Received a Termination Notice? – Act Quickly and Avoid Mistakes!

Have you received a termination notice from your employer? Instead of panicking, it’s important to stay calm. Terminations are often flawed, and you may be able to keep your job. We’ll explain what steps to take and what rights you have as an employee.

Overview:

1. What Should I Do If I Receive a Termination Notice?
2. How Quickly Do I Need to Respond to a Termination?
3. When Is a Termination Invalid?
4. What Happens If I Don’t Sign the Termination Notice?
5. What Do I Receive from My Employer After Termination?
6. Received a Termination Notice – What to Do? – Conclusion
7. FAQ

1. What Should I Do If I Receive a Termination Notice?

After receiving a termination notice, there are various steps you need to consider.

Negotiation with the Employer

Not every employer is interested in going to court. You can initially try to negotiate with your employer. We are happy to support you in this process and represent your interests!

Termination Protection Lawsuit

If you feel that the termination was unfair and you want to keep your job, a termination protection lawsuit offers a way to fight back. The same applies if you wish to receive severance pay. A termination protection lawsuit examines the validity of the termination and, in the best-case scenario, determines its invalidity.

Contact the Employment Agency Immediately

If it is unlikely that you will immediately find another job, you may be eligible to receive unemployment benefits (Unemployment Benefit I). To avoid a waiting period, you must register as unemployed with the Employment Agency immediately after receiving the termination notice. This must be done within three months before the end of the employment relationship. However, if less than three months remain between the termination notice and the end of employment, you only have three days after receiving the notice to complete this process.

2. How Quickly Do I Need to Respond to a Termination?

If you wish to contest the termination, swift action is essential. After you have received the termination notice in writing, you have only three weeks to file a lawsuit with the court (§§ 4, 13 KSchG).

Important: If you fail to file a lawsuit within this three-week period, the termination becomes effective, even if it contains errors and would otherwise be invalid (§ 7 KSchG). Filing a late lawsuit is only possible in exceptional cases and must be proven by you (§ 5 KSchG). Keep track of deadlines to save yourself unnecessary effort!

3. When Is a Termination Invalid?

Only a valid termination has legal consequences for you. It is therefore essential to check whether all the necessary criteria are met.

Form

It is not sufficient for your employer to terminate your employment verbally or via email. Termination must always be delivered to you in writing on paper. If you are already expecting a termination and receive a notification of a registered letter, you should not ignore it.

If you deliberately choose not to pick up the registered letter, it could be considered an act of preventing receipt. As a result, the court may assume that you received the termination at an earlier date.

Signature

Furthermore, the employer's original signature is required. Neither an electronic signature nor a copy is sufficient. If someone else signs the notice, they must have the corresponding authorization to do so.

Notice Period

The employer is generally bound by a notice period when terminating your employment (§ 622 BGB). This period depends, among other factors, on the duration of your employment.

Example:

Length of Employment	Notice Period
2 years	1 month
5 years	2 months
8 years	3 months
10 years	4 months
12 years	5 months
15 years	6 months
20 years	7 months

Other notice periods may apply if deviations are agreed upon in the employment contract or if the applicable collective agreement contains specific provisions. However, these may never fall below the legally prescribed minimum notice periods.

The starting point for the notice period is the day the termination letter is delivered to you.

In the case of an extraordinary, immediate termination, your employer is not required to observe a notice period, and the employment relationship can be terminated immediately. However, the termination must be issued within two weeks of your employer becoming aware of the relevant facts justifying the termination.

Reason for Termination

Your employer is generally required to provide a reason for terminating your employment. Depending on the reason for termination, there are various requirements the employer must meet when explaining the decision.

This is different only in small businesses with ten or fewer employees or if you are in the probationary period, i.e., within the first six months of the employment relationship.

For extraordinary termination, the law requires an "important" reason (§ 626 BGB). This means that objective facts must severely impact the employment relationship, making it unreasonable for your employer to continue the relationship until the end of the notice period.

Example: You have physically assaulted and insulted your employer.

In the context of an ordinary termination, the law distinguishes between:

• Reasons Related to the Employee's Person – In this case, the reason for termination lies with the employee. Even if the employee wanted to, they could not influence the reason through their behavior. This could apply, for example, in cases of recurring illness. The termination may be invalid if the reason is only temporary.
• Behavior-Related Reasons – The employee has repeatedly violated contractual obligations through misconduct, such as frequently arriving late. In this case, the employee could have influenced the cause of termination themselves. However, before termination, the employer must generally point out the misconduct and remind the employee of their contractual obligations. This "warning" is referred to as a formal reprimand.
• Operational Reasons – Here, the reason for termination arises from the employer's sphere. The employer may terminate the employee if the business is closing or downsizing and there is no possibility for further employment. This requires a so-called "social selection" process. In this process, the employer compares all employees based on specific criteria and determines for whom the termination will have the least severe impact. Relevant factors may include age, dependents, or length of service.

Works Council

f your company has a works council, it must be consulted before the termination (§ 102 BetrVG). Your employer is obligated to inform the works council about the upcoming termination.

Special Protection Against Termination

The law also provides special protection against termination for certain groups of employees. This applies to:

• Members of the works council (§ 15 (1) KSchG)
• Severely disabled employees
• Pregnant employees (§ 17 MuSchG)
• Employees on parental leave (§ 18 BEEG)

4. What Happens If I Don’t Sign the Termination Notice?

It is possible that your employer may ask you to sign documents containing the following:

• Confirmation of receipt of the termination notice
• Termination or settlement agreements
• Waiver of the right to file a termination protection lawsuit
• Waiver of claims arising from the employment relationship after its termination

All of these options can bring disadvantages for you. For example, by confirming receipt of the termination notice, the employer can more easily prove the start of the notice period in a potential termination protection lawsuit. This serves as evidence that, for instance, you did not meet the three-week deadline for filing a lawsuit.

Additionally, termination and settlement agreements may include less favorable conditions for you than what you are actually entitled to. You are under no obligation to sign anything or waive your rights!

Do not let yourself be pressured into signing anything hastily! We are happy to review your employer's offers and advise you on the best solution for your situation.

5. What Do I Receive from My Employer After Termination?

If you lose your job, your income is also lost. However, you are not automatically entitled to severance pay. The law does provide exceptions in certain cases where the court may award you severance pay. For this, you must first be employed in a company with more than ten employees and have worked there for longer than six months. In such cases, the Employment Protection Act (KSchG) applies to you.

Severance Pay for Dissolution (§§ 9, 10 KSchG)

Additionally, you must have filed a lawsuit against the termination. If the court determines that your employment relationship was not legally terminated but continuing the employment is unreasonable for you, the employer may be required to pay severance of up to 12 months' salary.

Example: You were physically assaulted and insulted by your boss at your workplace. Continuing to work under such circumstances is unreasonable for you.

Operational Severance Pay (§ 1a (1) KSchG)

Another option arises when the employer terminates your employment for urgent operational reasons. In such cases, the employer must simultaneously offer severance pay on the condition that you do not file a termination protection lawsuit. Your entitlement to severance pay is established once the three-week period for filing a lawsuit has expired.

Contractually Agreed Severance Pay

You can also negotiate with your employer for severance pay as compensation for losing your job. This is often done as part of termination or settlement agreements or court settlements.

Save yourself a lengthy legal process by letting us negotiate on your behalf! We will work to ensure you receive fair compensation.

We will advise you on the best course of action against a termination. Feel free to schedule an appointment at 089 / 21 55 2286 or info@kern-peters.de.

6. Received a Termination Notice – What to Do? – Conclusion

• If you wish to contest the termination, you have three weeks to file a termination protection lawsuit.
• Contact the Employment Agency immediately after receiving the termination notice to avoid a waiting period.
• A termination must always be issued in writing.
• An ordinary termination with notice requires a personal, behavioral, or operational reason.
• An extraordinary termination without notice can only occur if the employment relationship is so severely affected that it is unreasonable for your employer to continue the relationship until the end of the notice period.
• Entitlement to severance pay exists only in exceptional cases.

7. FAQ

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