Open-ended employment contract (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
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.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employer
- Employer's registered address
- Employer's trade register number
- Person signing for the employer
- Employee
- Date of birth
- Employee's address
- Start date
- Position
- Place of work
- Duties
- Probation in months (at most 6; 0 if none)
- Weekly working hours
- Working hours
- How overtime is compensated
- Gross base salary
- Other components of pay
- Annual leave, in working days
- Working days per week
- Applicable collective agreement (or “none”)
- Training provided by the employer (or “none”)
- Occupational pension provider: name and address (or “none”)
- Additional terms
- City
- Date
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Does an open-ended employment contract in Germany have to be in writing?
- The contract itself needs no form, but the German Evidence Act requires the essential terms in writing: names, pay and hours on the first working day, more by the seventh calendar day, the rest within a month (§ 2 NachwG). Since 1 January 2025 text form will do if the document can be accessed, stored and printed and the employer asks for a receipt — except in the sectors of § 2a SchwarzArbG, such as construction, hospitality and haulage. This contract, signed by both and handed over, is that record.
- What is the minimum wage for an employment contract in Germany in 2026 and 2027?
- The statutory minimum wage has been €13.90 gross per hour since 1 January 2026 and rises to €14.60 on 1 January 2027 (Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance). Check that the monthly salary divided by the monthly hours stays above it. The contract says pay never falls below the minimum wage at its current rate; agreements that limit it are void (§ 3 MiLoG). The ceiling for a mini-job is €603 a month in 2026 and €633 in 2027.
- What must a time limit for claims in a German employment contract respect?
- Each stage must allow at least three months, the claim may not be required in a stricter form than text form (§ 309 no. 13 BGB, for contracts since 1 October 2016), and the statutory minimum wage must be expressly excluded — otherwise the whole clause is void in contracts made since 2015 (Federal Labour Court, 9 AZR 162/18). Nor may it cover claims for intentional breach (8 AZR 58/20). This contract's clause stays within these limits; a time limit in a collective agreement can apply alongside it.
- What notice periods apply under this German open-ended employment contract?
- Two weeks during an agreed probation of up to six months, then four weeks to the 15th or the end of a month (§ 622(1) and (3) BGB). For the employer the period grows to one month after two years and up to seven months after 20 years, each to the end of a month (§ 622(2) BGB); the contract applies the longer periods to both sides. A notice is valid only on paper, signed by hand (§ 623 BGB). Protection against unfair dismissal starts after six months in businesses with more than ten employees.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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