Focal Points
Individual employment law
Restructuring
Social law
Works Council Constitution Law
Works council and co-determination rights
Dismissals/Terminations
As counsel at Littler in Frankfurt, Ulrike Schulke works primarily in the areas of works constitution law, individual employment law and at the interface to social law. She is passionately committed to her clients, but avoids litigation wherever this is possible. Thanks to her balanced but also direct manner, she always finds an amicable solution for her clients. She only takes detours in her free time, when she is out discovering the countries of Europe in her VW bus.
Languages: German, English
Career
Attorney at Kliemt.Arbeitsrecht in Frankfurt a. M. until 2018
Certified Employment Law Specialist since 2018
Admitted to the bar as attorney, 2014
Education
Second state legal examination in Hesse, 2014
Legal traineeship at the Regional Court of Limburg a.d. Lahn with placements, i. a., in the area of personnel matters of a global German conglomerate
First state legal examination in the Free State of Thuringia, 2012
Studied law at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena (Focus area »German and European employment and social law«), participation in the moot court of the Federal Labor Court
Articles and entries
Blogpost
Employment Law in Transition: Coalition Committee Agrees on Noteworthy Reforms
July 2026
- Ulrike Schulke
The Federal Government has reached an agreement within the Coalition Committee on a comprehensive package of measures involving far-reaching employment law reforms. The planned measures range from simplified separation options for high-income employees and greater flexibility regarding fixed-term employment contracts without an objective justification to changes concerning certificates of incapacity for work. These reforms could have a lasting impact on employment law practice for employers. Our blog article provides an initial overview and assesses the potential implications.
Blogpost
New Act in Germany: Payment of severance payments for employers made easier
March 2024
- Ulrike Schulke
After some delays, the “Growth Opportunities Act” (“Wachstumschancengesetz”) cleared the final hurdle on 22 March 2024 and will come into force. It contains numerous tax changes for companies, including an important change to the taxation of severance payments. Unlike previously, employers will no longer have to apply the “one-fifth rule” when paying severance payments as of 2025.
Blogpost
Does the works council have a say when employees use ChatGPT? NO, according to the Labour Court Hamburg!
February 2024
- Ulrike Schulke
Artificial intelligence (AI) makes working life easier. It is therefore not surprising that companies are keen to utilise the technical possibilities of AI, particularly by means of ChatGPT, to make work easier. However, this is accompanied by a large number of unresolved legal issues. From a labour law perspective, one of the questions is whether a works council has a say in the introduction of ChatGPT. In this context, we were able to obtain the first decision on this issue before the Labour Court Hamburg (decision dated 16 January 2024 - 24 BVGa 1/24).