German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations for the Prevention of Human Rights Violations in Supply Chains
(Supply Chain Due Diligence Act - LkSG | Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz – LkSG)
of July 16, 2021 | also referred to as the Supply Chain Act or Due Diligence Act.
Published in the Federal Law Gazette Federal Law Gazette Year 2021 Part I No. 46, issued at Bonn on July 22, 2021.
German Supply Chain Act - LkSG - §1 General
(1) This Act shall apply to enterprises, irrespective of their legal form, which
1. have their head office, principal place of business, administrative headquarters or registered office in Germany, and
2. generally employ at least 3,000 employees in Germany; employees posted abroad are included.
Notwithstanding sentence 1 number 1, this Act shall also apply to enterprises, irrespective of their legal form, which
1. have a branch office in Germany pursuant to Section 13d of the Commercial Code, and
2. generally employ at least 3,000 employees in Germany.
As of January 1, 2024, the thresholds provided for in sentence 1 number 2 and sentence 2 number 2 shall each be 1,000 employees.
(2) Temporary workers shall be included in the calculation of the number of employees (subsection 1, sentence 1, number 2 and sentence 2, number 2) of the user enterprise if the period of employment exceeds six months.
(3) Within affiliated companies (Section 15 of the German Stock Corporation Act), the employees employed in Germany by all companies belonging to the group shall be included in the calculation of the number of employees (subsection 1, sentence 1, number 2) of the parent company; employees posted abroad shall be included.
LkSG