Your Rights at Work in Germany: Sick Pay, Vacation, and Dismissal

Your first German weeks at work can feel upside down. Colleagues book vacation months ahead, a stomach bug means a doctor’s note instead of “working through it,” and feedback arrives blunt and factual. If you came from an at-will country, the bigger shock is exit: in many US jobs an employer can end things tomorrow with little statutory reason. Here the Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB) and the Protection Against Unfair Dismissal Act (Kündigungsschutzgesetz, KSchG) put real limits on ordinary firings.

Those floors often apply even when your contract is silent. They are also easy to lose if you miss a wet-ink letter or a three-week court deadline. Foreign workers feel this harder because the job often props up the residence title, including the EU Blue Card. Before you signed, you should have checked the offer against German Employment Contracts: What to Check Before You Sign. This guide is for after day one: sick pay, vacation, hours, culture, disputes, and what to do if the job ends.

Vacation and public holidays

The Federal Vacation Act (Bundesurlaubsgesetz) guarantees a minimum of 20 vacation days per year for a five-day week, or 24 for a six-day week. In practice, 25 to 30 days is common, and many Tarif deals go higher.

Unused vacation generally belongs in the calendar year. Carry-over into the first months of the next year is common when your contract or workplace practice allows it, but do not assume infinite banking. Plan leave early. German teams often lock summer and Christmas weeks far ahead, and “I’ll decide in June” can leave you with scraps.

Public holidays are separate from vacation. Dates vary by state. See Public Holidays in Germany: Closures by State.

When you are sick

For your own illness, your employer normally pays full salary for the first six weeks (Entgeltfortzahlung). After that, statutory health insurance usually pays sick pay (Krankengeld) at about 70% of your regular pay (with caps). Private insurance rules differ; check your policy.

You need a medical certificate (Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung, AU). Many employers still ask from day three; some demand it from day one. Follow your contract and works rules, not office folklore. Tell your manager or HR as soon as you know you cannot work. You do not need a theatrical apology for using a statutory right.

If your child is sick, different rules and Kinderkrankengeld apply. See Child Sick Days in Germany: Pay, Form 21, and Quotas.

Hours, overtime, and parental leave

Document overtime. It must be compensated as pay, time off, or a lawful inclusion in salary that your contract spells out. “Everyone stays late and we never write it down” is how disputes start. Averaged across the reference period, working time including overtime should stay within Working Time Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, ArbZG) limits, commonly discussed as about 48 hours per week on average.

Each parent can take up to three years of parental leave (Elternzeit) per child, with strong job protection. You cannot be dismissed for taking it. Allowance (Elterngeld), notice to the employer, and flexible use are covered in Parental Leave and Benefits in Germany.

What disappears from your payslip

Your Brutto is not your Netto. Typical monthly deductions include progressive wage tax (Lohnsteuer), solidarity surcharge (Solidaritätszuschlag) for higher earners, church tax (Kirchensteuer) if you are a registered member, and social contributions (employee shares roughly in the high single digits for health, about 9.3% for pension, plus unemployment and long-term care). Your employer pays a matching share of most social contributions.

For rates, tax classes, and filing, see Taxes in Germany. For health insurance splits, see Health Insurance in Germany.

Workplace culture that trips newcomers

Punctuality. Meetings start on time and usually follow an agenda. Habitual lateness reads as disrespect, not charm.

Direct feedback. Disagreement with a manager can be fine if it stays factual and respectful. Softening every sentence until the point vanishes is not required. The full pattern (task vs person, email tone, how to give the same critique) is in German Directness.

Vacation disconnect. People often go fully offline. Expect fewer after-hours emails than in always-on cultures, and do not treat someone on leave as “lightly available.”

Sick days. Calling in sick without performing guilt is normal. Presenteeism can look odd, not heroic.

Hierarchy. Titles and reporting lines matter, but many teams argue on substance more openly than newcomers expect. Daily office habits (when people leave, lunch, cake, Du vs Sie) are in German Workplace Etiquette. For everyday etiquette outside the office, see German Etiquette: Formal Address, Punctuality, Quiet Hours.

If something feels wrong while you still have the job

Start with your manager or HR and keep a written trail. If the company has a works council (Betriebsrat), contact them. They represent employees and can mediate. Escalate to a formal written complaint when informal routes stall.

For discrimination and harassment under the General Equal Treatment Act (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz, AGG), see Discrimination in Germany: AGG Rights, Deadlines, and Evidence. Labour court (Arbeitsgericht) is available for many employment disputes; you can often appear without a lawyer, though complex cases reward specialist advice or Rechtsschutzversicherung.

If you lose the job or fear dismissal

Coming from at-will employment, German exit rules can feel upside down. Protection depends on tenure, company size, a wet-ink letter, and a hard court clock. People lose leverage by accepting a digital “notice,” signing a rushed mutual exit (Aufhebungsvertrag), or missing the lawsuit window.

Probezeit is not the same as KSchG waiting time

Two clocks run in your first half year. They often end on the same day, but they are different rules.

During Probezeit, either side can usually end the contract with two weeks’ notice and without proving a business or performance case. The exit still cannot be discriminatory under the AGG, immoral under Section 138 BGB, or a bad-faith abuse under Section 242 BGB.

KSchG protection starts on the first day of month seven, after six full months with the same employer. If your contract sets only three months of Probezeit, the two-week notice ends at month three, but full KSchG cover still waits until month seven. An employer also cannot stretch Probezeit past six months to delay KSchG.

When unfair-dismissal protection actually applies

BGB notice and written-form rules apply to almost every employee in Germany. Extra KSchG protection against ordinary dismissal (ordentliche Kündigung) applies only if both are true:

1. You have completed the six-month Wartezeit
2. The establishment (Betrieb) regularly employs more than 10 full-time equivalents (Section 23 KSchG)

Headcount is not a raw body count. Section 23(1) sentence 4 weights hours:

Example. Eight full-time developers (8.0), two staff at 25 hours (1.5), two at 15 hours (1.0), plus two apprentices (0) = 10.5 FTE. That firm is over the line, so eligible employees with six months’ service get KSchG cover.

In a small firm (Kleinbetrieb) at 10 FTE or fewer, the employer does not need a socially justified reason for ordinary dismissal. Notice periods, special protections (pregnancy, severe disability, and similar), and bans on discrimination or bad faith still apply. Startup informality is not a free pass to email you out of a job.

The three legally accepted reasons for dismissal

Where KSchG applies, an ordinary dismissal needs social justification under Section 1(2). Courts group that into three boxes.

Behavioral. Serious breach you caused: no-shows, persistent lateness, refusing lawful instructions, leaking confidential data. Courts usually expect a prior written warning (Abmahnung) that names the conduct, demands change, and warns that a repeat can end the job. Immediate exit without a warning is reserved for extremes such as theft, assault, or clear fraud.

Personal. You can no longer do the job for reasons that are not mainly “fault”: long-term health incapacity with a poor prognosis, loss of a required licence, or loss of a required work authorisation. Health cases need a negative medical outlook, real operational disruption, and a showing that reasonable adjustments are not enough.

Operational. The role disappears through restructuring, closure, or economic cuts. The employer cannot pick favourites among comparable staff. Section 1(3) requires social selection (Sozialauswahl) using length of service, age, maintenance duties (for example dependent children or a spouse), and severe disability. Skipping a proper Sozialauswahl can void the dismissal.

Form, Works Council, notice periods, and the three-week clock

Wet ink or it did not happen. Section 623 BGB requires written form: a physical paper notice with an original handwritten signature from someone authorised to sign. Electronic form under Section 126a BGB is excluded. Email PDFs, DocuSign, WhatsApp, Slack, SMS, fax, and pure verbal firings are generally void under Section 125 BGB for German-law contracts performed here. Keep the letter and the postmarked envelope. Note the exact receipt date. Rare cross-border exceptions exist under conflict-of-laws rules; do not assume yours is one of them.

Works Council (Betriebsrat). If your workplace has one, Section 102 of the Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz, BetrVG) requires consultation before every dismissal. The council gets details of who, what kind of termination, notice calculation, and reasons, then normally seven calendar days for an ordinary dismissal (three days for an extraordinary immediate one). Notice issued without that consultation, or before the window ends without a response, is void under Section 102(1) BetrVG.

Three weeks to sue. Under Section 4 KSchG, if you want to fight the dismissal you must file an unfair dismissal claim (Kündigungsschutzklage) at the local labour court (Arbeitsgericht) within three weeks (21 calendar days) of receiving the physical notice. Day 0 is receipt. Day 21 is the hard stop. Miss it and Section 7 KSchG treats the termination as valid from the start, even if the reason or process was broken. That usually ends reinstatement and most leverage on severance.

Statutory employer notice outside probation (Section 622 BGB; collective agreements can differ):

During the notice period the job continues: you work (or sit on garden leave) and you are still paid.

Severance talks and mutual termination traps

German law does not give you an automatic statutory severance (Abfindung) for an ordinary dismissal. The lawsuit’s main legal aim is usually a declaration that the employment never validly ended. In practice, most cases settle at the early conciliation hearing (Gütetermin), often within a few weeks of filing, because employers fear back-pay if the court later says the dismissal was void.

Courts often use the Section 9 / 10 KSchG benchmark as a talking point:

0.5 × gross monthly salary × years of service

Example: €6,000 gross after four years → 0.5 × 6,000 × 4 = €12,000 gross. Weak employer cases (no warning, bad Sozialauswahl, form errors) can push the factor toward 1.0× or higher in negotiation. Treat the formula as a floor for talks, not a guaranteed cheque.

Do not sign an Aufhebungsvertrag on the spot. A mutual termination agreement can set an exit date and money, but it usually waives your Kündigungsschutzklage. The employment agency (Agentur für Arbeit) often treats it as voluntarily causing unemployment, which can trigger a 12-week benefit blocking period (Sperrzeit) on Unemployment Benefit I (Arbeitslosengeld I) and shorten your total entitlement. An abrupt end date can also shrink residence job-search time. Take the paper home, talk to a Fachanwalt für Arbeitsrecht (employment specialist) or your legal-expense insurer (Rechtsschutzversicherung), and ask the agency how a draft would affect benefits before you sign.

Blue Card holders: notify fast, then use the search window

Losing the job does not auto-cancel an EU Blue Card under Section 18g AufenthG, but you must act.

Under Section 82(6) AufenthG, you must tell the foreigners authority (Ausländerbehörde) within two weeks of learning that the employment ends. Employers have their own duty to report premature exits (generally within four weeks). Missing your report can invite fines and status trouble.

Typical job-search windows once the authority is informed (confirm locally; practice can vary):

• Under two years on the Blue Card path: often about three months to find qualifying work
• After two years with matching social-security history: often up to six months

If the window is running out, ask about switching to an Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte, Section 20 AufenthG) for more search time. Full Blue Card rules and salary floors: EU Blue Card. 2026 thresholds are about €50,700 standard and €45,934.20 for shortage roles, recent graduates, and qualifying IT specialists without a degree.

Job changes. In the first 12 months you must notify the Ausländerbehörde of a new Blue Card job; the office usually has 30 days to object if salary or qualification rules fail. Prior approval to start is generally not required unless your card annex (Zusatzblatt) says otherwise. After 12 months, changes are freer if the new role still meets the thresholds.

A pending Kündigungsschutzklage keeps the employment status disputed. That can give you more calendar time for a new offer, severance cash flow, and calmer talks with the immigration office. It is not a substitute for the two-week notification duty.

Dismissal red flags and what to do this week

Watch for clauses and moves that do not survive German law:

Offer-stage traps (Probezeit length, vacation floors, overtime Pauschale) belong in German Employment Contracts: What to Check Before You Sign.

Large firms with a Betriebsrat and HR rarely risk a sloppy dismissal. Small shops and early startups sometimes hope a foreign employee will accept a verbal exit or a same-day Aufhebungsvertrag. The law does not care that the office is casual.

If a termination letter lands:

1. Check for an original wet-ink signature. Photograph the letter and envelope; diary the receipt date.
2. If you might challenge it or need severance leverage, file Kündigungsschutzklage within 21 days. Diary that date the hour you open the envelope.
3. Blue Card (and many other titles): notify the Ausländerbehörde within 14 days of learning of the exit.
4. Register as job-seeking (arbeitsuchend) with the Agentur für Arbeit within three working days of notice to protect Arbeitslosengeld I timing.
5. Do not sign an Aufhebungsvertrag without independent legal review.

Germany’s worker protections are real, but they run on calendars and paper. The people who keep leverage are the ones who treat the wet-ink letter and the three-week clock as seriously as the visa stamp.