Unemployment benefit: Blocking in the event of dismissal

Unemployment insurance is one insurance. As an employee, you are also a policyholder. As with other insurance companies, it is your responsibility to avoid unnecessary "claims". If you behaved "contrary to insurance", your entitlement to unemployment benefit is suspended for the duration of a blocking period. The law only allows narrow exceptions (Section 144 SGB III).

Your behavior contrary to insurance will result in a ban

The only problem is if the employer dismissed you properly. Then you are immediately entitled to unemployment benefit.

• In certain cases, your entitlement to unemployment benefits can be waived for a blocking period of up to 12 weeks. Such a blocking period threatens you if you terminate the employment relationship yourself (self-resignation). The same applies if the employer has terminated the employment relationship without notice for an important reason. A termination agreement can also result in a blocking period.
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• The blocking period is up to 12 weeks. Your entitlement will be fully revived after it has expired and will exist for the full duration of the entitlement. It is therefore not reduced by 12 weeks in relation to the entire entitlement period. The blocking period postpones your entitlement. But at first you are left with no money. The embargo period can be shortened in exceptional cases (§ 144 III SGB III).
• Your obligation to contribute to unemployment insurance begins when you exceed the marginal earnings threshold of € 450 / month. Before that, you are not entitled to unemployment benefit. You do not need to report to the employment office. However, a report makes sense if you are looking for a job. Part-time employees are considered full-fledged employees.


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Please note that you must inform the employment office at least three months before the end of the employment relationship. If the termination occurs at short notice, you must act within three days (Section 38 SGB III). Otherwise you risk a blocking period simply because you have violated your duty to inform.

You should have solid reasons for resigning

However, you are entitled to unemployment benefit if you have an important reason to terminate the employment relationship.

• Recognize labor law as an important reason, resp. Social law, the avoidance of an otherwise inevitable job-related dismissal from the employer. Health problems such as bullying or reunification to maintain a partnership can also be recognized. In these cases, your self-resignation or a termination agreement will have no effect on your entitlement to unemployment benefit.
• There is a risk of a ban if your employer resigns for personal or behavioral reasons. Then you caused the insured event negligently.

Be careful with termination agreements

In the case of a termination agreement, you must not accept a threatened, obviously ineffective dismissal from the employer. In this case, you agree that the employment relationship will be terminated by mutual consent without notice.

• If you then still receive a severance payment, the employment office assumes that you have brought about the benefit that is subject to compulsory insurance. You have to expect a blocking period. If the termination appears to be unfounded, you should insist on the termination and bring an action for protection against dismissal.
• An exception applies if you as an employee accept a lawful dismissal (e.g. B. for operational reasons). The same applies if you conclude a settlement in the context of dismissal protection proceedings at the suggestion of the court. Short-time work as such has no effect.

How to secure your unemployment benefit

• The conclusions for appropriate behavior in a termination situation result from the aforementioned criteria. If you want to avoid a blocking period, you should only give notice when you have a secure successor job. If this is not the case, the employer should give an ordinary notice of termination if possible. It is imperative that you avoid termination without notice.
• You should not conclude a termination agreement without prior legal advice. Tax aspects are also decisive here. There are no more allowances. Income taxation is based on the fifth rule. After that, the taxable income is fictitiously distributed over 5 years. The resulting annual amount is added to the taxable income.

The right to terminate is part of labor law. It's downright complex. It is hardly transparent without legal advice. Please note that you have to file a possible dismissal protection suit within 3 weeks after receiving the notice of termination.