Dismissal during sick leave: can your employer dismiss you while you are signed off sick?

Dismissal during illness: is your employer allowed to do that?

Yes. There is no special protection against dismissal during incapacity for work. The dismissal can reach you even while you are in bed at home or in hospital. Whether it is valid depends on the size of the business, how long you have been employed and the reason.

Five common misconceptions

• "If you are ill, you cannot be dismissed." Wrong. Sick leave affects your obligation to work, not your protection against dismissal.
• "The deadline for the claim only starts when I am well again." Wrong. It runs from receipt of the dismissal.
• "After 6 weeks of illness, the boss may dismiss you." There is no such rule. 6 weeks is the duration of continued pay during illness, not a threshold for dismissal.
• "With the dismissal, my money stops too." Not necessarily. Depending on the situation, the employer continues to pay or the health insurance fund steps in.
• "If you are ill, you cannot register as a jobseeker." You can; registration is also possible online or by phone.

Table: Dismissal during illness, what applies?

Situation	Dismissal possible?	What matters
Small business with normally 10 or fewer employees	yes, without a reason under the KSchG	form, notice period, no arbitrariness or discrimination (Sec. 138, 242 BGB, AGG)
First 6 months, including probation	yes, without a reason under the KSchG	form, notice period, works council, special protection against dismissal
Protection Against Dismissal Act applies	yes, but only with a reason	reason relating to the person, conduct or operational requirements (Sec. 1 (2) KSchG)
Severe disability or equal status, employed for more than 6 months	only with the prior consent of the Integration Office	Sec. 168 SGB IX
Pregnancy, up to 4 months after giving birth	in principle no	exception only with a declaration of admissibility from the authority (Sec. 17 MuSchG)
Parental leave	in principle no	Sec. 18 BEEG
Summary dismissal	only with good cause	illness itself is usually not good cause (Sec. 626 BGB)

Dismissal during or because of illness: the difference

Legally, it makes a big difference whether you are dismissed merely during an illness or because of the illness.

Dismissal for another reason during the illness

If your employer dismisses you for operational reasons, for example because your department is closing, or for conduct, for example because of an earlier incident, the sick leave plays no role. The reason is examined as if you were healthy; for a dismissal for operational reasons, that means the loss of the job and social selection.

Dismissal for illness: three stages of examination and BEM

If your employer bases the dismissal on the illness itself, it is a dismissal for personal reasons. If the Protection Against Dismissal Act applies, the courts examine three stages:

1. Negative prognosis: It is to be expected that you will continue to be absent to a considerable extent in future.
2. Considerable impairment: The absences place a considerable burden on the business, for example through disruption to operations or costs of continued pay for more than 6 weeks.
3. Balancing of interests: The burden can no longer reasonably be expected of the employer, also taking into account your age, your length of service and the cause of the illness.

There is no fixed number of sick days from which dismissal is allowed. If you were unfit for work for more than 6 weeks within one year, your employer must offer you occupational integration management (betriebliches Eingliederungsmanagement, BEM) (Sec. 167 (2) SGB IX). If it has not done so, it becomes considerably more difficult for the employer in court.

When is a dismissal during sick leave invalid?

Checklist: is my dismissal invalid?

1. No sufficient reason: The Protection Against Dismissal Act applies (more than 6 months, more than 10 employees, Sec. 1, 23 KSchG), and the reason does not hold up. In a dismissal for illness, for example, because there is no prognosis or no BEM was offered.
2. Error of form: no written form with an original signature (Sec. 623 BGB).
3. Works council: not consulted (Sec. 102 (1) BetrVG).
4. Special protection against dismissal: severe disability without the consent of the Integration Office (Integrationsamt, the authority responsible for severely disabled employees), pregnancy, parental leave, works council office.
5. Victimisation: The dismissal is a reaction to you exercising your rights, for example reporting sick and claiming continued pay (Sec. 612a BGB).
6. Discrimination: A long-lasting illness can in individual cases be a disability within the meaning of the AGG (General Equal Treatment Act).
7. Wrong notice period: The dismissal then usually takes effect on the correct date and the employment lasts longer, at least if the letter shows that notice was meant to be given in time.

Small business: what still applies

In a small business, the Protection Against Dismissal Act does not apply. Your employer may also dismiss you because of illness. The dismissal is only invalid if it is immoral or contrary to good faith, discriminatory or in breach of form, notice period or special protection against dismissal. The 3-week deadline for the claim applies here too (Sec. 23 (1) sentences 2 and 3 KSchG).

Probation: dismissal during illness

In the first 6 months, your employer does not need a reason. A dismissal during probation while you are ill is therefore usually possible, with 2 weeks' notice. How to count the period is explained in our guide on the notice period during probation. As regards money: in the first 4 weeks of the employment, the employer pays no wages during illness (Sec. 3 (3) EntgFG); more on this below.

Received a dismissal while on sick leave: what to do now

• Watch the receipt: A dismissal put in your letterbox is usually deemed received, even if you are in hospital. Ask someone to empty your letterbox if you are away for longer.
• Deadline for the claim: The unfair dismissal claim must reach the labour court within 3 weeks of receipt (Sec. 4 KSchG). Illness does not stop the deadline. How the claim works is explained in our guide on the unfair dismissal claim.
• Deadline missed? If you could not meet the deadline despite all reasonable care, you can apply for late admission of the claim, within 2 weeks after the obstacle has been removed and at most 6 months after the end of the deadline (Sec. 5 KSchG). Illness is only sufficient if it really prevented you from taking care of the matter.
• Register as a jobseeker: At the latest 3 months before the employment ends or, if there is less time, within 3 days of learning of the dismissal (Sec. 38 (1) SGB III). This also applies if you are ill.
• Keep your sick notes continuous: If you are ill beyond the end of the employment, make sure that each follow-up certificate is issued at the latest on the next working day after the last certified end date; Saturdays do not count (Sec. 46 sentence 2 SGB V). Otherwise, the entitlement to sickness benefit may lapse. If your membership of the health insurance fund after the end of the employment depends only on sickness benefit, a grace period of one month applies (Sec. 46 sentence 3 SGB V).
• Do not sign anything: If your employer offers you a termination agreement, have it reviewed. It can trigger a benefit suspension and cut off claims.

Who pays? Wages, sickness benefit and unemployment benefit after dismissal

That depends on how long you have been ill, when the employment ends and why you were dismissed.

Table: Who pays when?

Period	Who pays	Amount	Requirement
First 4 weeks of the employment	health insurance fund, not the employer	sickness benefit	statutorily insured with entitlement to sickness benefit (Sec. 3 (3) EntgFG, Sec. 44 SGB V)
Up to 6 weeks of incapacity, employment continues (including during the notice period)	employer	full pay (Sec. 4 (1) EntgFG)	incapacity for work through no fault of your own (Sec. 3 (1) EntgFG)
Employment ends before the 6 weeks expire, dismissal not because of the illness	employer until the end of the contract, then health insurance fund	full pay, then sickness benefit	Sec. 8 (2) EntgFG
Dismissal because of the illness	employer for the full 6 weeks, even after the end of the contract	full pay	Sec. 8 (1) sentence 1 EntgFG
From the 7th week of incapacity	health insurance fund	70% of regular gross pay up to the contribution assessment ceiling, at most 90% of net pay (Sec. 47 (1) and (6) SGB V)	for the same illness at most 78 weeks within 3 years (Sec. 48 (1) SGB V)
After recovery, employment ended	employment agency	unemployment benefit, 60% or with a child 67% of the flat-rate net pay (Sec. 149 SGB III)	registered as unemployed, qualifying period met (Sec. 137 (1) SGB III)
Sickness benefit exhausted, still severely limited	employment agency	unemployment benefit	capacity reduced for more than 6 months, reduced earning capacity not yet established (seamless transition rule, Sec. 145 (1) SGB III)

If you have private health insurance, daily sickness allowance depends on your insurance contract.

Dismissal because of the illness: full 6 weeks of continued pay

If your employer dismisses you precisely because of your incapacity for work, it cannot free itself from continued pay during illness through the dismissal (Sec. 8 (1) sentence 1 EntgFG). It then pays for up to 6 weeks from the start of the illness, even if the employment ends earlier. A close connection in time between the sick notification and the dismissal points to such a dismissal.

Example: You have been working since 1 June 2026 and are on probation. From Monday, 2 November 2026, you are signed off sick. You receive the dismissal on Monday, 9 November 2026, and the employment ends on 23 November 2026. If the employer dismisses you because of the illness, it must continue to pay your salary up to and including 13 December 2026 if you are ill for that long. Without such a dismissal, it only pays until 23 November, and after that the health insurance fund pays.

Unemployment benefit after sickness benefit

As long as you receive sickness benefit, the entitlement to unemployment benefit is suspended (Sec. 156 (1) sentence 1 no. 2 SGB III). Once you are well again, you register as unemployed. If you are still severely limited after sickness benefit ends, the employment agency can pay under the seamless transition rule until a decision has been made on a reduced earning capacity pension.

If your employer does not pay continued pay or does not pay it in full, written advice from our employment lawyer helps, at a fixed price.

Ill after receiving the dismissal: what applies?

Being signed off sick after a dismissal is allowed, and the medical certificate in principle has high evidential value. According to the case law of the Federal Labour Court, however, the employer can undermine this, for example if the sick note covers exactly the remaining notice period and you start a new job immediately afterwards. You then have to prove the incapacity for work specifically, for example through statements from your doctor. If you cannot, continued pay may lapse.

Holiday and severance with illness and dismissal

• Holiday: Holiday that you could not take because of illness does not simply lapse. If the employment ends, the employer must pay out outstanding holiday (Sec. 7 (4) BUrlG). With long illness, it in principle only lapses 15 months after the end of the holiday year. If you still worked in the holiday year, this only applies if your employer informed you in good time about the holiday and the impending lapse. More in our guide on remaining holiday on dismissal.
• Severance: There is no statutory right. If the dismissal is challengeable, for example because no BEM was offered, your negotiating position improves. In practice, half a gross monthly salary per year of service serves as a guide. Examples are in our guide on severance pay by years of service.

Resigning yourself while on sick leave

You may also resign yourself while you are ill. Bear two consequences in mind:

• Continued pay: It generally ends with the end of the employment (Sec. 8 (2) EntgFG). It is only different if you resign for a reason for which the employer is responsible and which entitles you to resign without notice (Sec. 8 (1) sentence 2 EntgFG).
• Unemployment benefit: If you resign without good cause, there is a risk of a benefit suspension of up to 12 weeks (Sec. 159 SGB III). Health reasons can be good cause if you have them confirmed by a doctor beforehand.