Dismissal During Probation: Your Rights

Dismissal during probation: the short answer

During probation, dismissal is easy, but not unlimited. Three sentences sum up the legal position: a notice period of two weeks with no fixed date applies (§ 622 para. 3 BGB). Your employer needs no reason, because the Dismissal Protection Act only applies after more than six months of employment (§ 1 para. 1 KSchG). Yet the dismissal can still be invalid, because a number of limits apply from your very first day: the written form, works council consultation, the ban on retaliation, the ban on discrimination, and special protection for pregnant employees and parents on parental leave.

The third point is regularly underestimated. Whether your dismissal holds up almost never depends on whether your employer had a good reason, but on whether they kept to the correct form and involved the right people.

A note on scope: this page covers only dismissal during probation. For everything about probation in general (duration, holiday, illness, fixed terms), see our guide on Probation in Employment Law.

Important from the outset: even a flawed dismissal during probation becomes final if you don’t file a claim within 3 weeks of receiving the written notice (§ 4 KSchG). This deadline applies even if you have no KSchG dismissal protection at all.

The notice period during probation: two weeks, no fixed date

During an agreed probationary period, lasting no longer than six months, the employment relationship can be terminated with two weeks’ notice (§ 622 para. 3 BGB). Three things about this matter:

• No fixed end date. Unlike the regular notice period under § 622 para. 1 BGB (four weeks to the 15th or end of the month), employment doesn’t have to end on a set date. It ends exactly two weeks after you receive the notice, even mid-month.
• The notice period applies to both sides. You can give two weeks’ notice just as your employer can.
• What counts is receipt, not the date on the letter. The decisive day is when the notice reaches you in a way that you can normally be expected to take note of it, usually when it’s put in your letterbox.

Extending the two-week period via your employment contract or a collective agreement is entirely possible and happens often. So check your contract first: if it states one month for probation, one month applies. Shortening it below the statutory two weeks is, in practice, only conceivable under a collective agreement. For how notice periods are calculated and staged after probation, see Notice Period and, in our glossary, Notice Period.

Worked example 1: receipt mid-month

The notice is put in your letterbox on 20 March. The day of receipt doesn’t count towards the calculation, so the period starts on 21 March and runs for two weeks. Your employment ends at the close of 3 April. The end of the month or the 15th play no role here.

Worked example 2: dismissal shortly before probation ends

You started on 1 January with six months’ probation, so it ends at the close of 30 June. You receive notice on 28 June. That’s enough: what matters is that it reaches you during probation, the notice period itself can run past that date. Your employment ends on 12 July. If the same notice only reaches you on 1 July, probation is over: then the regular notice period under § 622 para. 1 BGB applies, and employment doesn’t end until 31 July. Three days make a difference of almost three weeks’ pay here.

Not sure which notice period really applies to you? Start with our severance calculator, it assesses your case in 2 minutes and shows whether pushing back is worthwhile.

Probation is not the qualifying period: the distinction almost everyone misses

This is where most misunderstandings arise. Probation and the qualifying period (Wartezeit) are two different legal concepts that only get confused because, in practice, they usually coincide:

• Probation is a contractual arrangement. It only exists if it’s written into your employment contract, and may last no longer than six months. Its only effect on notice: the shortened two-week period under § 622 para. 3 BGB.
• The qualifying period is set by law and always lasts six months. Only after that does the KSchG’s general dismissal protection apply (§ 1 para. 1 KSchG). It runs regardless of whether a probationary period was agreed at all.

This leads to a situation that surprises many people: if a three-month probation is agreed, only the shortened notice period ends after three months. The six-month qualifying period keeps running. So in months four to six, the regular notice period under § 622 para. 1 BGB applies, but still no dismissal protection. Your employer still needs no reason during this in-between phase, they just have to give you more advance notice.

Important: from month seven, dismissal protection only applies if the business regularly employs more than ten people (§ 23 para. 1 KSchG). In small businesses, your employer permanently needs no reason. What still applies there is covered under Dismissal Protection in Small Businesses, and for the correct notice period after probation see ordinary dismissal.

A second effect: if you’re given notice on the 25th day of the sixth month, your employment only ends in the seventh month. Dismissal protection still doesn’t apply, because the qualifying period depends on when the notice is received, not when employment ends. That’s why dismissals are particularly common just before the six months are up.

Why no reason is needed and what that means in practice

The Dismissal Protection Act requires social justification for a valid dismissal, meaning operational, conduct-related or personal grounds. That test doesn’t apply in the first six months. In practice, that means:

• Your employer doesn’t have to give any justification, neither in the dismissal letter nor later in court. A letter without a reason is normal during probation, not a mistake.
• No warning notice needed. The priority given to a warning notice (Abmahnung) as a milder measure follows from the KSchG’s proportionality test, and falls away along with it.
• No social selection. This, too, is a KSchG test and doesn’t apply.
• The reason still can’t be a prohibited one. If it demonstrably amounts to retaliation or discrimination, that alone makes it challengeable.

So during probation, there’s no substantive protection, only formal and selective protection. Relying on "that was unfair" won’t get you far. Checking the formalities and special categories often will. More under Dismissal Without Reason.

Where a dismissal during probation can still fail

The following six points apply regardless of probation or the qualifying period. If any of them apply, the dismissal is invalid, no matter how good the employer’s reasons were.

1) Written form: the most common source of error

Dismissal always requires the written form, electronic form is expressly excluded (§ 623 BGB). That makes the following invalid: email, WhatsApp or text, fax, scanned PDF, a photocopy without an original signature, and any verbal dismissal. You need a paper document with an original handwritten signature. This happens a lot, especially with quick probationary dismissals.

2) Authority: who actually signed it?

If someone who isn’t a legal representative or authorised signatory, such as a manager or an HR caseworker, signs the letter without enclosing an original power of attorney, you can reject the dismissal under § 174 BGB. It then becomes invalid. However, you must object immediately, meaning within a few days. This card is easily thrown away if you wait.

3) Works council consultation: applies during probation too

If a works council (Betriebsrat) exists, it must be consulted before every dismissal (§ 102 BetrVG). Without consultation, or without proper consultation, the dismissal is invalid, whether during probation or after twenty years, since § 102 BetrVG has no qualifying period. Because many employers treat a probationary dismissal as a formality, this consultation is particularly often done carelessly or skipped entirely here. For how the body works, see Works Council.

4) Ban on retaliation: dismissal as payback

Your employer can’t disadvantage you for legitimately exercising your rights (§ 612a BGB). If you demand unpaid wages, document overtime, or insist on break times, and then get dismissed, you have a real point to challenge. The catch: you need to be able to show the connection. A close timeframe and documented statements help a great deal here.

5) Immorality and good faith

A dismissal that violates public morals is void (§ 138 BGB), and even outside the KSchG, a minimum degree of social consideration is still owed under § 242 BGB. The bar is high: reprehensible motives, arbitrariness, contradictory behaviour. This rarely carries a case on its own, but it works well as a supporting argument.

6) Discrimination under the AGG

A dismissal linked to gender, age, origin, religion, disability, sexual identity or belief violates the prohibition on discrimination under § 7 AGG in conjunction with § 1 AGG. The AGG has no qualifying period. Besides invalidity, a compensation claim under § 15 AGG may also apply, but it must be asserted in writing within two months. More under Discrimination at Work.

Check these six points before accepting the dismissal. The full sequence of first steps after receiving notice is under Received a Dismissal: What to Do?, and our severance calculator assesses your case in 2 minutes.

Special dismissal protection applies from day one, with one important exception

The KSchG’s general dismissal protection has a qualifying period. Special dismissal protection usually doesn’t. If you fall under one of these categories, you’re largely protected even during probation.

Pregnancy: under § 17 MuSchG, dismissing a pregnant employee is impermissible if the employer knows of the pregnancy, or is told within two weeks of the notice being received. It’s only permissible if the competent authority has exceptionally approved it in advance. This rule has no qualifying period. Details under Dismissal During Pregnancy.

Parental leave: from the time parental leave is requested, at the earliest eight weeks before it starts, and throughout the entire parental leave, your employer may not dismiss you (§ 18 BEEG), again with no qualifying period. More under Dismissal During Parental Leave.

Severe disability: the exception. This is often misreported. The requirement for the integration office’s approval under § 168 SGB IX does not apply if, at the time notice is received, the employment relationship has lasted no longer than six months without interruption (§ 173 para. 1 no. 1 SGB IX). So in the first six months, even severely disabled employees can be dismissed without the authority’s approval. The AGG still applies, though: if the dismissal is clearly linked to the disability, it remains challengeable. More under Dismissal and Severe Disability, and an overview of all groups is at Special Dismissal Protection.

Summary dismissal during probation: the hurdles remain high

Some employers assume they can dismiss summarily during probation anyway. The opposite is true: summary dismissal is still governed, unchanged, by § 626 BGB. It requires good cause, meaning facts that make continuing employment until the notice period expires unreasonable.

The point that matters particularly during probation: the reasonableness test relates to the notice period actually applicable. If employment would end in two weeks anyway, your employer has to explain why even those two weeks aren’t reasonable. That bar is considerably higher than with a notice period of several months. The two-week declaration deadline under § 626 para. 2 BGB, running from when the decisive facts become known, also applies.

A summary dismissal is often issued "in the alternative as an ordinary dismissal": if the good cause fails, at least the ordinary dismissal should still take effect. More under summary dismissal and extraordinary dismissal. If your employer bases the dismissal on mere suspicion, the strict requirements for a suspicion-based dismissal also apply, in particular prior consultation with you.

The 3-week deadline applies to you too

A costly misconception goes like this: "I have no dismissal protection during probation anyway, so the claim deadline doesn’t matter to me." That’s wrong. Under § 4 KSchG, you must file a claim with the labour court within 3 weeks of receiving the written dismissal if you want to argue it’s invalid for any reason. The wording expressly covers invalidity "for other reasons" too.

In practice, that means: breach of the written form, missing works council consultation, retaliation, breach of special protection, all of it has to be brought before the court within the deadline. If you let the three weeks pass, the dismissal is treated as valid from the start, even if it was clearly flawed. An objection letter, an email, or a conversation does not preserve the deadline.

A special case: if the dismissal requires an authority’s approval, such as with pregnancy, the claim deadline only starts once the authority’s decision is communicated to you. Never rely on such nuances though: count on three weeks from the day you had the letter in your hands. Our unfair dismissal claim deadline calculator works out how many days you have left, and Unfair Dismissal Claim explains how the process works.

Severance pay after a dismissal during probation: an honest assessment

We’ll say this plainly, because a wrong expectation does more harm than good here: severance pay (Abfindung) after a dismissal during probation is the exception. There’s no statutory entitlement, and in practice severance almost always arises as the price your employer pays to remove litigation risk. The very lever that creates that risk is missing here: where no reason is required, none can be shaken either. On top of that, there’s the maths. The usual benchmark is the rule-of-thumb formula of 0.5 gross monthly salaries per year of service, which adds up to small amounts after short employment.

Worked example: the rule of thumb after six months

€750 isn’t an amount worth fighting over, which is exactly why employers usually offer nothing during probation. For what generally influences the amount, see Severance: Amount.

The exception where the stakes suddenly rise

If the dismissal fails instead due to a formal error or special protection, the situation flips, often disproportionately so. The reason is economic: if the dismissal is invalid, the employment relationship continues, and your employer owes you salary for the entire time they wrongly refused your work, known as back pay for delayed acceptance (Annahmeverzugslohn) (§ 615 BGB).

Example: with a €3,000 gross salary and proceedings running for six months, €18,000 in back pay is on the table, plus having to keep on someone they no longer wanted. Your employer measures any settlement offer against that figure. A probationary dismissal that fails due to a single formal error can therefore be worth far more than the rule of thumb suggests. The decisive step isn’t negotiating, it’s checking everything in time.

First check whether you have any leverage at all: the severance calculator gives you an initial assessment in 2 minutes, at no cost and with no obligation.

Unemployment benefit after a dismissal during probation

This point matters more than severance for many people and is often overlooked. You’re only entitled to unemployment benefit if you meet the qualifying period: at least twelve months in compulsory insurance within the assessment period (§ 142 SGB III). That assessment period spans 30 months, counted back from the day you register as unemployed (§ 143 SGB III).

Important: after just a few months of employment, this is usually not met if you hadn’t worked before, say you’ve just come straight from university. If you were already in compulsory insurance at any point in the last 30 months, though, that time counts too. Work through the last two and a half years before assuming you have "no entitlement".

Suspension period: if your employer dismisses you and you gave no insurance-relevant cause, no suspension period (Sperrzeit) applies for giving up work (§ 159 SGB III). It’s different if you resign yourself or sign a termination agreement. All case groups are covered under Benefit Suspension Period for Unemployment Benefit.

Register as a jobseeker immediately. Under § 38 SGB III, if less than three months lie between learning of the dismissal and its end date, which is always the case with two weeks’ notice, you have three days from finding out to register. Miss it, and you risk a separate, shorter suspension period for late registration. Registering doesn’t harm your claim. If severance does come about, Severance Pay and Unemployment Benefit explains when it affects your entitlement.

Termination agreement instead of a probationary dismissal: almost never to your advantage

A common pattern: instead of dismissing you, your employer presents a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag), often with the line "it looks better on your CV". During probation, this offer is almost always worse than a dismissal. If you sign, you’re jointly ending the employment relationship yourself, risking a suspension period of usually twelve weeks (§ 159 SGB III). With an employer’s dismissal through no fault of your own, that risk doesn’t arise.

On top of that, signing means giving up every ground for challenge. Formal errors, missing works council consultation, special protection, all of it becomes worthless. And the supposed CV advantage usually isn’t one: a qualified reference doesn’t reveal the reason for termination anyway, unless you want it to.

A detailed comparison is under Termination Agreement or Dismissal and Termination Agreement. In short: don’t sign anything during the meeting, ask for time to think it over, and have the draft reviewed. Once you’ve signed a termination agreement, there’s practically no way back.

Your reference after short employment

Even after just a few weeks, you’re entitled to a written reference when your employment ends, and you can ask that it cover your performance and conduct, making it a qualified reference (§ 109 GewO). The law sets no minimum period of employment. The written form requirement applies here too.

Two points are worth your attention. First: the reason for termination doesn’t belong in the reference unless you expressly want it there. You can object to any wording that points to a probationary dismissal. Second, a reference must be worded favourably and must contain no hidden codes. With short employment, a brief description of your duties is normal, a negative assessment is not. More under qualified reference. What happens to unused holiday days is explained in Remaining Holiday After Dismissal.

What you should do now

The order matters, because two deadlines run at the same time: three weeks for the claim, three days to register as a jobseeker. Work through the list from top to bottom.

1. Note the date of receipt. Not the date on the letter, the day it actually arrived. Keep the envelope. The 3 weeks under § 4 KSchG run from this day.
2. Check the form. Is it a paper letter with an original handwritten signature? Email, photo, scan or copy aren’t enough (§ 623 BGB).
3. Check the signature and reject it immediately if needed. If someone without evident authority signed and no original power of attorney was enclosed, reject the dismissal immediately in writing under § 174 BGB.
4. Register as a jobseeker immediately (§ 38 SGB III), within three days of finding out at the latest, regardless of whether you’re making a claim.
5. Get out your contract. Does it even specify a probationary period, and how long? Is a longer notice period agreed? Without an agreed probation, there’s no two-week notice period.
6. Check for special protection. Pregnancy, parental leave, works council office. If you’re pregnant and only find out now, tell your employer within two weeks of receiving the notice.
7. Ask the works council whether and how it was consulted. A missing or flawed consultation makes the dismissal invalid (§ 102 BetrVG).
8. Sign nothing. No termination agreement, no settlement receipt, until your case has been reviewed.
9. Have your case reviewed and decide. Whether filing a claim is worthwhile depends on points 2, 3, 6 and 7. If none apply, the honest answer is usually: move forward.

Get an overview first: the severance calculator shows you in 2 minutes how your case stacks up.

How can we help you?

A dismissal during probation feels like a verdict with no appeal. Usually it is, but not always, and the difference lies not in the reason, but in the form, consultation and special protection. That’s exactly what we check together with lawyers specialising in employment law: does the letter keep to the written form? Who signed it, and with what authority? Was the works council consulted? Does special protection apply? And is the notice period calculated correctly?

We carry the risk: purely success-based, with no upfront cost. Start with an initial assessment via our severance calculator, it only takes 2 minutes. And remember the two clocks already running: 3 weeks for the claim, 3 days to register with the employment agency.