Resignation letter (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 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.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (department if any, street, postcode and town)
- City
- Date
- Date of termination
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 resignation in Germany be printed and signed by hand?
- Because § 623 of the German Civil Code (BGB) requires written form for ending an employment relationship and expressly excludes the electronic form. Only the paper you have signed by hand with your name counts (§ 126(1) BGB). Notice by e-mail, fax, WhatsApp or as a scanned file is void (§ 125 BGB), and the job simply continues. Sign it yourself: if an agent gives notice for you, the original power of attorney must be enclosed, or the employer can reject the notice (§ 174 BGB).
- How can I prove that my resignation reached my employer in Germany?
- Notice takes effect only when the signed original reaches the employer (§ 130(1) BGB); sending it is not enough. The safest route is to print two copies, sign both, hand over the original in person and have receipt confirmed at the foot of your copy. Or a messenger who knows the contents puts the original into the employer's letterbox and notes the date and time. The online tracking status of an Einwurf-Einschreiben (a registered letter dropped in the letterbox) does not prove receipt (Federal Labour Court, 30 January 2025, 2 AZR 68/24).
- What notice period applies when an employee resigns in Germany?
- Unless something else applies, four weeks to the 15th or to the end of a calendar month (§ 622(1) BGB), and two weeks during an agreed probation of up to six months (§ 622(3) BGB). The longer periods that grow with length of service bind only the employer, unless your contract or a collective agreement extends them to you; yours may never be longer than the employer's (§ 622(6) BGB). What counts is receipt: for employment to end on 31 December 2026, notice must arrive by 3 December 2026. The fallback “or else at the next possible date” catches a miscalculation.
- What must I do at the Agentur für Arbeit after resigning in Germany?
- Register as job-seeking at once: at least three months before the job ends, or within three days of learning of an end less than three months away (§ 38(1) of the Social Code, Book III, SGB III) — online, by phone or in person. Missing this costs a one-week Sperrzeit (a block on benefit). If you resign without an important reason, unemployment benefit is also normally blocked for twelve weeks, and the benefit period shrinks by at least a quarter (§§ 159, 148 SGB III). Settle this beforehand if you have no new job yet.
- Can I withdraw my resignation in Germany, or resign without notice?
- You can withdraw it only if the withdrawal reaches the employer before or together with the notice (§ 130(1), second sentence, BGB); after that, only with the employer's agreement. Resigning without notice is something else: it needs an important reason that makes working until the end of the notice period unreasonable, and must be declared within two weeks of learning of it (§ 626 BGB). This document is ordinary notice with a notice 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.
Related documents
- 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.
- 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.