Dismissal and ending employment

1. The three-week deadline

This belongs first because everything else is worthless without it. If you want to challenge a dismissal, you generally have three weeks from the day you receive it to file a claim at the labour court.

After three weeks the dismissal is normally treated as effective regardless of how unlawful it was. A dismissal with no valid ground, issued in breach of works council consultation, given to a pregnant employee without authority approval: all of these usually stand if the deadline passes.

The clock runs from receipt, not from the last working day, and not from when the notice period ends. It runs while you are ill, while you are on holiday, and while you are waiting to hear whether the employer will reconsider.

2. Form: what makes a dismissal valid at all

German law imposes a strict written form. A dismissal must be a signed paper document. An email, a text message, a scanned signature or a verbal statement is void, and a void dismissal has no effect at all.

This is not a technicality that gets waved through. It is one of the most reliably enforced rules in German employment law.

• Written and signed by hand, by someone with authority to dismiss
• Delivered to you, so that it actually reaches you
• Email, fax, messaging app and verbal dismissals are void
• A reason does not have to be stated in the letter, except in specific cases such as trainees
• Where a works council exists, it must be consulted before the dismissal, or the dismissal is invalid

3. When dismissal protection applies

The Kündigungsschutzgesetz gives strong protection, but only once two conditions are met. Both matter, and many employees assume they are protected when they are not.

First, you must have been employed for more than six months. Second, your employer must be above a size threshold: very small businesses are outside the Act entirely, however long you have worked there.

Outside the Act you still have protections: the written form requirement, notice periods, protection against discriminatory dismissal, pregnancy and disability protections, and works council consultation. What you lack is the requirement that the dismissal be socially justified.

4. Summary dismissal without notice

A fristlose Kündigung ends the employment immediately, without notice. It requires a compelling reason making continued employment unreasonable even for the notice period: theft, violence, serious fraud, sustained refusal to work.

It also has its own deadline on the employer: they must dismiss within two weeks of learning the facts. An employer who sat on the allegation for a month has usually lost the right to dismiss summarily for it.

Summary dismissals are frequently challenged successfully, often being converted into an ordinary dismissal with notice. They also almost always trigger a benefit penalty, which makes challenging them doubly worthwhile.

5. Termination agreements: the trap

An Aufhebungsvertrag is a mutual agreement to end employment. Employers offer them because they remove the risk of a dismissal claim, and they are often presented as a favour, sometimes in a meeting where you are asked to sign on the spot.

Signing one usually waives your right to challenge the dismissal, and it can trigger a Sperrzeit: a period of weeks during which unemployment benefit is not paid, on the basis that you contributed to ending your own employment. That can cost considerably more than any severance offered.

You are never obliged to sign immediately. Asking for the document to take away and review is entirely normal and not an act of hostility.

• Never sign in the meeting where it is presented
• Take it away and get advice, from a union, a works council or a lawyer
• Ask specifically about the benefit consequences before signing
• Check the wording on the reason for termination, which affects your benefit position
• Check what it says about your Arbeitszeugnis, remaining holiday, overtime balance and bonuses
• A settlement reached through the labour court is often better than the first offer

6. Severance pay

There is no general statutory right to severance in Germany. That surprises people, because severance is paid so often, but the reason is practical rather than legal: it is what employers pay to settle dismissal claims.

A rough market convention is half a month’s gross salary per year of service, and it is a starting point for negotiation rather than a formula. It rises where the employer’s legal position is weak and falls where it is strong, which is precisely why the three-week deadline matters: once it passes, you have nothing to settle.

A statutory entitlement can arise in specific situations, most commonly under a redundancy social plan (Sozialplan) negotiated with a works council, or where the dismissal letter itself offers severance in exchange for not filing a claim.

7. What to do the day you are dismissed

Two clocks start at once, and both have real financial consequences. The three-week court deadline, and the obligation to register with the Employment Agency.

1. 1

   Register with the Employment Agency immediately

   You must register as seeking work as soon as you know your employment will end, and no later than three months before it does. Late registration can reduce your benefit. This is separate from claiming.

   Unemployment benefit (Arbeitslosengeld) (opens in a new tab)
2. 2

   Do not sign anything yet

   Not a termination agreement, not a receipt accepting the reasons, not a waiver. Signing for delivery of the letter is fine; accepting its content is not.

3. 3

   Note the date you received it

   Write it down. The three-week deadline runs from that date and you may need to prove it.

4. 4

   Get advice within days

   Works council, union if you are a member, or an employment lawyer. Check whether you have legal expenses insurance, which often covers employment disputes.

5. 5

   Request your Arbeitszeugnis

   You are legally entitled to a written reference. Ask in writing, and ask for a qualified one that assesses performance and conduct.

6. 6

   If your residence permit depends on this job, contact the authority

   A permit tied to employment is affected by the dismissal. There is usually a limited period to find new work. Do not wait until the notice period expires.