Changing or losing your job in Germany

By Nicolas Bouliane Verified by 4 experts

This guide shows you what to do when:

  • You get fired (your employer is not happy with you)
  • You get laid off (your employer has no work for you)
  • You quit (you choose to leave)
  • You change jobs

This guide is only for employees, not freelancers.

If you quit your job

Calculate your notice period

Your job has a notice period (Kündigungsfrist). It’s written in your work contract. If you quit, you must work until the end of your notice period. The notice period starts when your employer gets your resignation letter.

Your notice period can be very long: 3 months is normal for some jobs.9 To leave sooner, negotiate a shorter notice period with your employer.38

How the notice period works

Give your resignation letter

To quit your job, you must give a resignation letter (Kündigungsschreiben). Your resignation is only valid when your employer receives your resignation letter. That’s when your notice period starts.

How to write and send a resignation letter

Resignation letter generator

Your employer can’t force you to resign. Never give a resignation letter if you did not resign.

See a doctor

If you quit for mental health reasons (burnout, depression, stress), get a note from a doctor. This proves that you had a valid reason to quit.12 If you don’t have a sick note, this is harder to prove.

If you quit without a reason, you lose 3 months of unemployment benefits.

If you get fired or laid off

If your employer does not need you, you can get laid off. If your employer has financial problems, they can also put you on Kurzarbeit.

If your employer is not happy with your work, you can get fired. You can’t get fired without a good reason, except during probation period. You get written warnings before you get fired, except for very serious reasons.

Resist

During your probation period, you can be fired without a reason.

After your probation period ends, your employer needs a valid reason to fire you. If you don’t agree with the reason, you have 3 weeks to resist with a Kündigungsschutzklage.30 Get legal help for this.

Finish your notice period

Your job has a notice period (Kündigungsfrist), even during your probation period. If you get laid off, you get paid until the end of the notice period. During your notice period, your employer can make you work, or send you on garden leave. If you have unused vacation days, your employer usually forces you to go on vacation.

If you get fired for misconduct, there might be no notice period.10

How the notice period works

Negotiate severance pay

If you get laid off, ask for severance pay (Abfindung). Usually, you must sign a termination agreement (Abwicklungsvertrag) to get severance pay. In other words, your employer pays you to leave without suing them.

You can negotiate how much severance pay you get.26 Severance pay in Germany is lower than in North America. You usually get 0.5× your gross monthly income for each year of employment.21 For example, if you work 5 years for an employer, your severance pay is 2.5 months of income.

A labour lawyer can help you negotiate better severance pay, because they know how much money you can get.

Find a labour lawyer

Severance pay can affect your unemployment benefits. If your severance pay is really high, you can lose 3 months of unemployment benefits.25 Sometimes, it’s better to refuse severance pay and get unemployment benefits. If you are not sure, ask a labour lawyer.

How unemployment benefits work

If you are over 50 years old and plan to retire soon, you can ask for pension payments instead of severance pay. It might be a better deal for you.

Do not sign an Auf­he­bungs­ver­trag

Your employer can suggest a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag). If you sign it, you don’t get fired; you agree to leave. This is not always a good idea.

If you sign a termination agreement…19

  • You lose dismissal protection (Kündigungsschutz)
    You can’t sue your employer for firing you, because you agreed to leave. Your employer wants you to sign an Aufhebungsvertrag because it’s safer for them.
  • You can negotiate better severance pay (Abfindung)
    Usually, severance pay depends on signing an Aufhebungsvertrag. This is the biggest benefit for you. You don’t always need an Aufhebungsvertrag. You might get more severance pay if you wait to get fired, then sue your employer.40
  • There is no minimum notice period
    You can agree to leave sooner. This is good if you already found another job. If you leave early, you sometimes get less unemployment benefits.41
  • You can lose 3 months of unemployment benefits
    If you choose to leave, you can lose 3 months of unemployment benefits.24 It depends on what’s in your Aufhebungsvertrag. – How unemployment benefits work

When you sign an Aufhebungsvertrag, you make a deal with your employer. You get more money, they get less problems. You can accept, refuse or negotiate this deal. Your employer can’t force you to sign an Aufhebungsvertrag.20 If you are not sure, get legal help.

Before you stop working

Register as a job seeker

When you know that you will be unemployed, register as a job seeker at the Agentur für Arbeit. You must do this 3 months before your last day of work, or 3 days after you learn that you will be unemployed. If you wait too long, you get less unemployment benefits.

How to register as a job seeker

Tell the Aus­län­der­be­hör­de

If you have a residence permit, always tell the Ausländerbehörde when you change or lose your job. Do not wait more than 2 weeks.11 Permanent residents don’t need to do this.

Use my letter generator to write your message. Use the Ausländerbehörde’s contact form to send it. Attach your resignation letter or termination notice. If you have a new job, also attach your new work contract

In Berlin, the Ausländerbehörde will reply by email. It can take a few weeks. They might not reply at all.42

What happens to your residence permit

Register as unemployed

When you know your last day of work, register as unemployed at the Agentur für Arbeit. You must do this to get unemployment benefits. Do it in your last 3 months of work.

How to register as unemployed

Tell your health insurance

When you are unemployed, you keep your health insurance. The coverage does not change, but the price can change.6 If you have private health insurance and you get unemployment benefits, you must switch to public health insurance.

What happens to your health insurance

Get a letter of reference

A letter of reference (Arbeitszeugnis) is a proof of the work you did for your employer. It can help your job search. Your next employer can ask for it.31

Your employer is required to give you a letter of reference.15 Ask for it in your resignation letter. Apprentices, working students, temporary workers and minijobbers can also demand a letter of reference.

The letter must clearly explain the type of work you did, and for how long. Your employer must give you a paper version, not an electronic version. It must not have information about your health, your salary, your other jobs, your union membership, or your political affiliations. Your employer needs your explicit permission to mention why you quit or got fired.16

If you worked for more than 6 weeks, you can demand a qualified reference (qualifiziertes Arbeitszeugnis). It includes an evaluation of your performance, and the reason you left the company.

Get an Ar­beits­be­schei­ni­gung

Before you get unemployment benefits, your employer must send your Arbeitsbescheinigung to the Agentur für Arbeit.13 Some employers take a long time to do this.

How to get your Arbeitsbescheinigung

Get an Ur­laubs­be­schei­ni­gung

A vacation certificate (Urlaubsbescheinigung) shows how many unused vacation days you have. It tells your next employer how many vacation days you should get this year.34

Your employer is required to give you an Urlaubsbescheinigung, but you must ask for it.33 Ask for it in your resignation letter.

What happens to your vacation days

Get all other documents

You must get your salary tax statement (Lohnsteuerbescheinigung) and your last pay slip (Gehaltsabrechnung or Lohnabrechnung).27 You should get them shortly after your last paycheck. The Agentur für Arbeit might ask for them. These documents help the Agentur für Arbeit calculate your unemployment benefits.

After you stop working

Get coaching or training

If you get unemployment benefits, you can get free professional training, coaching and language lessons. The Agentur für Arbeit pays for it with a Bildungsgutschein or an AVGS voucher.

Ask about it during your unemployment benefits appointment at the Agentur für Arbeit. Your case worker will decide if you can get free training.32

Find a new job

How to find a job

You can also start your own business and become self-employed. The Agentur für Arbeit can help you with free training and extra money (Gründungszuschuss). You might need a different residence permit for this.

How to start a business

Make a tax declaration

At the end of the year, make a tax declaration (Steuererklärung). Your job search expenses are tax-deductible. – More information.

  • If you get unemployment benefits, you must make a tax declaration.
  • If you don’t get unemployment benefits, you should still make a tax declaration. If you were unemployed for a few months, you probably paid too much taxes. Make a tax declaration to get some money back.

German tax software

English-speaking tax advisors in Berlin

Ask for a pension refund

When you work in Germany, you pay 9.3% of your salary for pension insurance. If you leave Germany, you can get that money back.

This calculator tells you if you can get a pension refund, and how much you can get back.

How to get a pension payments refund

What happens to your residence permit

Always tell the Ausländerbehörde when you change or lose your job. In Berlin, they usually give you 6 months to find another job.5

If you can’t find a job after 6 months, your residence permit expires, and you must leave Germany. To stay longer, you can get a different residence permit.29

When you find a job, you might need the Ausländerbehörde’s permission to start your new job. It depends on your residence permit.

Blue Card

Check your Zusatzblatt. It tells you what you can do.

In your first year with a Blue Card, your new job must fulfil the Blue Card requirements.36 You must tell the Ausländerbehörde that you have a new job.4 You can start working immediately. The Ausländerbehörde has 30 days to stop you.

After 1 year of employment with a Blue Card, you can get any kind of job. There is no minimum salary requirement. You can start working immediately.37 You should tell the Ausländerbehörde that you have a new job, but they can’t really stop you.

Opportunity card

The opportunity card lets you work 20 hours per week for any employer.43 To work full time, you must apply for a residence permit like a work visa or a Blue Card. You must wait for your residence permit before you work full time. It can take a few weeks.

Residence permits for work

Job seeker visa

Check your Zusatzblatt. It tells you if you can work with your job seeker visa. If not, you need another residence permit to start working. It will take a few weeks.

Residence permits for work

Family reunion visa

Your family reunion visa is not tied to your job. You can change jobs without permission from the Ausländerbehörde. If you lose your job, nothing happens to your residence permit.

Your spouse and children’s family reunion visas are tied to your residence permit. If you can stay in Germany, they can stay in Germany. If you lose your residence permit, they usually lose their family reunion visa too.39

If your spouse has a family reunion visa and you lose your job, you can switch roles. They can get a residence permit and sponsor your family reunion visa.35

Other residence permits

Check your Zusatzblatt. If it says “Beschäftigung erlaubt” or “Erwerbstätigkeit erlaubt”, you can start a new job immediately. You don’t need permission from the Ausländerbehörde.

Usually, you need the Ausländerbehörde’s permission to change jobs. You must apply for a new residence permit before you start working. It takes a few weeks. Your new job must fulfil the work visa requirements.36 After 2 to 3 years in Germany, they might allow you to take any job.8

Always tell the Ausländerbehörde about your new job, even if you don’t need their permission to change jobs.

Citizenship or permanent residence

If you are a EU citizen or a German permanent resident, nothing happens. You don’t need to a job to live in Germany. You don’t need permission to change jobs.

Your permanent residence or citizenship application might be delayed until you find another job and finish your probation period.28

How to apply for permanent residence

What happens to your health insurance

With public health insurance

Your public health insurance becomes cheaper or free. The coverage stays the same.

In some cases, your health insurance is free for 1 month after you lose your job (nachgehender Leistungsanspruch).18 This happens automatically; you don’t need to apply for it.

With private health insurance

Your private health insurance becomes more expensive, because you employer stops paying half of it. The coverage stays the same.

  • If you get unemployment benefits
    You must switch to public health insurance. The Agentur für Arbeit pays for your health insurance, so you are covered for free.1 In some cases, you can keep your private health insurance.2
  • If you don’t get unemployment benefits
    You keep your private health insurance.3 Your employer does not pay half of it. For example, if your private health insurance costs 500€ per month, your employer paid 250€, and you paid 250€. If you lose your job, you pay 500€ alone without help.

Who gets unemployment benefits

What happens to your pay and bonuses

You get paid until your last day of work, at the end of your notice period. Your employer must pay your full salary, even if you have no work to do.23

After your last day of work, you might get severance pay or unemployment benefits. This gives you financial support while you find another job.

If your employer gives performance bonuses, you should get that bonus even if you leave the company.22 Your bonus can be prorated. For example, if you should get a performance bonus every year, but you leave in September, you should get 75% of the promised bonus. Bonuses are usually paid at the start of the next year. If you don’t get your bonus, talk to a lawyer.

What happens to your unused vacation days

You usually take your unused vacation days during your notice period.14 In some cases, your employer pays you for your unused vacation days.

During your notice period, you can still go on sick leave.

Vacation days when you change jobs

Checklist

Need help?

If you need help, get legal help. In Germany, it’s normal to hire a lawyer. It’s not an aggressive move.

Where to get legal help

Sources and footnotes

  1. Feather ⤴

  2. Feather ⤴

  3. Feather ⤴

  4. VAB A.18g.4 (December 2024), §82 Abs. 6 AufenthG ⤴

  5. §7 Abs. 2 AufenthG, 7.2.2 VAB, David Kremers, anwalt.de, make-it-in-germany.com, Facebook, Charlott Posch of the Willkommenszentrum (June 2023), Beratungsservice of the Ausländerbehörde (June 2023), Kathleen Parker at Red Tape Translation (July 2023), Carina Senf at Rotwang Law (July 2023), BAMF ⤴

  6. Techniker Krankenkasse ⤴

  7. Techniker Krankenkasse ⤴

  8. §9 Abs. 1 BeschV ⤴

  9. wiwi-treff.de ⤴

  10. Finanztip ⤴

  11. §82 Abs. 6 AufenthG ⤴

  12. Red Tape Translation (July 2023), personal interview (June 2023) ⤴

  13. kanzlei-hallermann.de, §312 SGB III, Agentur für Arbeit ⤴

  14. spiegel.de ⤴

  15. verdi.de, §109 GewO ⤴

  16. karrierebibel.de ⤴

  17. aok.de ⤴

  18. Finanztip ⤴

  19. arbeitnow.com, Finanztip ⤴

  20. Finanztip ⤴

  21. §1a KSchG ⤴

  22. roedl.de, fachanwaltfürarbeitsrecht.net ⤴

  23. anwalt-martin.de, dr-drees.com ⤴

  24. Finanztip ⤴

  25. Finanztip ⤴

  26. kanzlei-chevalier.de ⤴

  27. §41b EStG, prokontex.de, bewerbungen.de, Red Tape Translation (July 2023), Rotwang Law (July 2023) ⤴

  28. Fiona Macdonald (March 2024), Rotwang Law (July 2023), reddit.com (2023), Alexander von Engelhardt (July 2023) ⤴

  29. Ina Bozhilova at Noah Mobility (July 2023) ⤴

  30. §4 KSchG ⤴

  31. bewerbungen.de ⤴

  32. Alexander von Engelhardt (July 2023) ⤴

  33. §6 Abs. 2 BUrlG, karrierebibel.de ⤴

  34. vangard.de ⤴

  35. Red Tape Translation (July 2023) ⤴

  36. §18g Abs. 4 AufenthG ⤴

  37. §18g Abs. 4 AufenthG ⤴

  38. karrierebibel.de ⤴

  39. Alexander von Engelhardt (July 2023) ⤴

  40. Dr. Drees (July 2024) ⤴

  41. Dr. Drees (July 2024) ⤴

  42. Reddit (October 2024), Reddit (August 2023), Charlotte Forestier at Expat Management Group (December 2024) ⤴

  43. §20a Abs. 2 AufenthG ⤴