Glossary
German employment-law terms — English glossary
Quick translations and short definitions for the German employment-law terms you will encounter in any dismissal, severance or termination-agreement situation.
- Abfindung
- Severance payment. No general statutory entitlement; usually negotiated as a court settlement. Standard formula: 0.5 gross monthly salaries × years of service. Read more →
- Abmahnung
- Formal written warning. Required as a precondition for a later conduct-related dismissal in most cases. Read more →
- Aufhebungsvertrag
- Termination agreement — bilateral contract ending the employment by mutual consent. Triggers a 12-week unemployment-benefit blocking period unless drafted correctly. Read more →
- Arbeitsgericht
- German labour court — first-instance court for employment disputes.
- BAG
- Bundesarbeitsgericht — Federal Labour Court of Germany. Highest instance for labour-law decisions.
- Betriebsrat
- Works council. Must be consulted before any dismissal (§ 102 BetrVG).
- Betriebsbedingte Kündigung
- Operational / redundancy dismissal. Requires elimination of the position and proper social selection. Read more →
- Freistellung
- Release from work duties with continued pay until the end-date of employment.
- Fristlose Kündigung
- Summary (without-notice) dismissal under § 626 BGB. Requires a serious cause and a 2-week reaction window. Read more →
- Fünftelregelung
- Tax rule under § 34 EStG that mitigates the tax burden on severance pay by spreading it mathematically over five years.
- Klagefrist
- Filing deadline. For unfair-dismissal claims it is exactly 3 weeks from receipt of the dismissal (§ 4 KSchG).
- Kündigung
- Unilateral termination of employment, either by the employer or the employee. Must be in writing with an original signature (§ 623 BGB). Read more →
- KSchG
- Kündigungsschutzgesetz — Dismissal Protection Act. Applies when you have been employed more than 6 months at an employer with more than 10 staff. Read more →
- Kündigungsschutzklage
- Unfair-dismissal claim filed at the Arbeitsgericht within 3 weeks. Read more →
- Rechtsschutzversicherung
- Legal-expenses insurance. Most policies cover employment matters after a 3-month waiting period.
- Sozialauswahl
- Social selection. In a redundancy dismissal the employer must compare employees on tenure, age, dependants and disability (§ 1 (3) KSchG).
- Sperrzeit
- 12-week unemployment-benefit blocking period (§ 159 SGB III), triggered most commonly by a termination agreement without important cause.
- Tarifvertrag
- Collective bargaining agreement.
- Urlaubsabgeltung
- Cash-out for unused statutory holiday at the end of the employment (§ 7 (4) BUrlG). Read more →
- Zeugnis
- Reference letter. Qualified reference must be at least "good" in market practice; "very good" is the negotiation target.
Contact
Tell us about your case
Fill in the form — we will review your situation. Free of charge, typically within 48 hours. We handle German labour-law matters in English.
What happens next?
After your enquiry we review the details and reply with an initial assessment — whether the dismissal can be challenged, how high a likely severance could be and which next steps make sense.
Email
bektas@apos.legal
bektas@apos.legal
Phone
+49 6222 9599 2400
+49 6222 9599 2400
Response time: we reply within 48 hours on working days. If you have already received a dismissal, please mention it — deadline-sensitive cases are prioritised.