Dismissal in Germany: what to do in the first three weeks after receiving notice

How much time do I have after receiving a dismissal in Germany?

Three weeks from receipt of the written notice. Within that period a claim for a declaration that the employment relationship has not been terminated by the dismissal (Kündigungsschutzklage) must reach the labour court (Arbeitsgericht) (sec. 4 sentence 1 KSchG). After three weeks the dismissal is deemed valid from the outset, even if the employer had no reason at all (sec. 7 KSchG). The deadline applies to every kind of dismissal: ordinary notice, summary dismissal without notice (sec. 13 (1) sentence 2 KSchG) and a dismissal combined with an offer of changed terms (sec. 2, sec. 4 sentence 2 KSchG).

The deadline runs from receipt (Zugang), not from the date on the letter. It is counted in weeks: a notice received on a Wednesday means the claim must be at court by the Wednesday three weeks later at the latest. If the dismissal required the approval of a public authority, for example the integration office in the case of a severe disability, the deadline only starts on the day the authority’s decision is communicated to the employee (sec. 4 sentence 4 KSchG).

A late claim is admitted only exceptionally, where the employee was prevented from filing in time despite all reasonable care, for instance during a hospital stay without any means of contact. The application for subsequent admission (nachträgliche Zulassung) must be filed within two weeks after the obstacle ends and no later than six months after the deadline expired (sec. 5 (1) and (3) KSchG). Not knowing German law or having language difficulties is not such an obstacle.

Is a dismissal by e-mail, text message or word of mouth valid?

No. Terminating an employment relationship in Germany requires written form, and electronic form is expressly excluded (sec. 623 BGB). The letter must be signed by hand by the employer or a person authorised by the employer (sec. 126 (1) BGB). A dismissal by e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp, scan, fax or spoken word is void and does not start the three-week deadline, because that deadline runs from receipt of the written notice (sec. 4 sentence 1 KSchG).

Check the signature. Initials, a facsimile stamp or a printed name do not satisfy sec. 126 (1) BGB. If the letter was signed by someone other than the managing director, for example a department head or the HR office, and no original power of attorney was enclosed, the employee may reject the dismissal for that reason (sec. 174 sentence 1 BGB). The rejection must be made without undue delay. According to the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG), absent special circumstances a rejection is no longer prompt if it is made more than one week after the employee learned of the dismissal and of the missing power of attorney (judgment of 8 December 2011, 6 AZR 354/10). Rejection is excluded where the employer had informed the workforce beforehand of the authorisation, for example by naming the head of HR as entitled to issue dismissals (sec. 174 sentence 2 BGB).

A dismissal that is void for lack of form is no reason to relax. The employer can issue a new, correct notice and the deadline starts afresh. In practice the safest course is to file a claim even against a dismissal that looks formally defective and to raise the defect in court.

When is a dismissal deemed received?

A notice is received when it has entered the employee’s sphere of control in such a way that under ordinary circumstances the employee could be expected to take note of it (sec. 130 (1) sentence 1 BGB). A letter placed in the home letterbox is received at the moment when, according to common practice, the next emptying of the letterbox is to be expected. Whether the employee happened to be ill, on holiday or in Poland is irrelevant. Anyone who leaves the letterbox unchecked for a long time bears that risk. So held the BAG in its judgment of 22 August 2019 (2 AZR 111/19), which requires a generalised assessment and expressly disregards the recipient’s individual circumstances.

A letter delivered by the postal carrier during normal delivery hours is received the same day. In its judgment of 20 June 2024 (2 AZR 213/23) the BAG accepted a prima facie presumption that employees of Deutsche Post AG deliver letters at the usual postal times. In that case a notice dated 28 September 2021 was placed in the letterbox on 30 September 2021 and was received on that day rather than the next, which ended the employment three months earlier. Whoever claims otherwise must rebut the presumption.

A notice handed over in person is received on delivery, even if the employee refuses to accept it or does not sign for it. The collection slip of a registered letter requiring a signature (Übergabeeinschreiben) is not in itself receipt, which is why employers prefer registered letters placed in the letterbox (Einwurf-Einschreiben) or a courier. For the employee the conclusion is simple: the day of receipt must be established precisely, because both the three-week deadline and the notice period depend on it. Write down the date and the manner of receipt immediately and keep the envelope.

Does the Protection Against Dismissal Act cover me?

Full protection under the KSchG applies if the employment relationship in the same establishment or company has lasted without interruption for more than six months (sec. 1 (1) KSchG) and the employer regularly employs more than ten employees, not counting trainees (sec. 23 (1) sentence 3 KSchG). Part-time staff count in fractions: up to 20 hours a week as 0.5, up to 30 hours as 0.75 (sec. 23 (1) sentence 4 KSchG). For employees whose employment began before 1 January 2004 the threshold is more than five employees (sec. 23 (1) sentence 2 KSchG).

If both conditions are met, the dismissal is valid only if it is socially justified (sec. 1 (1) KSchG). The Act recognises three groups of reasons: reasons relating to the employee’s person, such as long-term illness, reasons relating to the employee’s conduct, usually after a prior written warning (Abmahnung), and urgent operational requirements, such as the abolition of the position (sec. 1 (2) sentence 1 KSchG). In a redundancy dismissal the employer must additionally carry out a correct social selection (sec. 1 (3) KSchG). The employer bears the burden of proving the facts justifying the dismissal (sec. 1 (2) sentence 4 KSchG).

In a small establishment and during the probationary period the employer does not have to state a reason, but is not entirely free. The dismissal must not be contrary to public policy or good faith (sec. 138, sec. 242 BGB), must not discriminate, for example on grounds of ethnic origin (sec. 7 AGG), and in a small establishment the employer must observe a minimum of social consideration (BAG, judgment of 21 February 2001, 2 AZR 15/00). The three-week deadline applies in small establishments too, because secs. 4 to 7 KSchG apply regardless of the number of employees (sec. 23 (1) sentence 2 KSchG).

Did the employer have to consult the works council?

Yes, if the establishment has a works council (Betriebsrat). The employer must hear the works council before every dismissal and inform it of the reasons, and a dismissal issued without that consultation is invalid (sec. 102 (1) BetrVG). The works council has one week to raise objections to an ordinary dismissal and three days in the case of a summary dismissal (sec. 102 (2) BetrVG). If it stays silent, its consent is deemed given.

If the works council objected in time to an ordinary dismissal on one of the grounds listed in sec. 102 (3) BetrVG, for instance a faulty social selection or the possibility of continued employment in another position, an employee who has filed a claim may demand continued employment on unchanged terms until the proceedings are finally concluded (sec. 102 (5) BetrVG). Ask the works council immediately after receiving the notice whether it was consulted and what it replied. Errors in the works council procedure are among the more frequent reasons why employees win, regardless of whether the dismissal would have been justified on the merits.

Whom can the employer not dismiss without official approval?

Certain employees enjoy special protection that applies irrespective of the size of the establishment and length of service. Pregnant employees may not be dismissed during pregnancy and for at least four months after childbirth if the employer knew of the pregnancy or is informed of it within two weeks after receipt of the notice (sec. 17 (1) MuSchG). A late notification is harmless if the employee is not responsible for the delay and makes up for it without undue delay (sec. 17 (1) sentence 2 MuSchG). We cover the deadlines after late knowledge of a pregnancy in a separate article.

Employees on parental leave (Elternzeit) are protected from the moment they request the leave, at the earliest eight weeks before it starts, and throughout its duration (sec. 18 (1) BEEG). Dismissing a severely disabled employee requires the prior consent of the integration office (Integrationsamt, sec. 168 SGB IX). Works council members may in principle be dismissed only for cause and with the works council’s consent (sec. 15 (1) KSchG). A dismissal issued in breach of these rules is invalid, but it too must be challenged within three weeks. Where official approval was required, the deadline runs from the day the authority’s decision is communicated to the employee (sec. 4 sentence 4 KSchG).

How long is the notice period in Germany?

The basic notice period is four weeks to the fifteenth or to the end of a calendar month (sec. 622 (1) BGB). For the employer the period grows with length of service: after two years one month, after five two, after eight three, after ten four, after twelve five, after fifteen six and after twenty years seven months, always to the end of a calendar month (sec. 622 (2) BGB). During an agreed probationary period of at most six months either side may give notice of two weeks (sec. 622 (3) BGB).

The employment contract and a collective agreement may provide for other periods, but the notice period for the employee may not be longer than that for the employer (sec. 622 (6) BGB). A wrongly calculated date in the letter does not make the dismissal invalid if it can be read as notice to the next permissible date. Until the end of the notice period the employee is entitled to full pay, even if released from the duty to work (Freistellung). Details and a table of periods are in our article on notice periods in Germany.

Summary dismissal and dismissal with changed terms

Summary dismissal without notice (fristlose Kündigung, außerordentliche Kündigung) is permitted only for cause, where the employer cannot reasonably be expected to keep the employee until the end of the notice period (sec. 626 (1) BGB). The employer has two weeks from learning of the relevant facts to issue it (sec. 626 (2) BGB) and must, on request, state the reason in writing without undue delay. In most cases a prior warning for comparable conduct is required. How to defend yourself against a summary dismissal and how the employer’s two-week deadline works is explained separately. The three-week deadline for the claim applies in the same way (sec. 13 (1) sentence 2 KSchG).

A dismissal with an offer of changed terms (Änderungskündigung) is a dismissal combined with an offer to continue working on different, usually worse, terms, for example a lower salary or another location. The employee may accept the offer subject to the reservation that the change is not socially unjustified and let the court review the new terms without risking the job (sec. 2 KSchG). The reservation must be declared to the employer within the notice period and no later than three weeks after receipt, and a claim must be filed within the same period (sec. 2 sentence 2, sec. 4 sentence 2 KSchG). Anyone who declines the offer and loses the case loses the job altogether, so accepting under reservation is usually the better course.

Am I entitled to severance pay?

There is no general statutory right to severance pay on dismissal in Germany. Severance (Abfindung) arises in three situations. First, where the employer dismisses for operational reasons and states in the letter that the employee may claim severance if no claim is filed within the three-week deadline. In that case, once the notice period has expired, the employee is entitled to half a month’s pay for each year of employment, with a period of more than six months rounded up to a full year (sec. 1a (1) and (2) KSchG).

Second, if the court finds the dismissal invalid but continued employment cannot reasonably be expected of the employee, it may on the employee’s application dissolve the employment relationship (so-called Auflösungsantrag) and award severance of up to twelve months’ pay, and up to fifteen or eighteen months for older employees with long service (sec. 9 (1), sec. 10 (1) and (2) KSchG). Third, and this is the most common route, severance is negotiated in a settlement before the labour court, usually at the conciliation hearing. The practical starting point is half a month’s pay per year of service, but where the dismissal is weak, service is long and special protection applies, the amounts are often considerably higher. Without a claim filed in time there is nothing to negotiate, because the dismissal becomes valid (sec. 7 KSchG). When severance under a settlement falls due is explained in our article on payment of severance, and the tax consequences in the text on severance pay tax.

What must I report to the employment agency to avoid losing unemployment benefit?

Register as a jobseeker (arbeitsuchend) with the Agentur für Arbeit no later than three months before the employment ends, and if you learn of the end later than that, within three days of receiving the notice (sec. 38 (1) SGB III). The duty applies regardless of whether you file a claim (sec. 38 (1) sentence 3 SGB III). Late registration leads to a suspension period of unemployment benefit (Sperrzeit, sec. 159 (1) sentence 2 no. 9 SGB III). Separately, no later than the first day of unemployment, you must register as unemployed (arbeitslos) and apply for benefit.

Anyone who terminates the employment themselves or signs a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag) without good cause risks a suspension of up to twelve weeks (sec. 159 (1) sentence 2 no. 1, (3) SGB III). A dismissal by the employer does not trigger a suspension unless the employee themselves gave cause for a conduct-related dismissal. Before signing any agreement instead of a dismissal, read our article on the termination agreement. The unfair dismissal claim does not block unemployment benefit: during the proceedings you receive benefit, and if you win, the employer owes pay for the period of the proceedings (sec. 615 BGB) less the benefit, which passes to the agency (sec. 11 KSchG).

How does the labour court procedure work and what does it cost?

The claim is filed with the labour court at the employer’s seat or the place of work. Within a few weeks the court schedules a conciliation hearing (Güteverhandlung), at which most cases end in a settlement covering severance, the reference letter and the termination date. If there is no settlement, the case goes to a hearing before the full chamber with lay judges (Kammertermin) and ends in a judgment. We describe the course of proceedings in our article on the German labour court.

At first instance each party pays its own lawyer, even if it wins (sec. 12a (1) sentence 1 ArbGG). The court fee is waived in the case of a settlement and otherwise depends on the value in dispute, which for a dismissal is usually set at three months’ salary. Lawyer’s fees may be covered by legal expenses insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung) if it includes employment law and was taken out before the dispute, or by legal aid (Prozesskostenhilfe) for low incomes. Lawyer’s fees in dismissal cases follow the Lawyers’ Remuneration Act (RVG) and depend on the value in dispute, so they can be calculated in advance.

What can I claim on leaving?

Whether or not you fight for your job, you are entitled to a written reference letter, on request with an assessment of performance and conduct (sec. 109 (1) GewO). The reference must be clearly worded and must not contain hidden signals such as a secret grading code (sec. 109 (2) GewO). How to decode a German reference is explained in our article on the Arbeitszeugnis. Untaken holiday must be paid out after the employment ends (sec. 7 (4) BUrlG).

Until the end of the notice period you are entitled to full pay including bonuses and allowances, and overtime must be paid or compensated with time off. Check the final payslip and demand any missing amounts in writing, because employment and collective agreements often contain short preclusion periods (Ausschlussfristen) after which claims lapse. If you fall ill during the notice period, the employer continues to pay wages for six weeks (sec. 3 (1) EFZG), after which the health insurance fund pays sickness benefit. We cover bonuses during sick leave in a separate article.

I want to resign myself – how do I do it properly?

An employee resigns in writing with a handwritten signature, just like the employer (sec. 623 BGB). The basic period is four weeks to the fifteenth or to the end of the month (sec. 622 (1) BGB), unless the contract or a collective agreement provides a longer one, which may not exceed the period applying to the employer (sec. 622 (6) BGB). The letter should contain the date, both parties, an unambiguous statement of resignation and the date to which you are giving notice. You do not have to give a reason.

Deliver the letter in a way you can prove: in person against a receipt on your copy, or through a witness who saw the content and the posting. Keep the suspension period in mind: anyone who leaves without good cause may face up to twelve weeks of Sperrzeit (sec. 159 (1) sentence 2 no. 1 SGB III). Good cause includes, for example, a new employment contract with a fixed start date or documented arrears of pay.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to challenge a dismissal in Germany?
Three weeks from receipt of the written notice to file a claim with the labour court (sec. 4 sentence 1 KSchG). After that the dismissal is deemed valid (sec. 7 KSchG). A late claim is admitted only where an obstacle beyond your control existed, on application within two weeks after it ends (sec. 5 KSchG).

Is a dismissal by WhatsApp or e-mail valid in Germany?
No. Written form with a handwritten signature is required and electronic form is excluded (sec. 623, sec. 126 (1) BGB). Such a dismissal is void and does not start the three-week deadline, but the employer may repeat it in the proper form.

I received the notice while on sick leave. Is that allowed?
Yes. Illness does not protect against dismissal, and a letter placed in the letterbox is received even while the employee is in hospital (BAG 2 AZR 111/19). Illness can justify a dismissal only within narrow limits, which we explain in our article on dismissal due to illness. The three-week deadline runs as normal.

Does the employer have to state a reason for the dismissal?
Not in the letter. If the KSchG applies, the employer must prove in court a reason relating to the employee’s person or conduct or to operational requirements (sec. 1 (2) KSchG). In a summary dismissal the reason must be stated in writing on request without undue delay (sec. 626 (2) sentence 3 BGB). In a small establishment no reason is required.

How much severance pay do I get on dismissal in Germany?
A statutory entitlement exists only for a redundancy dismissal with the corresponding note in the letter, at half a month’s pay per year of employment (sec. 1a KSchG). In a court settlement the same rate is the starting point, but the amount depends on the prospects of the case. The court may award up to 12, 15 or 18 months’ pay (sec. 10 KSchG). Where the employer wants to get rid of the employee and the dismissal is plainly invalid, a high severance can be negotiated.

Do I have to register with the employment agency if I am going to court?
Yes. Registering as a jobseeker within three days of receiving the notice is mandatory regardless of the claim (sec. 38 (1) SGB III). Being late leads to a suspension period. During the proceedings you receive unemployment benefit, and after winning the employer pays wages for the period of the proceedings less the benefit (sec. 615 BGB, sec. 11 KSchG).

What happens if I win the unfair dismissal case?
The employment relationship continues as if the dismissal had never happened, and the employer must pay wages for the whole duration of the proceedings (sec. 615 BGB). In practice most cases end in a settlement with severance, because both sides rarely want to work together again. You may also ask the court to dissolve the relationship against severance if continued employment cannot reasonably be expected of you (sec. 9 KSchG). This happens only in exceptional cases.

Statutes: sec. 1, 1a, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 23 KSchG, sec. 126, 130, 138, 174, 242, 615, 622, 623, 626 BGB, sec. 102 BetrVG, sec. 17 MuSchG, sec. 18 BEEG, sec. 168 SGB IX, sec. 38, 159 SGB III, sec. 109 GewO, sec. 7 BUrlG, sec. 12a ArbGG, sec. 7 AGG, sec. 3 EFZG. Case law: BAG, judgment of 22 August 2019 – 2 AZR 111/19, BAG, judgment of 20 June 2024 – 2 AZR 213/23, BAG, judgment of 21 February 2001 – 2 AZR 15/00, BAG, judgment of 8 December 2011 – 6 AZR 354/10. Legal position: September 2026. This article is for general information and does not replace legal advice in an individual case.

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