Fixed-term 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 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.
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
- End date of the contract
- Position
- Place of work
- Type of fixed term and its legal ground
- Objective reason for the fixed term (if any)
- 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
- By when must a fixed-term employment contract in Germany be signed?
- Before the first working day, and by both sides: the fixed term must be in writing (§ 14(4) TzBfG). Sign by hand on paper, or each with a qualified electronic signature; e-mail, a scan or a simple e-signature is not enough. If work starts before the contract signed by both is in hand, the fixed term is void and the contract counts as permanent (§ 16 TzBfG). Only an agreement ending the job at the statutory pension age has needed no more than text form since 2025.
- How long may a German employment contract be fixed-term without an objective reason?
- Up to two years, with at most three extensions within that time (§ 14(2) TzBfG). A newly founded business may use up to four years in its first four years; for employees aged 52 or over who were out of work for at least four months, up to five years. It is barred if the employee has worked for the same employer before, unless that was very long ago (Federal Constitutional Court, 1 BvL 7/14). Since 2026 an exception applies to people past the statutory pension age (§ 41 SGB VI).
- Can a German fixed-term employment contract be ended before the agreed date?
- By ordinary notice only if the contract or an applicable collective agreement allows it (§ 15(4) TzBfG). This contract lets both sides give ordinary notice with the statutory periods; during an agreed probation, which must be in proportion to the length of the term (§ 15(3) TzBfG), the period is two weeks. Summary dismissal for good cause is always possible (§ 626 BGB). Every notice must reach the other side on paper, signed by hand (§ 623 BGB).
- What happens in Germany if work continues after a fixed-term contract ends?
- If the employee keeps working after the agreed end with the employer's knowledge and the employer does not object without delay, the employment counts as extended indefinitely (§ 15(6) TzBfG). An extension is therefore agreed in writing before the end. Anyone who considers the fixed term invalid must sue within three weeks of the agreed end (§ 17 TzBfG). Registering as a job-seeker with the employment agency is due at least three months before the end (§ 38 SGB III).
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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