Wegweiser Occupational disability · Pension & insurance Deutsch

🏢 Protection against dismissal and workplace reintegration management (BEM)

If you are absent for a long time because of illness, you are not automatically without protection against dismissal – before a dismissal on grounds of illness, employers must offer workplace reintegration management (betriebliches Eingliederungsmanagement) and meet strict requirements.

Workplace reintegration management BEM § 167 SGB IX Dismissal on grounds of illness § 4 KSchG

In brief

Under § 167 Abs. 2 SGB IX the employer must offer all employees – not only people with a severe disability – workplace reintegration management (betriebliches Eingliederungsmanagement, BEM) as soon as they have been unfit for work for more than six weeks within twelve months, either continuously or repeatedly. The aim is to clarify together how the incapacity for work can be overcome and with which benefits or aids a renewed incapacity for work can be prevented and the job preserved.

Taking part in BEM is voluntary. In a later dismissal on grounds of illness, labour courts, under settled case law, examine three stages: a negative health prognosis, a significant impairment of operational or economic interests, and a final weighing of interests. A omitted BEM does not automatically make the dismissal invalid, but it tightens the employer's burden of showing that there were no less drastic means.

Step by step

  1. Check the BEM offerThe employer must make the offer as soon as the six-week threshold is reached – taking part itself is voluntary.
  2. Take part in a BEM meeting if you wishIf appropriate, involve the works council or staff council and – in case of severe disability – the representative body for severely disabled employees.
  3. In case of dismissal, check whether a BEM was offered at allIf not, the employer must show in court with particular precision that there were no less drastic means.
  4. File the action against dismissal on timeWithin three weeks of receiving the termination notice.

Deadlines

6 weeks / 12 months
Threshold from which a BEM must be offered: more than six weeks of incapacity for work within twelve months.§ 167 Abs. 2 SGB IX
3 weeks
Deadline for filing an action against a dismissal, from receipt.§ 4 KSchG
Watch out – common mistakes
  • Taking part in BEM is voluntary – you can decline without this alone constituting grounds for dismissal.
  • The three-week deadline for filing an action under § 4 KSchG applies almost without exception: if it is missed, the dismissal is deemed valid from the outset (§ 7 KSchG); subsequent admission of a late action under § 5 KSchG is only possible in narrow exceptional cases.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals

§ 167 Abs. 2 SGB IX: duty to offer BEM

The duty falls on the employer towards all employees regardless of a severe disability; its purpose is to clarify possibilities by which the incapacity for work can be overcome and the job preserved in the long term.

Dismissal on grounds of illness: three-stage examination

Labour court case law examines a negative health prognosis, a resulting significant impairment of operational or economic interests, and a final weighing of interests in the individual case.

§§ 4, 5, 7 KSchG: deadline for filing an action and consequences of missing it

The three-week deadline for filing an action begins on receipt of the written termination notice; if it is missed, the dismissal is deemed valid from the outset under § 7 KSchG, unless a late action is subsequently admitted under § 5 KSchG.

Who is responsible
  • Employer (BEM)
  • Labour court (Arbeitsgericht) (action against dismissal)
Further reading
Severe disability card and reduced earning capacity: how the two are connectedReduced earning capacity pension: requirements, qualifying period and application

Quick questions

Worum geht es bei „Protection against dismissal and workplace reintegration management (BEM)“?
If you are absent for a long time because of illness, you are not automatically without protection against dismissal – before a dismissal on grounds of illness, employers must offer workplace reintegration management (betriebliches Eingliederungsmanagement) and meet strict requirements.
Which deadlines and figures matter?
  • 6 weeks / 12 months: Threshold from which a BEM must be offered: more than six weeks of incapacity for work within twelve months.
  • 3 weeks: Deadline for filing an action against a dismissal, from receipt.
What should I do first?
  • Check the BEM offer: The employer must make the offer as soon as the six-week threshold is reached – taking part itself is voluntary.
  • Take part in a BEM meeting if you wish: If appropriate, involve the works council or staff council and – in case of severe disability – the representative body for severely disabled employees.
  • In case of dismissal, check whether a BEM was offered at all: If not, the employer must show in court with particular precision that there were no less drastic means.
What do I need to watch out for?
  • Taking part in BEM is voluntary – you can decline without this alone constituting grounds for dismissal.
  • The three-week deadline for filing an action under § 4 KSchG applies almost without exception: if it is missed, the dismissal is deemed valid from the outset (§ 7 KSchG); subsequent admission of a late action under § 5 KSchG is only possible in narrow exceptional cases.
Evidence
  • § 167 SGB IX (gesetze-im-internet.de)
  • §§ 4, 5, 7 KSchG (gesetze-im-internet.de)
As of

September 2026 · Sources and method

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