Notice Periods for Employers and Employees Simply Explained

1. What is a notice period?
2. When does a notice period begin?
3. Notice periods in labor law, collective agreements, and employment contracts
4. Notice periods for employees
5. Notice periods for employers
6. Notice periods in the probationary period
7. Legal special regulations and exceptions
8. What happens if notice periods are calculated incorrectly?
9. Which tools support structured and legally secure management of terminations?
10. Legal Disclaimer

While in many countries you can quickly be shown the door, in Germany there are notice periods. One of these aspects that we too often take for granted, but should still be grateful for. Not just on the part of the employees. HR managers and entrepreneurs also benefit from the fact that employees do not leave them from one day to the next and suddenly leave a gap in the team.

But what notice periods are there actually? What does labor law say? What special regulations are there? We answer these and more questions in our article. On top, we reveal a few tools to all HR managers with which terminations can be managed in a structured and legally secure manner. You can also find an overview of the tools on OMR Reviews.

What is a notice period?

Separations are never easy; no less in the professional than in the private context. While the former does not know notice periods - but often more tears - employers and employees must adhere to such deadlines according to labor law. Notice periods therefore stipulate how much time must pass between notice of termination and termination of contract. This is stipulated in the employment contract and is based on legal specifications. But to your chagrin, and to secure the jobs of numerous lawyers, there are different types and lengths of notice periods. All employees and employers in Germany must comply with the notice periods. Even with an immediate dismissal.

When does a notice period begin?

Many assume that the notice period begins when you have written the notice. This is not entirely true and is a widespread misconception. The correct thing is that the notice period - regardless of whether it comes from the employee or the employer - only begins the day after the notice is delivered. Example: You have to dismiss an employee. For this you write the termination letter and send it by post on the same day. Two days later, the document arrives at the employee. The notice period of, for example, one month therefore only begins the day after delivery; so three days after writing the letter. This is revealed by the Civil Code in Section 1 of Paragraph 187.

Anyone who as a HR manager or boss quickly loses track can get support from a Personnel management software. You can find an overview of the different HR software on OMR Reviews. We will introduce some of them to you in detail below.

Notice periods in labor law, collective agreements, and employment contracts

Which notice period must be in an employment contract by law is dependent on several factors. This also includes whether a collective agreement is applicable. If this is the case, the termination conditions, including the deadlines, come into the employment contract as specified there. However, the termination deadlines from the collective agreement only apply if they are more advantageous for the employee.

As long as at least the statutory notice periods are adhered to, you can also use individual deadlines. They just must not be to the disadvantage of your employees. This also includes that the notice periods for employees may not be longer than the notice periods for employers. In addition, you must pay special attention to long-term employment relationships. We'll explain what we mean by that in the part “Notice periods for employers” more precisely.

Notice periods for employees

As an employee, you can find your notice periods in the employment contract. If there is nothing specific there or if a collective agreement comes into play, the statutory notice periods from the BGB always apply.

To implement the correct calculation of the notice periods as an employee, you proceed as follows:

• The basis is the date the termination arrives at the employer.
• From then on, only the notice period to be observed applies.
• If you terminate on the 15th of a month with a one-month notice period, the following 15th counts as the last day on which the employment contract has validity.

Too much theory? Simple calculators on the Internet will give you breakdown in a few minutes as to what the situation is with your notice period as an employee.

Notice periods for employers

Up to a contract duration of two years, the notice periods for employers and employees do not differ. After that, the notice periods for the employer are extended, but not for the employees. The following graduation with the status of January 2022 depends on the duration of the employment relationship:

• 2 years correspond to one month's notice period
• 5 years correspond to two months' notice
• 8 years correspond to three months' notice
• 10 years correspond to four months' notice
• 12 years correspond to five months' notice
• 15 years correspond to six months' notice
• 20 years correspond to seven months' notice

So the longer an employee has belonged to your company, the longer notice periods apply to you as the end of the month. After two years, you can only cancel at the end of the month, while the 15th of a month can also be used before the two years have expired. An exception to the grading exists for companies that have less than 20 employees. In this case, the notice periods must only not be less than four weeks.

The typical notice period of 3 months to the end of the month, which you see so often, is either individually regulated in the employment contract or the employee has already been employed by the company for more than 8 years.

And how is the notice period for employers calculated? Taking into account the affiliation of the employee and the day the termination is received. Example: You have to terminate an employee who has been working for you for three years. In this case, a notice period of one month applies and you must pronounce the termination at the end of the previous month. All notice periods from an employment relationship of more than two years may only be asserted at the end of the month.

Since this is not always easy to handle, there are HR tools, which make things easier for you. For this check out OMR Reviews and get advice from reviews and experiences of other users.

Notice periods in the probationary period

The length of the probationary period can vary up to 6 months, but not the notice period. That is two weeks. Without exception and valid for both parties. In addition, as an employer or employee, you do not need to give any reasons for the termination. Termination can be given until the last day of the probationary period.

However, this special and above all short notice period only applies if the probationary period is explicitly mentioned in the contract. Otherwise, at least the legal regulations apply from the first day of the employment relationship.

Legal special regulations and exceptions

Labor law would probably not be a real law if there weren't exceptions. How does the saying go: Exceptions confirm the rule.

Severely disabled employees

A company that has employees, for example, must observe special termination rules for severely disabled employees. Here, too, a notice period of at least four weeks applies. However, dismissal may only be given if an appropriate application to the integration office has been approved.

Employer in the insolvency procedure

If a company is entangled in an insolvency procedure, this automatically means a maximum notice period of three months for both sides. In this special case, the above-mentioned graduation does not count with regard to company membership.

Running a company is a big challenge in itself, regardless of the industry. Running a company with employees multiplies the challenge many times over. Especially the responsibility that comes with employees is underestimated by some founders. But the increasingly emerging New Work and start-up culture is also changing a lot here for the better. However, the notice periods remain carved in stone!

Fixed-term employment contracts

This type of employment contract is very popular in Germany (still) - also in most industries. If someone comes into a company newly, without previous points of contact, just because of a good application journey, many employers play it safe. A fixed-term employment contract usually ends after a year or at another certain point in time. These contracts cannot be terminated ordinarily and therefore have no notice period - apart from within the agreed probationary period. Therefore, an early termination must present a valid reason. If an employment relationship simply continues beyond the time limit, the legally prescribed notice periods for employees and employers automatically apply.

Immediate terminations

The reason must also be valid if an employee is to be terminated without notice. Although an immediate termination does not proceed as in films: pack things and go! Rather, it is a fact in Germany that an extraordinary termination has a period of two weeks. Both employees and employers must adhere to this.

And not all instant dismissals are easy to pull off. So far the good news from the employee's point of view. There must be a serious reason. This can be proven fraud in working hours, serious violation of data protection, theft or also harassment or serious insults. Calling the boss incompetent is therefore not enough, but you should still refrain from doing so, as it probably hardly lets the employment relationship call for sunshine.

Termination contract

The termination contract can be concluded between the employee and the employer if both agree that the employment relationship should not be continued in the mutual interest. This way, notice periods can be circumvented. But as I said: Both must agree. The termination contract itself does not have to adhere to notice periods. However, you should be aware that there are suspension periods for unemployment benefit if you sign a termination contract. As an employee, you usually only do this if you already have a new job waiting and the future company would rather have you on board yesterday than tomorrow. From the point of view of an employer, the reason is mainly revealed that there is faster budget for someone new.

What happens if notice periods are calculated incorrectly?

Where people work, errors can also occur. Absolutely understandable. Also in the HR of a company. But what are the consequences if notice periods were calculated incorrectly? It depends; more precisely on the individual case. Whether you calculated the deadline incorrectly or used a wrong formulation, the consequences are often the following:

• A correction of the termination is necessary, whereby the correct termination day aimed at can also be shifted.
• The BGB stands above the wrongly dated deadline in the termination letter and gains validity, while your date becomes invalid.
• In the worst case, the consequence can also be a dismissal protection lawsuit aimed at your company.

Our most important tip: Always give the exact date when notice is to be given. Phrases like “to the next possible date” are too vague and leave room for interpretation. The composition date of the termination - recorded in the upper right part of the document - also has no legal binding with regard to a notice period.

Which tools support structured and legally secure management of terminations?

So that you now do not have to learn this mountain of termination theory by heart like in college, to pay attention to all deadlines correctly, there are a handful of HR tools, that help you. Thanks to digitality. In addition, HR programs support you in numerous other areas of personnel administration.

You can find the over 35 human resources tools along with reviews on OMR Reviews. There you can find out what users say about the respective HR tools and lots of information to get an impression of which software is suitable for you. Here's a sneak peek:

• Personio
• rexx Systems
• Factorial
• Kenjo
• Papershift
• ZMI
• kiwiHR
• BambooHR
• HRworks
• HeavenHR

We recommend that you use one of the HR Softwares whether you are sitting in the HR department, you are the boss of the company or belong to the Legal Resort. All employees, on the other hand, should at best immortalize this article as a bookmark in the browser.

Legal Disclaimer

Since we are a marketing platform and not lawyers, all the information we have recorded in this article does not have any guarantee of accuracy, completeness or timeliness. Also, the content does not replace binding legal advice. This article is only for informal purposes. If you have concrete questions about your specific situation with regard to notice periods, we recommend that you contact a labor lawyer.