An open-ended employment contract and its notice period
Even an open-ended employment contract no longer guarantees a lifelong job - the employment relationship can sometimes be terminated faster than the employee would like. However, the law provides for at least certain notice periods.
Unless otherwise regulated in a collective agreement, an open-ended one is subject to employment contract usually the notice periods provided by the BGB. An employment contract can only deviate from this in certain exceptional cases.
Open-ended employment contract and the regulations in the BGB
- According to the regulations of the German Civil Code, an employment relationship is subject to certain notice periods if it is not limited in advance. The longer the employment relationship has existed, the longer the notice period for the employer.
- In general, according to § 622 para. 1 BGB a four-week period to the end of the month or the fifteenth of a month. However, if the employment relationship has already existed for ten years, for example, the employer is given a notice period of four months to the end of a calendar month, cf. § 622 para. 2 No. 4 BGB.
- It is important to know that the calculation of the length of employment does not include those periods that were completed before the age of 25. Years of life. So if you start working early, you need longer to get a longer notice period.
- However, an open-ended employment contract can also be terminated earlier if the employment relationship is still subject to the probationary period. For a maximum of six months according to § 622 para. 3 BGB one termination possible with a two-week period.
- Of the legal regulations, an employment contract only allows a shorter notice period under certain conditions. For example in smaller companies in which - apart from the trainees - fewer than 20 employees are employed. However, the notice period may in no case be less than four weeks.
Notice period for temporary staff - what you need to know if temporary staff are only hired
Flexibility is demanded more and more from employees. This is even more true when it ...
Termination without notice
- An open-ended employment contract can also be terminated without notice in exceptional cases, cf. § 626 para. 1 BGB.
- However, this only applies if the continuation of the employment relationship until the normal notice period is unreasonable for one of the contractual partners.
Today nobody can rest on an open-ended employment contract. However, different notice periods apply depending on the length of employment.
How helpful do you find this article?
