Employment contracts, resignation letters and leave requests in Germany
In Germany, a resignation or a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag) ends a job only on paper signed by hand, because § 623 of the Civil Code (BGB) excludes the electronic form: by e-mail, fax, scan or even a qualified electronic signature it is void. Notice takes effect when it reaches the other side (§ 130 BGB). The safest proof is handing it over in front of a witness or sending a messenger; the tracking record of a drop-in registered letter (Einwurf-Einschreiben) does not prove delivery on its own (Federal Labour Court, 30 January 2025, 2 AZR 68/24). By statute an employee's notice is four weeks to the 15th or to the end of a calendar month, and two weeks in an agreed probation period of up to six months; the contract or a collective agreement may set other periods.
The documents are written in German, under German law, and each one's page describes it in English. To leave, there is the resignation letter and the termination agreement, which ends the job on an agreed date and carries no right of withdrawal. Resigning or signing one without good cause can block unemployment benefit for twelve weeks (§ 159 SGB III), and anyone whose job is ending must register as a job-seeker three months ahead, or within three days if the end is closer (§ 38 SGB III). An employer assesses performance and conduct only if the employee asks for a full reference, as the reference request does. The claim for unpaid wages and overtime is sent before a time limit in the contract or collective agreement extinguishes it.
A fixed-term contract must have its fixed term in writing, signed by both sides before the first working day, or it counts as permanent (§§ 14(4), 16 TzBfG); the open-ended contract carries the terms the Evidence Act (Nachweisgesetz) requires. An annual leave request needs no form. Parental leave is claimed at least seven weeks ahead (13 weeks for leave after the third birthday), in text form such as e-mail for children born or placed for adoption from 1 May 2025 and on signed paper for older children; a request for part-time work goes in text form three months ahead. Educational leave is a matter for each Land: Bavaria has none, Saxony only from 1 January 2027 (request). Each document is filled in online and downloaded as a finished PDF, or blank, then printed and signed; none of it is legal advice.
The documents
20 forms available to fill out or download.
Child sick: notice to the employer and leave to care (Germany)
When your child is ill and you have to stay at home in Germany: the letter telling the employer and asking to be released from work under § 45(3) of Book V of the Social Code (SGB V). It asks for paid leave where § 616 of the German Civil Code (BGB) or the employment contract gives it, and otherwise announces the claim for child sickness benefit (Kinderkrankengeld) from the health insurer. For parents with statutory insurance and children under twelve; in German, with no diagnosis.
Request for a pension statement, contribution record or account review (Germany)
The letter to the German statutory pension insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) asking for a pension statement (Rentenauskunft), an up-to-date contribution record (Versicherungsverlauf) or a review of your insurance account (Kontenklärung) — with your insurance number, birth name and date of birth, the reason and the periods you believe are missing, such as school, university, child-raising or work abroad. The pension insurance also offers these requests free online; this letter is for those who prefer to apply in writing, cannot use the online services or live abroad. In German, ready to print, sign and send.
Request to present an extended certificate of good conduct (Germany)
The written request a club, nursery, school, youth-welfare provider or other organisation in Germany gives an employee or volunteer so that they can apply for an extended certificate of good conduct (erweitertes Führungszeugnis): under § 30a(2) of the Federal Central Criminal Register Act (BZRG), it is issued only to someone who presents such a request, in which the organisation confirms that the conditions of § 30a(1) are met. It names the organisation, the person and the activity, gives the statutory ground as a choice and says whether the work is voluntary, for a fee waiver. In German.
Managing director's service contract for a GmbH (Germany)
The service contract between a German GmbH or UG (haftungsbeschränkt) and its managing director (Geschäftsführer), separate from the appointment by shareholders' resolution. It covers duties and transactions needing the shareholders' consent, start and place of work, salary and variable pay, sick pay, holiday, a non-compete during the contract, confidentiality, termination and garden leave after removal from office. It records the director's shareholding and says when the director is insured as an employee: without shares always; a shareholder-director is self-employed only with a majority or a blocking minority over all company business. In German.
Notifying the employer of sickness (Germany)
The written notice of sickness an employee in Germany gives the employer under § 5 of the Continued Remuneration Act (EntgFG): that they are unfit for work and for how long, with no diagnosis. For people with statutory health insurance it reflects the electronic sick note (eAU) — the employer fetches the certificate from the health insurer, but the employee must still report the absence at once. Those insured privately announce a paper certificate. In German, with a box for an address abroad.
Resignation letter (Germany)
A German resignation letter (Eigenkündigung): ordinary notice ending your employment on the date you choose, or else on the next possible date, asking for confirmation of receipt, a full employment reference (qualifiziertes Arbeitszeugnis) and for remaining leave to be granted or paid out. Under § 623 of the German Civil Code (BGB), notice ending employment is valid only on paper signed by hand — e-mail, fax, scans and every other electronic form are void. In German, to print, sign and hand over with proof of delivery.
Employee's reply to a formal warning (Germany)
An employee's written reply to an employer's formal warning (Abmahnung) in Germany, to be added to the personnel file under § 83(2) of the German Works Constitution Act (BetrVG). It names the allegation, sets out the facts as the employee sees them, lists witnesses and asks either for the unjustified warning to be removed from the file or for the reply to be filed with it. There is no deadline and no duty to reply, but what is written can be used later. In German, to print, sign and hand over against a receipt.
Claim to an employer for unpaid wages and overtime (Germany)
A letter claiming unpaid wages, salary or overtime pay from an employer in Germany, sent in time to beat the exclusion period (Ausschlussfrist) in the employment contract or collective agreement, which is often only three months from the due date. It lists month, type of claim and gross amount, sets a payment deadline, claims default interest under § 288(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB), backs overtime with the employee's own records and can announce that work will be withheld. In German, to print, sign by hand and deliver with proof of receipt, and to e-mail as well.
Request to reduce working hours: part-time or bridging part-time (Germany)
An employee's request in Germany to cut working hours, permanently under § 8 of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG) or for one to five years as bridging part-time under § 9a TzBfG, with current and desired weekly hours, the start date, the end date for bridging part-time and the preferred spread over the week. It reaches the employer in text form at least three months before the start; unless the employer refuses in text form a month before, the hours are reduced as asked. Requires over six months' service and over 15 employees (over 45 for bridging part-time). In German.
Unpaid leave request (Germany)
A request to a German employer for unpaid special leave (unbezahlter Sonderurlaub) over set dates, giving the reason and the terms both sides agree: release from work without pay, the employment continuing, and a return on the same terms. There is no general statutory right to it, so the leave exists only once the employer agrees, and the document has room below for that consent. It points out that social insurance cover continues for one month at most (§ 7(3) of the German Social Code, Book IV, SGB IV), after which health insurance must be arranged. In German.
Annual leave request (Germany)
A request to a German employer for annual leave (Erholungsurlaub) over set dates, with the number of working days and who covers the work, citing § 7(1) of the Federal Leave Act (BUrlG): the employee's wishes must be followed unless urgent operational needs, or colleagues with a socially stronger claim, stand in the way. It says the leave starts only once approved, and leaves room below for the employer's decision. No form is prescribed: e-mail it or hand it in. In German.
Employment reference request — Arbeitszeugnis (Germany)
A letter asking a German employer for a full employment reference (qualifiziertes Arbeitszeugnis) on leaving, or an interim reference (Zwischenzeugnis) while still employed — expressly covering performance and conduct, because without that request the employer owes only a basic reference stating the type and length of the work (§ 109 of the German Trade Regulation Act, GewO). It gives the job, the period of employment, the reason and a date by which the reference should be posted. No form is prescribed for the request. In German.
Request for paid educational leave (Germany)
An employee's request in Germany for paid educational leave (Bildungsurlaub, called Bildungszeit or Bildungsfreistellung in some Länder) for a recognised course, with its title, organiser, place, dates, number of working days and proof of recognition. One document for all 14 Länder that have an educational leave law: choose the Land where you work, whose law sets the entitlement, the waiting period, the notice period and course recognition. Bavaria has no educational leave, and Saxony only from 1 January 2027. In German.
Parental leave notice to the employer — Elternzeit (Germany)
The notice by which an employee in Germany claims parental leave (Elternzeit) under § 16 of the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (BEEG): the child, the date of birth or due date, the start and end of the leave and any further periods, with the binding choice for the first two years and a request for confirmation. It must reach the employer at least seven weeks before the leave starts, or 13 weeks before leave after the third birthday. For children born or placed for adoption from 1 May 2025, text form such as e-mail is enough; for older children a hand-signed original is required. In German.
Employee confidentiality agreement (Germany)
A confidentiality agreement with an employee in Germany, in German, that protects trade secrets as one of the reasonable secrecy measures the German Trade Secrets Act (GeschGehG) requires: named kinds of confidential information, duties during the employment, a duty afterwards limited to those secrets and a set period, return of documents, and the statutory exceptions for whistleblowers. It leaves out the catch-all clause on all internal matters that the Federal Labour Court struck down in 2024, and any ban on discussing one's own pay.
Post-employment non-compete agreement (Germany)
An agreement barring an employee in Germany from competing after the job ends, in German, under §§ 74 ff. of the German Commercial Code (HGB): the barred activities, the area, a length of at most two years and the compensation of at least half the last pay without which the ban is not binding. With the offset of other earnings, the duty to report them and the employer's waiver under § 75a HGB. Written form: print it, both sign by hand, and the employee is handed an original signed by the employer.
Open-ended employment contract (Germany)
A permanent employment contract for full- or part-time work in Germany, in German, with every essential term the German Evidence Act (Nachweisgesetz, NachwG) requires: start, job, place of work, probation, hours and breaks, overtime, pay and when it is due, the minimum wage, leave, notice periods under § 622 of the German Civil Code (BGB), the written form of a dismissal and the deadline to sue, collective agreements, training and pension. Its time limit for claims leaves the minimum wage untouched and asks only for text form.
Termination agreement ending an employment relationship (Germany)
An agreement ending a German employment relationship by mutual consent (Aufhebungsvertrag), in German: end date, pay and garden leave, severance, remaining leave, a reference with an agreed grade, employment papers and a clean-break clause. Its preamble records the reason that decides whether unemployment benefit is blocked for 12 weeks (§ 159 SGB III), and it warns of that block and of the duty to register as a job-seeker. Under § 623 of the German Civil Code (BGB) it is valid only if printed and signed by hand by both sides: the electronic form is excluded.
Fixed-term employment contract (Germany)
A fixed-term employment contract under the German Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG), in German: without an objective reason (up to two years) or with one, such as standing in for an absent employee, a temporary need or a trial. It carries every term the Nachweisgesetz requires, the minimum wage, leave, notice during the term and a time limit for claims that excludes the minimum wage. The fixed term must be in writing, signed by both before the first working day, or the contract counts as permanent.
Home office and mobile work agreement (Germany)
A supplement to a German employment contract on working from home and mobile work, in German: start and extent, a choice between mobile work and telework at a fixed home workstation under the German Workplaces Ordinance (ArbStättV), working time, availability and time recording, equipment and a cost allowance, data protection at home, health and safety, accident insurance, no work from abroad without a separate agreement, and ending the arrangement. German law gives no right to a home office, so it has to be agreed.