Employment: templates and forms

A letter for an employee whose contract has ended in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte and who has not received the documents due: the certificat de travail (article L. 1234-19 of the Labour Code), the certificate for France Travail, the public employment service (article R. 1234-9), and the final-settlement receipt (article L. 1234-20). It lists what is missing, sets a deadline and says that, failing that, the employment tribunal's urgent-applications judge will be asked to order it. Send it by registered post with proof of receipt. In French.

The agreement by which an employer and an employee in Cyprus end the employment contract together, without a dismissal or a resignation. It sets the last working day, the pay and annual leave still owed, any agreed lump sum and when it is paid, the return of equipment, a certificate of employment and continuing confidentiality, with a settlement clause that leaves untouched any rights the law does not allow to be waived. It rests on the Contract Law, Cap. 149, which requires free consent.

The agreement by which a Greek employer and employee end the employment contract together on a date they choose: the last working day, the final settlement of pay, leave and bonuses, a lump sum if one is agreed, the return of equipment and the certificate of employment. No statute governs it: no form, reason or compensation is required, only a clear shared will — and the written agreement is what proves it when the end is declared in ERGANI II.

For an employer in Italy ending a job during the trial period. If the trial clause is valid, that is written before work began and naming the duties, the contract may be ended freely, without notice or compensation (art. 2096 of the Italian Civil Code). The letter states the end date and the final payments. It is not for a dismissal after the trial, which follows the rules on dismissal. Hand it over against a signed receipt, or send it by registered post with proof of receipt. In Italian.

For a family that, as a domestic employer in Italy, ends the job of its domestic helper, carer or nanny. In domestic work a dismissal needs no reason (art. 2118 of the Italian Civil Code; art. 4 of Italian Law 108/1990), but the notice of the collective agreement for domestic work must be given or paid in lieu. The letter states the dismissal, the notice, the last day and the final payments. It is not for a dismissal for just cause, nor during pregnancy or the leave that follows the birth. The end of the job is then reported to INPS, free of charge. Hand it over against a signed receipt, or send it by registered post. In Italian.

Ending a Polish employment contract by agreement of both sides, on a date they choose, with no notice period and no reasons given. The agreement records who proposed it — which matters for the certificate of employment, for severance where the reasons do not concern the employee, and for the labour office — and settles leave and anything else the parties have agreed.

While an agreed probationary period is running, the party in whose favour it was agreed may end the contract with no notice and without giving a reason. The application identifies the contract, the termination date, and that the ground is Art. 71 of the Labour Code. Check your own contract for whose benefit the probationary period was agreed before filing it.

The French labour ministry's site code.travail.gouv.fr offers free model letters ending the probation period, for the employee and for the employer. This document is a letter by which the employer or the employee ends the employment contract during the probation period (période d'essai) in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte: it says who is ending it, refers to the notice period of article L. 1221-25 (employer) or L. 1221-26 (employee) of the Labour Code and gives the end date. No reason has to be given. Hand it over against a signed receipt or send it by registered post with proof of receipt, before the probation period ends. In French.

A rupture conventionnelle is concluded and approved free of charge online, through the French labour ministry's TéléRC service, and the ministry's site code.travail.gouv.fr has a free model request for a meeting; this document is only the letter that proposes one. For an employee on an open-ended contract (CDI) in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte, it asks for a meeting with a view to ending the contract by mutual agreement (articles L. 1237-11 to L. 1237-16 of the Labour Code), without amounting to a resignation, and can give a preferred end date. Send it by registered post with proof of receipt or hand it over against a receipt. In French.

The way to leave at once, without working a notice period — but only if the employer agrees. The application proposes a date on which the contract is to end. The part almost nobody knows: the employer must answer within seven days, and silence counts as a refusal. Without written consent there is no termination.

For an employer and an employee in Spain who decide together to end the employment contract (art. 49.1.a of the Spanish Workers' Statute). It sets the termination date, any compensation they agree, the settlement of what is owed up to that day (pay, extra payments, holidays) and the return of company property. Ending a job by mutual agreement gives no right to Spanish unemployment benefit. Both sides sign, each keeping a copy. In Spanish.

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.

A written agreement between an employer and an employee in Cyprus for telework under the Telework Framework Law of 2023: pattern and days, place, hours and time recording, the right to disconnect and the measures that secure it, equipment, costs, data, health and safety, and the return to the office. Telework is voluntary and agreed in writing, and the employer bears the equipment and its costs. The agreement also serves as the written statement of telework terms the Law requires.

An agreement on repaying training costs under § 2d of the Austrian Employment Contract Law Adaptation Act (AVRAG), in German: in writing, before the training begins and with the exact amount, as the law and the courts require, for training that gives specialist skills usable with other employers too. With a bond of at most four years (eight in special cases), a monthly pro-rata reduction, the cases in which the law excludes repayment (probation, the employer's notice, justified resignation, end of a fixed term) and the rule of § 11b AVRAG that the employer pays for training the job requires.

An agreement barring an employee in Germany from competing after the job ends, in German, under §§ 74 ff. of the German Commercial Code (HGB): the barred activities, the area, a length of at most two years and the compensation of at least half the last pay without which the ban is not binding. With the offset of other earnings, the duty to report them and the employer's waiver under § 75a HGB. Written form: print it, both sign by hand, and the employee is handed an original signed by the employer.

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.

For moving to part-time hours, for a different start and finish, or for a flexible arrangement. The change affects an essential term of the employment contract, so it is put into effect by a written amendment — and part-time hours reduce pay proportionately. The application proposes a specific arrangement and the date it should start.

A request to an Austrian employer for unpaid leave (Karenzierung), with the agreement both sides sign below it: the period, the reason, the return to work, the collective agreement and what applies to annual leave and special payments. There is no right to unpaid leave in Austria — it is agreed. The letter records that compulsory social insurance continues only for unpaid leave of up to one month (§ 11(3)(a) of the Austrian General Social Insurance Act, ASVG). No form is prescribed. In German, ready to print and sign.

The notice telling an Austrian employer when your parental leave (Karenz) starts and how long it lasts, under the Maternity Protection Act (§ 15 MSchG) or the Fathers' Leave Act (§ 2 VKG): child and date of birth, leave from–to, the other parent's parts. For children born from 1 November 2023, Karenz runs to the end of the 22nd month, or the 24th if shared — the document prints the rule for your child. With a receipt block. Childcare benefit (Kinderbetreuungsgeld) is claimed separately from the health insurer, usually the ÖGK. In German.

A fixed-term contract of employment (befristeter Dienstvertrag) for salaried employees or workers in Austria, in German, with every Dienstzettel item under § 2 AVRAG: the end date and the objective justification that a chain of fixed terms needs, a probation month, a choice between excluding notice during the term and allowing it, § 21 AngG and § 1158 Abs 3 ABGB for terms over five years, the suspension on pregnancy under § 10a of the Maternity Protection Act (MSchG), collective agreement, hours, pay, leave, the severance fund and the social insurer.

A request to a German employer for unpaid special leave (unbezahlter Sonderurlaub) over set dates, giving the reason and the terms both sides agree: release from work without pay, the employment continuing, and a return on the same terms. There is no general statutory right to it, so the leave exists only once the employer agrees, and the document has room below for that consent. It points out that social insurance cover continues for one month at most (§ 7(3) of the German Social Code, Book IV, SGB IV), after which health insurance must be arranged. In German.

A Polish employment contract with an end date, carrying the elements art. 29 § 1 of the Labour Code requires and the limit in art. 25¹: no more than 33 months and three such contracts in total between the same parties — beyond that the contract becomes a permanent one. Since 2023 the employer's notice must state its reason, and the notice periods are the same as for a permanent contract.

Leave under Art. 164 of the Labour Code is taken after maternity leave and is granted on an application to the employer, while the benefit is paid by the social security institute through a separate procedure. The age limit and the amount of the benefit are set by law and do change — check them for the year you are applying in. The application also states whether the leave is being transferred to the other parent or to a grandparent, which is common.

A termination by mutual consent of an employment in Austria (einvernehmliche Auflösung), as an agreement between employer and employee: end date, final pay and garden leave, leave and pay in lieu, statutory and voluntary severance (Abfertigung), the written reference and the return of work equipment. It asks about protection under Austria's Maternity Protection Act (MSchG) and Fathers' Parental Leave Act (VKG), which requires writing (§ 10 Abs 7 MSchG), and about the works council (§ 104a ArbVG). The AMS imposes no waiting period afterwards. Not for apprenticeships. In German.