In May 2025, the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Labor Court (LAG) sent a clear signal: If a tattoo causes an infection and the employee is unable to work as a result, the entitlement to continued payment of wages no longer applies - because the inability to work is self-inflicted. Judgment of May 22, 2025 (Ref. 5 Sa 284 a\/24).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A nursing assistant had her forearm tattooed. A few days later, an inflammation developed at the tattoo site, rendering her unable to work. The employer refused to continue to pay her wages, stating that the illness was caused by the tattoo itself. Both the Flensburg Labor Court and the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Labor Court upheld this view.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The court referred to Section 3 (1) sentence 1 of the Continued Remuneration Act (EFZG): Only in the case of illness through no fault of one's own is there an entitlement to continued payment of wages. The court found that inflammation after a tattoo - with a probability of occurrence of 1-5 % - is not a completely improbable risk. If the employee consciously takes this risk, this constitutes a gross violation of their own health care - and therefore \u201efault\u201c within the meaning of the law.<\/p>\n
The LAG did not consider the inflammation to be separate from the tattoo, but as a possible consequence of it - and did not allow an appeal to the Federal Labor Court.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For employees:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For employers:<\/strong><\/p>\n In May 2025, the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Labor Court (LAG) sent a clear signal: If a tattoo causes an infection and the employee is unable to work as a result, the entitlement to continued payment of wages no longer applies - because the inability to work is self-inflicted. Judgment of May 22, 2025 (Ref. 5 Sa 284 a\/24). Refusal to continue to pay wages in the event of tattoo inflammation A nursing assistant had her<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arbeitsrecht","category-neuigkeiten"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\n