⚖️ Claim against dismissal
In brief
If you want to challenge a dismissal, you must bring a claim at the competent labour court within three weeks of receiving it. This deadline applies regardless of whether the Protection Against Dismissal Act applies at all, and even if the dismissal is obviously flawed – for example because no reason for dismissal is apparent.
If you miss the deadline, the dismissal is treated as valid from the outset, even if it would not have been valid on the merits. Later admission of a late claim is possible only under narrow conditions (§ 5 KSchG).
Step by step
- Establish the exact date of receiptThe deadline starts with actual receipt of the dismissal letter, not with the date on the letter.
- Bring the claim within three weeksFile the claim at the locally competent labour court (usually where the business is based) – if necessary informally at first to meet the deadline; the reasons can be submitted later.
- Use the RechtsantragstelleAt the labour court, the claim can be declared free of charge to be recorded by the Rechtsantragstelle (court office for filing claims), even without a lawyer.
- Attend the conciliation hearingUsually a short-notice conciliation hearing (Gütetermin) takes place first, at which a settlement (often with severance pay) is frequently negotiated.
Deadlines
- The three-week deadline runs even if you are still negotiating, are ill or were on holiday – ignorance or negotiations with the employer do not in principle suspend the deadline.
- German dismissal protection law does not automatically give a "right to severance pay"; severance pay is mostly the result of a settlement in or out of court, a social plan, or a statutory entitlement in the case of dismissal for operational reasons where you waive a claim (§ 1a KSchG).
- Even where a dismissal is obviously invalid (e.g. without any reasons), a claim must be brought on time – "obviously invalid" does not protect against the deadline expiring.
- If you lose in the first instance, you do not bear the other side's lawyer's costs, but you do bear your own and the court costs; the litigation risk is therefore not zero.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Procedure and jurisdiction
The competent court is the labour court in whose district the business is located or in which the work is usually performed (§ 48 ArbGG in conjunction with the Code of Civil Procedure). The claim can be submitted in writing or declared orally to be recorded at the court's Rechtsantragstelle. The court usually first schedules a conciliation hearing, which often takes place just a few weeks after the claim is received.
Missing the deadline and later admission
If the three-week deadline is missed, under § 5 KSchG the claim can be admitted late only if the person concerned was prevented from bringing it in time despite exercising all reasonable care (e.g. sudden serious illness) – in practice this standard is strict.
Cost risk
A special feature of labour court proceedings: in the first instance there is no right to reimbursement of lawyer's costs, even if you win (§ 12a Abs. 1 ArbGG) – the aim is low-threshold access to the court. Court costs are often waived entirely or reduced in the event of a settlement.
Severance pay as an outcome, not an automatic right
Many dismissal protection cases end in a settlement: the employee accepts the end of the employment, and the employer pays severance pay. As a rough rule of thumb that is common in practice, half a gross monthly salary per year of employment is often mentioned – but there is in principle no legal entitlement to it; the actual amount depends on the prospects of success of the claim and on negotiating skill.
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