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Pay

"Only permanent staff get a Christmas bonus."

Everyone at the company gets a Christmas or holiday bonus, except the trainees.

Tarifvertrag / betriebliche Übung / Gleichbehandlungsgrundsatz

It depends …
There is no statutory right — but a collective agreement, contract or equal treatment can give one.
There is no statutory Christmas or holiday bonus. A right can arise, however, from a collective agreement (often expressly including trainees), your training contract, a works agreement or company practice (the company has paid it without reservation for several years). If the company pays voluntarily, it must observe the principle of equal treatment: it may only exclude groups for an objective reason. Such a reason can lie in the purpose of the payment (e.g. rewarding company loyalty); a mere "trainees get nothing" is not always enough.

What the law says

Principle of equal treatment (BAG)
If an employer grants voluntary benefits according to a recognisable system, it may not exclude individual employees or groups without an objective reason.
§ 10 (2) BBiG – Applicable law
The legal provisions and principles applicable to employment contracts apply to the training contract.

What you can do

  1. Look in the collective agreement and training contract for "annual special payment".
  2. Ask the works council whether there is a works agreement.
  3. Ask politely why trainees are excluded.
  4. If the company used to include trainees, a company practice may exist.

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