Notice periods for employees: what applies to you?

The statutory notice periods at a glance

The periods are set out in Sec. 622 BGB. They apply to all employees, including part-time staff and mini-jobbers, as long as your employment contract or collective agreement does not provide otherwise. The table shows both sides next to each other.

Length of service	Period if you resign	Period if the employer dismisses you	Termination date
Probation (no more than 6 months)	2 weeks	2 weeks	any day
less than 2 years	4 weeks	4 weeks	to the 15th or end of month
from 2 years	4 weeks	1 month	to the end of the month
from 5 years	4 weeks	2 months	to the end of the month
from 8 years	4 weeks	3 months	to the end of the month
from 10 years	4 weeks	4 months	to the end of the month
from 12 years	4 weeks	5 months	to the end of the month
from 15 years	4 weeks	6 months	to the end of the month
from 20 years	4 weeks	7 months	to the end of the month

The column "if you resign" shows the statutory rule. Many employment contracts extend the longer periods to both sides. You then have to observe the longer period too.

If you resign yourself: always 4 weeks?

By law, yes. An employee who resigns has a notice period of 4 weeks, to the 15th or to the last day of a month. According to the wording of Sec. 622 (2) BGB, the scale by length of service only applies to dismissal by the employer. This is the most important answer for anyone searching for "notice period after 10 years": without a different rule in the contract, it remains 4 weeks for you.

Before you resign, think about unemployment benefit. If you give up your job without good cause and have no new job, the employment agency (Agentur für Arbeit) usually imposes a benefit suspension of up to 12 weeks (Sec. 159 SGB III). The resignation must be in writing with your handwritten signature; email or WhatsApp is not enough (Sec. 623 BGB).

4 weeks to the 15th or to the end of the month: how to calculate

4 weeks are exactly 28 days, not one month. The period starts on the day after the employer receives the notice (Sec. 187 (1) BGB). The employment then ends on the next permissible date, i.e. the 15th or the last day of the month, falling after the 28 days have expired. If the end of the period falls on a weekend or public holiday, it is not postponed.

Example of a resignation in 2026: Your employer receives your resignation on Thursday, 3 December 2026. The 28 days end on 31 December 2026. That is the end of a month, so your employment ends at the end of 31 December. If the resignation is only received on Friday, 4 December, the period ends on 1 January 2027. The next date is then 15 January 2027.

Latest day for giving notice

What matters is the day on which the notice reaches the recipient, not the date on the letter. With a 4-week period, the notice must be received no later than:

Notice to	Month with 30 days	Month with 31 days	February	February in a leap year
End of the month (month in which the employment ends)	2nd of that month	3rd of that month	31 January	1 February
15th of the following month (month in which the notice is received)	17th of that month	18th of that month	15 February	16 February

How to read it: if you want to leave on 31 March 2027, the notice must be received by 3 March 2027 at the latest. For 15 March 2027, it must arrive by 15 February 2027 at the latest.

May your contract set longer periods for you?

Yes. Periods longer than the statutory ones may be agreed in the employment contract (Sec. 622 (5) sentence 3 BGB). Contracts often state that the employer's extended periods also apply to you. A period of 3 or 6 months to the end of a quarter is also possible. The limit: your period must not be longer than your employer's (Sec. 622 (6) BGB). If the contract sets a longer period for you, the prevailing view is that only the employer's period applies to you as well. Very long commitments may also be invalid as an unreasonable contract clause.

If you are unsure which period your contract really provides for, a lawyer can check the clause before you resign. For a pure contract review, there is also employment contract review at a fixed price.

If your employer dismisses you: periods by length of service

For the employer, the notice period becomes longer the longer you have been employed in the business or company. From 2 years, the employment only ends at the end of a month; the 15th no longer applies as a date.

Notice period after 2, 5 and 8 years

After 2 years, the employer's notice period is 1 month to the end of the month, after 5 years 2 months and after 8 years 3 months. For your own resignation, it remains 4 weeks by law.

Notice period after 10 and 12 years

After 10 years, the employer must observe 4 months to the end of the month, after 12 years 5 months.

Example of a dismissal by the employer after 10 years: You have worked for the company since March 2016. You receive the dismissal on Monday, 30 November 2026. The 4 months end on 30 March 2027, and the employment ends on 31 March 2027. If it is only received on 1 December 2026, the end moves to 30 April 2027.

Notice period after 15 and 20 years

After 15 years, the period is 6 months, after 20 years 7 months to the end of the month. The law provides for nothing more; even after 30 years, it remains 7 months. Longer periods or an exclusion of ordinary dismissal may result from a collective agreement or the employment contract.

How length of service is counted

• What counts is the duration of the employment until receipt of the dismissal.
• Periods before your 25th birthday count. The former exception in Sec. 622 (2) sentence 2 BGB has been deleted.
• Parental leave and illness do not interrupt length of service.
• Vocational training in the same business and periods with a former owner after a transfer of business may count (Sec. 613a (1) sentence 1 BGB).
• In case of interruptions, it depends on the individual case.

Notice period during probation

During an agreed probationary period of no more than 6 months, both sides can give notice with a period of 2 weeks, without a fixed date and without a reason for dismissal (Sec. 622 (3) BGB). The employment ends exactly 14 days after receipt of the notice.

Example during probation: You receive the dismissal on Monday, 16 November 2026. The employment ends at the end of 30 November 2026.

How to count the 14 days correctly, what applies to a dismissal on the last day of probation and which exceptions exist for collective agreements and vocational training is explained in detail in our guide on the notice period during probation.

Statutory, contractual or collectively agreed: what applies?

The statutory periods are a minimum standard. Check which period applies to you in this order: Is there a collective agreement that applies to your employment? What does your employment contract say? Only if both are silent does Sec. 622 BGB apply.

Employment contract

The employment contract may extend the periods, but may only shorten them in two cases (see below). If it states a shorter period without an exception applying, the clause is invalid and the law applies.

Collective agreement (example: TVöD)

Collective agreements may provide for shorter and longer periods, including for employees (Sec. 622 (4) BGB). They apply if both sides are bound by the collective agreement or if, within the scope of the collective agreement, the employment contract refers to it (Sec. 622 (4) sentence 2 BGB). In the public sector, Sec. 34 TVöD (the collective agreement for the federal and municipal public service) governs the periods. They apply equally to both sides there:

• up to 1 year of employment: 1 month to the end of the month
• more than 1 year: 6 weeks to the end of a calendar quarter
• from 5 years: 3 months, from 8 years: 4 months, from 10 years: 5 months, from 12 years: 6 months, each to the end of a quarter

After longer employment, ordinary dismissal by the employer may be excluded altogether under the TVöD.

Small business and temporary help

Two exceptions allow shorter periods in the employment contract (Sec. 622 (5) BGB):

• Temporary help: For temporary help of no more than 3 months, a shorter period may be agreed.
• Small business: If the employer normally employs no more than 20 employees (excluding trainees), a period of 4 weeks without a fixed termination date may be agreed. Part-time staff count as 0.5 (up to 20 hours a week) or 0.75 (up to 30 hours a week).

Special cases: mini-job, part-time, fixed term, severe disability, parental leave

• Mini-job and part-time: The same periods apply as for full-time staff. For mini-jobbers too, the employer's period grows over the years.
• Fixed-term contract: It ends automatically when the fixed term expires. You or your employer can only give ordinary notice beforehand if this has been agreed in the contract or the applicable collective agreement (Sec. 15 (4) TzBfG). If it has been agreed, the normal periods apply.
• Severe disability: If the employer dismisses you, the period is at least 4 weeks (Sec. 169 SGB IX). After 6 months, it also needs the prior consent of the Integration Office (Integrationsamt, the authority responsible for severely disabled employees) (Sec. 168, 173 SGB IX).
• Parental leave: You can give notice to the end of parental leave with a period of 3 months (Sec. 19 BEEG). The employer may in principle not dismiss you during parental leave (Sec. 18 BEEG).

Summary dismissal: no notice period, but 2 weeks' time

With an extraordinary dismissal for good cause, the employment ends immediately (Sec. 626 BGB). However, the person giving notice must do so within 2 weeks of learning of the relevant facts (Sec. 626 (2) BGB). You too can resign without notice, for example if your employer persistently fails to pay wages despite a formal warning. The 3-week deadline for a claim also applies against a summary dismissal by the employer.

Notice period calculated incorrectly? What it means for your dismissal

If your employer calculates the period incorrectly, the dismissal is usually not invalid as a whole. As a rule, it takes effect on the next permissible date, so the employment lasts longer and you receive pay for correspondingly longer. If the dismissal expressly names only one specific date, the position may be different. You may then have to assert the error by filing a claim within 3 weeks. You are only safe if you act within the 3 weeks. More on this in our guides on the deadline for an unfair dismissal claim and on the unfair dismissal claim.

Checklist: dismissal received, what to check now

1. Form: Is the dismissal in writing and signed in the original? A dismissal by email is invalid (Sec. 623 BGB).
2. Receipt: Write down the day on which you received the dismissal and keep the envelope.
3. Notice period: Use the table above to check whether the stated termination date is correct.
4. Deadline for the claim: An unfair dismissal claim must reach the labour court at the latest 3 weeks after receipt (Sec. 4 KSchG).
5. Register as a jobseeker: Register with the employment agency as a jobseeker at the latest 3 months before the employment ends; if there is less time, within 3 days of learning of it (Sec. 38 (1) SGB III).
6. Do not sign anything: No termination agreement and no settlement receipt before your situation has been reviewed.

Do you want to resign yourself and are unsure which period your contract provides for? Written advice from our employment lawyer helps, also at a fixed price.