CJEU: Discrimination protection for parents of disabled children

Employers must make reasonable adjustments of working conditions to enable parents to adequately support children with disabilities.

In a request for a preliminary ruling, the highest court of Italy referred a question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) seeking clarification as to the extent to which EU law protects employees who themselves are not disabled but who care for a severely disabled child and are disadvantaged as a result.

Italian employee sues for adjustment of working hours

The CJEU’s decision (judgment of 11 September 2025, Case C-38/24) arose from a case involving an employee who worked as a station supervisor on a shift basis. In order to care for her severely disabled son, the employee requested a permanent adjustment of her working hours and place of work to allow her to accompany her child to necessary medical appointments. While the employer granted temporary adjustments, it refused to permanently implement the modified working conditions.

The employee considered this to constitute discrimination and took legal action against it. Following appeals through multiple court levels, the Italian court referred the matter to the CJEU, asking whether an employee who cares for a minor child with a disability is protected under EU law from indirect discrimination on grounds of disability.

The European “Equal Treatment Framework Directive”

At the heart of this question was the scope of the so-called “Equal Treatment Framework Directive” (Directive 2000/78/EC), which establishes a general framework at EU level for equal treatment in employment and occupation.

The Directive prohibits any direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in employment and occupation, unless objectively justified by a legitimate aim. It also requires employers to make reasonable adjustments in order to ensure the application of the principle of equal treatment to persons with disabilities. The Directive is regarded as a core element of the European Union’s equality policy and forms the basis for the enactment of the General Equal Treatment Act (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz – AGG) in Germany.

As early as 2008, the CJEU ruled on the interpretation of this Directive in preliminary ruling proceedings (CJEU, judgment of 17 July 2008, Case C-303/06), holding that the prohibition of direct discrimination on grounds of disability is not limited to persons who are themselves disabled. Instead, the Directive also protects employees who care for their disabled children.

The present judgment addressed the question of the extent to which the Directive also covers indirect discrimination against persons without a disability of their own, and whether employers are also required to make reasonable adjustments to working conditions in order to achieve the Directive’s objectives. Indirect discrimination occurs where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice puts certain people at a particular disadvantage on the grounds of a protected characteristic.

Directive protects against indirect “associative discrimination”

The Court confirmed the broad scope of the Directive. It aims to combat all forms of discrimination on the grounds of disability and is not limited to protecting specific groups of people. Moreover, the Directive must be interpreted in the light of the rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union as well as other international instruments. Consequently, the prohibition of discrimination must also encompass indirect, disability-related “associative discrimination” in order to ensure that parents of children with disabilities are treated equally in employment and occupation and are not disadvantaged because of their children’s disability.

What adjustments must employers provide?

Employers are required to make reasonable adjustments to working conditions in order to ensure equal treatment. As a general rule, this includes all necessary adjustments to the working environment of a person with a disability to enable them to participate fully and effectively in professional life on an equal basis with other employees. The same applies where the employee is not disabled themselves but cares for a child with a disability; in such cases, the measures must likewise enable an adjustment of the employee’s working environment to ensure equal participation. This may include, for example, adjusted or fixed working hours, a reduction in working time or, where appropriate, assignment to a different position.

However, employers are not required to take measures that would impose a disproportionate burden on them. Whether an adjustment is reasonable depends, inter alia, on the costs involved, the size and financial resources of the undertaking, and the availability of public support measures.

Consequences for German employers

The decision is of practical relevance for German employers, as it must be considered by national courts and may therefore have an impact on future employment law disputes in Germany. Therefore, employers should review existing provisions governing the working conditions of parents of children with disabilities to ensure that they meet the requirements for equal treatment and reasonable adjustments emphasized by the CJEU.

At the same time, the judgment raises new questions and potential risks. Following the Court’s reasoning, claims for compensation and damages under the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) may apply not only to people who themselves possess a characteristic protected by law, but in principle also to parents of children with disabilities, provided that discrimination on the grounds of the child’s disability is established.

It also remains unclear whether only parents may invoke the extended protection against discrimination under the Directive. The CJEU left this question open. However, there are strong arguments in favour of not limiting the protection solely to parents, but extending it to other people close to the disabled individual and who actually provide care or support for them.

For employers, it may therefore be worthwhile to ensure at an early stage that working conditions for employees with caregiving responsibilities are designed to be flexible and supportive, in order to minimise legal risks while supporting employees in fulfilling their family responsibilities.