Behaltepflicht#

Behaltepflicht (duty to retain apprentices): § 18 of the Vocational Training Law obliges the training employer to retain and employ a trainee for another four months if the apprenticeship ends either at the end of the training period agreed on by trainer and trainee or after the trainee has taken the final examinations. From the courts' point of view, this constitutes an obligation to contract, i.e. a restriction of the employer's freedom to contract as a private, autonomous person.