Petra Senne

Prof. Petra Senne serves as Professor of Business Law at the Faculty of Business Law, Westfälische Hochschule since September 2013, specializing in labor law with social law connections. Previously, she held professorships at Fachhochschule Dortmund's Business Department (1997-2013) and served as a visiting professor there (1995-1997). Her academic journey includes research positions at the Federal Labor Court and extensive practical experience through freelance consulting for executives and works councils.

Her educational background encompasses law studies at Philipps-Universität Marburg (1981-1987), completing both First and Second State Examinations in Law, followed by a doctorate from Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn in 1995 with a dissertation on regulatory agreements. This foundation in German legal education and practice informs her scholarly approach.

Professor Senne's research centers on labor law, with particular emphasis on employment relationships in business practice, works council-management dynamics, and intersections between religious ethics and workplace values. Her scholarship demonstrates consistent engagement with evolving German labor legislation, including analyses of the Modernization of Obligations Law and Anti-Discrimination Law. She approaches labor law through both practical business applications and theoretical frameworks, as evidenced by her work on constitutional factory models and interreligious perspectives on work ethics.

Her publication portfolio shows a clear progression from foundational works on works constitution (1990s) through detailed analyses of termination law (2000s) to contemporary explorations of corporate governance challenges (2010s-2020s). The 2025 11th edition of her seminal work Labor Law – The Employment Relationship in Business Practice represents the culmination of decades of scholarly development in German labor law.

Professor Senne actively supervises bachelor's and master's theses on labor law topics, encouraging practical business collaborations where possible. Her teaching focuses on civil law with special emphasis on labor law and related social law aspects, delivered through the university's Moodle platform.

Her professional activities include extensive commentary work on labor law handbooks and regular contributions to legal journals analyzing landmark Federal Labor Court decisions. The continuous development of her publications over three decades demonstrates sustained scholarly productivity and relevance in the German labor law community.