Termination agreement ending an employment relationship (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.
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.
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
- Notice period
- Why, and on whose initiative, the employment ends
- Reason
- Date of termination
- Working, or released from work, until the end
- Gross severance pay in euros (0 if none)
- Remaining leave, in working days
- Overall grade in the employer's reference
- 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
- Why must a German termination agreement be printed and signed by hand?
- Because § 623 of the German Civil Code requires written form for ending employment by agreement and excludes the electronic form. Both parties sign the same document by hand; with two copies it is enough for each party to sign the one meant for the other (§ 126(2) BGB). An agreement exchanged by e-mail, fax or as a scan is void (§ 125 BGB), and the employment simply continues. So print the document twice.
- Does a termination agreement in Germany lead to a block on unemployment benefit?
- Yes, unless there is an important reason: usually twelve weeks without benefit, and the benefit period shrinks by at least a quarter (§§ 159, 148 SGB III). The main important reason is that the employer would otherwise have lawfully dismissed for operational reasons on the same date, which is why it goes into the preamble. The employment agency sets out the details in its internal guidance and decides for itself. Registering as a job-seeker is due within three days if the end is less than three months away (§ 38 SGB III).
- Can a signed termination agreement in Germany be withdrawn from?
- No. There is no right of withdrawal as for doorstep sales, even if it is signed at home (Federal Labour Court, 6 AZR 75/18, 7 February 2019). It can be void, however, if the employer broke the duty of fair negotiation — for instance by creating or exploiting a situation that seriously hampers a free decision — or if it was obtained by deceit or unlawful threat (§ 123 BGB). Take time to think before signing, and get advice.
- How is severance pay from a German termination agreement taxed?
- Severance is taxable and is taxed with the last payslip. Since 2025 the employer no longer applies the reduced rate under the one-fifth rule (§ 34 EStG) when deducting wage tax; it is granted only through the income tax return. If the employment ends earlier than the employer's ordinary notice period would have allowed, unemployment benefit is suspended for a time because of the severance (§ 158 SGB III) — which is why the agreement records that period.
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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