You've been fired in Germany. Here's what to do first.

Being handed a Kündigung in a language you only half-read is disorienting, and the German system does not give you long to recover. Almost everything that goes wrong after a termination goes wrong in the first fortnight — not in court. Here is what actually matters, in order.

1. The three-week clock

This is the single most important thing on this page. If you want to challenge a termination, you have three weeks from the day the written notice reached you to file a claim at the labour court (§ 4 Kündigungsschutzgesetz).

Miss it and § 7 KSchG takes over: the termination is treated as legally valid from then on, regardless of how unfair or baseless it was. There is no appeal to fairness afterwards. This is the mistake that ends most cases before they start.

Two details people get wrong:

• The clock runs from when the letter reached you (Zugang) — not the date printed on it, and not the day your notice period ends. A letter in your postbox counts as received that day, even if you were travelling.
• Three weeks means filing at the court, not writing to your employer. Complaining to HR does not stop the clock.

Work out your exact date here — it accounts for weekends and public holidays (§ 193 BGB).

2. Do not sign anything yet

It is common to be offered a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag) in the same conversation, sometimes described as the friendlier option, sometimes with a small payment attached and a deadline of "today".

Signing one usually means giving up your job voluntarily in the eyes of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit — which can trigger a Sperrzeit, typically twelve weeks without unemployment benefit (§ 159 SGB III). It also normally waives your right to challenge the dismissal at all. People have signed away far more than the payment they were offered.

You are never obliged to sign on the spot. "I'll have this looked at and come back to you" is a complete answer. The same goes for anything labelled Abwicklungsvertrag or a waiver (Ausgleichsquittung) — and for signing a receipt that says more than "I received this letter today".

3. Register with the Agentur für Arbeit within three days

Separate from anything legal, and on its own short clock: you must register as seeking work (arbeitsuchend melden) within three days of learning your job is ending, if less than three months remain (§ 38 SGB III). Where more than three months remain, it is three months before the end date.

Late registration can reduce your benefit. This is administrative, it is quick, and it is independent of whether you intend to fight the dismissal — do it online and do it now. Registering does not weaken any claim.

4. When a termination is simply void

German law is strict about form, and employers get this wrong more often than you would expect. A termination must be in writing on paper and personally signed (§ 623 BGB). Electronic form is expressly excluded, which means:

• an email — even a formal one, even a PDF attachment — is void;
• a WhatsApp message, SMS or Slack message is void;
• a scan or photograph of a signed letter is not the signed original;
• a letter signed by someone without authority can be rejected (§ 174 BGB) if you object promptly and no authority document was enclosed.

A void termination does not end your employment. But do not simply ignore one on the assumption it is defective — the safe course is to have it checked and keep the three-week deadline in view, because arguing about form after the window closes is much harder.

5. Whether you have dismissal protection at all

The Kündigungsschutzgesetz — the law that requires an employer to justify a dismissal — only applies if both are true:

• you have been employed there for more than six months (§ 1 KSchG); and
• the business regularly employs more than ten people, counting part-timers proportionally (§ 23 KSchG).

Below those thresholds an employer has much more freedom, though a dismissal can still be attacked where it is discriminatory, retaliatory, or breaches the contract or notice period.

Some people have special protection regardless of the above:

• pregnancy and up to four months after birth (§ 17 MuSchG);
• parental leave;
• recognised severe disability — the Integrationsamt must consent first (§ 168 SGB IX);
• works council members.

If any of these apply to you, say so early. A dismissal issued without the required consent is generally invalid.

6. The truth about severance

There is no general right to a severance payment (Abfindung) in German law. This surprises people who expect something automatic.

In practice severance is common anyway — not as an entitlement but as the price of certainty. Once a claim is filed, the employer faces the risk of losing, having to take you back, and owing wages for the whole period in between. Settling removes that risk, which is why most labour court cases end in a settlement rather than a judgment.

The figure people quote as a rule of thumb is half a month's gross salary per year of service. That is the formula § 1a KSchG uses where an employer offers severance in a redundancy and you let the deadline pass. It is a reference point, not a ceiling and not a promise — the real number depends on how strong the dismissal looks and how much the employer wants it over with.

Note the asymmetry: the negotiating leverage exists because a claim was filed in time. After three weeks it is largely gone.

7. What challenging it costs

Less than most people assume. In the first instance before the Arbeitsgericht, each side pays its own lawyer regardless of who wins (§ 12a Arbeitsgerichtsgesetz). Losing does not mean paying your employer's legal bill — unusual in German litigation, and deliberately so.

Worth checking before you assume you cannot afford it:

• legal expenses insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung), which often covers employment matters — sometimes through a partner's policy;
• trade union membership, which usually includes legal representation;
• state legal aid (Beratungshilfe and Prozesskostenhilfe) if your income is low.

The first consultation through Klarlaw is free either way.

8. Your first-week checklist

A note on staying calm

A termination is not the end of the conversation in Germany — it is the beginning of a fairly structured one, with a court that hears these cases constantly and settles most of them. The system is not designed to be navigated in a hurry, in a second language, alone. That is exactly what the three weeks are for.