasonable. You can go directly to the Beschwerdestelle, HR, the works council or a lawyer.
My employer wants to move me to another team instead of acting against the harasser. Is that allowed?
As a rule, no. § 12 AGG measures must be directed at the harasser. Transferring the victim — with the disruption to career, projects and network that entails — is generally considered an unsuitable measure and can itself constitute prohibited victimisation.
Can I go to the police as well?
Yes, at any time. The criminal track (§ 184i StGB and related provisions) is independent of your employment-law claims and neither requires nor replaces them. For decisions about criminal proceedings, consult a criminal-law specialist or a victim-support organisation; we can provide referrals.
What if the harasser is the owner or managing director?
Then an internal complaint may be structurally futile, and the strategy shifts: preserving evidence, asserting AGG claims directly, and usually negotiating a well-compensated exit. § 14 AGG and interim measures can play a role. This constellation needs legal advice from the outset.