Contract: templates and forms

The partnership agreement for a German civil-law partnership (Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts, GbR) under the law in force since 1 January 2024 (§§ 705 ff. of the German Civil Code, BGB, as reformed by the MoPeG), for two or three freelancers, self-employed people or a small team: name and seat, whether the GbR is entered in the partnership register as an eGbR, purpose, contributions and shares, management and representation, resolutions, profit and loss, notice, leaving, a partner's death, settlement and dissolution. No notary is needed for the agreement itself. In German.

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.

The contract between an Austrian GmbH or FlexCo and its managing director, separate from the appointment by the shareholders: duties and standard of care (§ 25 of the Austrian Limited Liability Companies Act, GmbHG), scope of the work, gross monthly salary paid 14 or 12 times a year, variable pay, leave, competition and confidentiality, term and notice. Whether the director is insured under the ASVG or the GSVG depends not on the contract's label but on the shareholding and actual influence (§ 539a ASVG); the contract records the shareholding. Removal ends the office, not the contract (§ 16 GmbHG). In German.