Dismissal with a Severe Disability: Your Rights

Who is specially protected against dismissal?

A dismissal despite a severe disability (Schwerbehinderung) is one of the hardest dismissals an employer can attempt. Lawmakers have given people with severe disabilities special protection against dismissal, which comes on top of general protection against dismissal. Before we get into the details, the most important question: do you belong to the protected group?

• You have a severe disability if you’ve been assessed with a degree of disability (GdB) of at least 50 (§ 2 Abs. 2 SGB IX). The assessment is made by the disability assessment office (Versorgungsamt) on your application, and is usually proven by your severe disability ID card or the assessment notice.
• You can have equivalent status if your GdB is at least 30 but less than 50 and without this equivalent status (Gleichstellung) you couldn’t obtain or keep a suitable job (§ 2 Abs. 3 SGB IX). You don’t grant yourself this equivalent status, the Federal Employment Agency does so on your application. People with equivalent status enjoy the same special protection against dismissal as people with a severe disability.

Special protection against dismissal for people with severe disabilities is therefore one of several statutory protective shields, similar to protection during a dismissal during pregnancy or a dismissal during parental leave. You’ll find an overview of all protected groups under Special Protection Against Dismissal.

Important to understand: this protection doesn’t make you undismissable. But it does force your employer into an official procedure with additional participation duties, and in practice many dismissals fail precisely because of that. This is exactly where your strong negotiating position comes from, more on that below.

The core protection: consent of the Integration Office (§ 168 SGB IX)

The heart of this protection is in § 168 SGB IX: an employer’s dismissal of a severely disabled employee requires the prior consent of the Integration Office (Integrationsamt, called the Inklusionsamt in some federal states). This applies to every dismissal issued by the employer:

• the ordinary dismissal with a notice period,
• the summary dismissal for good cause, including the dismissal without notice,
• and also a dismissal with an offer of altered terms (Änderungskündigung), meant to force changed working conditions on you.

The consequence is severe: if your employer dismisses you without the Integration Office’s consent, the dismissal is invalid. It then no longer matters whether the reason for dismissal would otherwise have held up. The consent must also exist before the dismissal is issued; approval granted afterwards doesn’t cure the defect.

Another point many employers overlook: once the Integration Office has approved an ordinary dismissal, the employer can only declare the dismissal within one month of being notified of that consent (§ 171 Abs. 3 SGB IX). If this deadline passes, a new consent is required. Timing errors like this make dismissals vulnerable too.

But watch out, and this is the most important sentence on this page: an invalid dismissal only stays without consequences if you defend yourself in time. Even where the Integration Office’s consent is missing, you generally must file an unfair dismissal claim within 3 weeks. More on this deadline below.

Get a first idea of what’s realistic in your case: Calculate your possible severance pay in 2 minutes with our severance calculator.

How the Integration Office’s approval process works

If your employer wants to dismiss you, they must first file an application for consent with the Integration Office and justify it. The Office doesn’t simply decide based on the case file under employment law; above all, it checks whether the dismissal is compatible with the particular interests of people with severe disabilities, for example whether the dismissal is really linked to the disability and whether reasonable alternatives exist.

Hearing: you’re involved

Before the Integration Office decides, it gathers statements: from you, usually also from the works council and the representative body for severely disabled employees, and it works towards an amicable settlement. Take this hearing seriously: it’s an early chance to put forward arguments, for example that a job suited to your condition exists, or that the stated reason for dismissal is just a pretext. What you say here shapes the whole process.

Deadlines for the ordinary dismissal (§ 171 SGB IX)

For an ordinary dismissal: the Integration Office is supposed to decide within one month of receiving the application (§ 171 Abs. 1 SGB IX). The decision is served on both employer and employee. If the Office grants consent, the employer can only declare the dismissal within one month of being notified (§ 171 Abs. 3 SGB IX).

Deadlines for the summary dismissal (§ 174 SGB IX)

For a summary dismissal, the process is significantly accelerated (§ 174 SGB IX):

• The employer can only apply for consent within 2 weeks, counted from the moment they learn the facts relevant to the dismissal.
• The Integration Office decides within 2 weeks of receiving the application. If it doesn’t decide within this period, consent is deemed granted.
• Once consent is granted (or deemed granted), the employer must declare the dismissal without delay.

This chain of deadlines is prone to errors: a late application, a miscalculated start date, a delayed declaration of dismissal. Any of these mistakes can bring the dismissal down. The exact procedures in an individual case (service of documents, calculating deadlines, options for appealing the Office’s decision) depend on the specific proceedings and deserve expert review. The Integration Offices themselves also provide background information on the process.

By the way: the Integration Office’s consent only confirms that dismissal is allowed, not that the dismissal is valid under employment law. Whether it’s socially justified is then examined solely by the labour court. So your employer has to clear both hurdles, one after the other.

When special protection against dismissal doesn’t apply (§ 173 SGB IX)

Strong as this protection is, it doesn’t apply in every situation. § 173 SGB IX excludes certain cases. The most practically relevant are:

• 6-month qualifying period: special protection against dismissal doesn’t apply if your employment relationship has existed for less than 6 months when the dismissal is received (§ 173 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 SGB IX). During this early period, which usually coincides with the probationary period, the employer doesn’t need the Integration Office’s consent, but must still notify the Office of the dismissal (§ 173 Abs. 4 SGB IX).
• Severe disability not established or not proven: protection requires that your status as a person with a severe disability or equivalent status is proven, obvious, or at least applied for in good time by the date of dismissal. If your status is neither established, nor applied for early enough for the authority to have been able to decide through no fault of your own, special protection against dismissal doesn’t apply (§ 173 Abs. 3 SGB IX).
• Employer doesn’t know about the disability: if your employer doesn’t know about your severe disability or equivalent status, and it isn’t obvious, case law says you must inform them promptly after receiving the dismissal to be able to rely on the protection. Waiting too long risks losing special protection against dismissal. So the safe rule in practice is: inform them immediately and provably, ideally within a few days.
• Other special cases: § 173 SGB IX also contains narrowly defined exceptions, for example for certain older employees with a right to severance pay or a pension, and for weather-related layoffs with a guaranteed right to re-employment. Whether any of these applies is a question for the individual case.

Remember: even if special protection against dismissal exceptionally doesn’t apply, you aren’t without protection. General protection against dismissal under the Unfair Dismissal Act, the ban on discrimination because of a disability, and the formal requirements for every dismissal all still apply regardless.

Not sure whether your dismissal is vulnerable? Start with the severance calculator and get a first assessment of your negotiating position in 2 minutes.

Representative body and works council: two more hurdles

Besides the Integration Office, your employer must involve two internal bodies before dismissing you, provided they exist:

• Representative body for severely disabled employees (Schwerbehindertenvertretung, SBV): the employer must inform the SBV promptly and fully about all matters affecting people with severe disabilities, and hear it before any decision. For dismissal this is explicit: a dismissal issued without involving the SBV is invalid (§ 178 Abs. 2 SGB IX). If your workplace has an SBV and it was bypassed, you have an independent and very solid ground for invalidity.
• Works council: separately, the general rule applies: where a works council exists, it must be heard before every dismissal (§ 102 BetrVG). A dismissal without this hearing is invalid, and even a hearing that’s substantively flawed (for example with incomplete or incorrect information) can bring the dismissal down.

Count everything your employer has to get right when dismissing a person with a severe disability: obtaining the Integration Office’s consent and meeting its deadlines, involving the SBV, hearing the works council, observing the written form requirement, correctly calculating the notice period, and finally having a reason for dismissal that holds up before the labour court. Every single step is a potential source of error, and in practice these mistakes happen constantly. For you, each one is leverage.

The Unfair Dismissal Act and the 3-week claim deadline

Special protection against dismissal doesn’t replace general protection against dismissal, it comes on top of it. If you’ve worked for more than 6 months at a company that usually employs more than 10 people, the dismissal also needs a reason that socially justifies it: for operational, conduct-related, or personal reasons. You can check whether the Unfair Dismissal Act (Kündigungsschutzgesetz) applies to you under Protection Against Dismissal at Small Companies. With an operational dismissal, there’s one more point for you as a person with a severe disability: your disability is one of the statutory criteria in the social selection (Sozialauswahl), further strengthening your position.

And now the point that decides everything: the deadline. You generally must file an unfair dismissal claim with the labour court within 3 weeks of receiving the written dismissal (§ 4 KSchG). If you miss this deadline, the dismissal is generally treated as effective from the start, even if it was actually full of errors.

There’s one special rule where a dismissal needs official consent: then the claim deadline only starts once you’re notified of the authority’s decision (§ 4 Satz 4 KSchG). But never rely on this exception without expert review. Whether it applies depends on the individual case, and the safe strategy is always the same: file your claim within 3 weeks of receiving the dismissal. Our deadline calculator for unfair dismissal claims shows you exactly how many days you have left.

The claim itself isn’t an act of war, it’s the normal way to secure your rights and build a negotiating position. Most proceedings don’t end in a judgment but in a settlement, often already at the conciliation hearing a few weeks after the claim is filed. You can read how the process works under Unfair Dismissal Claim.

Severance pay with a severe disability: your double leverage

Even with a severe disability, there’s generally no automatic statutory right to severance pay after dismissal. Even so, your negotiating position is unusually strong, for one simple reason: litigation risk.

Your employer has to get two protective systems right at the same time when dismissing you: SGB IX (Integration Office, SBV) and the Unfair Dismissal Act (a socially justified reason, works council hearing). If they fail at any point, the employment relationship continues, and they have to pay you back wages for the entire duration of the proceedings. This risk is significantly higher for severely disabled employees than usual, and employers often buy off exactly this risk with a settlement including severance pay, whether during proceedings or beforehand through a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag).

The well-known rule of thumb serves as a starting point for the amount: 0.5 gross monthly salaries per year of employment. It isn’t a legal entitlement but a negotiating anchor. With a strong starting position, which you often have with special protection against dismissal, negotiations frequently end above this formula. You can read what else influences the amount under Severance Pay: Amount, and for taxation it’s worth looking at the one-fifth rule (Fünftelregelung).

Worked example: Sabine, GdB 50, 12 years at the company

Sabine has worked at the company for 12 years and earns €4,000 gross a month. She has an assessed GdB of 50. Her employer issues an ordinary dismissal but hasn’t involved the SBV. Sabine files an unfair dismissal claim in time.

The €24,000 is only the starting point of the negotiation, not its end. Because the dismissal is likely invalid due to the missing SBV involvement, and the employer also has the approval procedure and social justification against them, Sabine negotiates from a position of strength. In such situations, many negotiations end above the rule of thumb; how far depends on the individual case and can’t seriously be put into a general figure. On top of that is her long notice period of 5 months, whose value in time her employer also has to buy out if the relationship ends early. More on this order of magnitude: Severance Pay After 10 Years.

When agreeing to any settlement or termination agreement, also think about unemployment benefit: carelessly giving up your employment relationship can trigger a benefit suspension period (Sperrzeit). A carefully worded termination agreement prevents this.

Work out your own example: The severance calculator shows you your personal benchmark figure in 2 minutes.

Dismissal due to illness and workplace reintegration (§ 167 Abs. 2 SGB IX)

In practice, severe disability and dismissal are often linked to illness: the employer wants to dismiss because of long or frequent absences. Such a dismissal due to illness is a sub-type of dismissal for personal reasons and is already subject to strict requirements on its own: a negative health prognosis, a significant impairment of operational interests, and a balancing of interests that also takes your severe disability into account.

On top of that comes workplace reintegration management (Betriebliches Eingliederungsmanagement, BEM): if you’ve been unable to work for more than 6 weeks within a year, whether continuously or repeatedly, your employer must offer you BEM (§ 167 Abs. 2 SGB IX), meaning you jointly work out how to overcome your incapacity and keep your job. A missing BEM doesn’t automatically make a dismissal invalid, but it significantly raises the employer’s burden of explanation in proceedings: they then have to explain in detail why even a BEM wouldn’t have produced a milder alternative to dismissal. For people with severe disabilities, the Integration Office also closely checks whether the employer has met its duties to provide disability-appropriate employment.

In short: a dismissal due to illness against a person with a severe disability, without a proper BEM and without checked alternatives suited to their condition, is a very risky move for the employer, and correspondingly strong leverage for you in negotiations.

Additional leave under § 208 SGB IX

A side point, but worth real money: as a person with a severe disability, you’re entitled to 5 additional paid working days of leave per holiday year, based on a 5-day week (§ 208 SGB IX). If your working time is spread over more or fewer than 5 days, this is converted accordingly. This additional leave doesn’t apply to people with equivalent status.

Why this matters for dismissal: when your employment relationship ends, unused leave, including additional leave, generally has to be paid out. This leave compensation (Urlaubsabgeltung) belongs on the bill in every settlement and every termination agreement. So check how many days of leave (including additional leave) are still outstanding before you sign anything.

Received a dismissal, or expecting one: what you should do now

You’ll find the full step-by-step guide under Received a Dismissal: What to Do? Here’s the short version for your situation:

1. Don’t sign anything. No termination agreement, no acknowledgement of receipt with extra clauses, no “amicable solution” under time pressure. Signing can effectively hand away your special protection against dismissal.
2. Document the day you received it. The 3-week claim deadline starts running from the day you receive the written dismissal. Note the date and circumstances, and keep the letter and envelope.
3. Tell your employer about your severe disability if they don’t know. If your employer doesn’t know about your severe disability or equivalent status, inform them without delay after receiving the dismissal, in writing and provably. Never wait several weeks.
4. Have the participation steps checked. Is there consent from the Integration Office? Was the SBV involved, was the works council heard? Each of these questions alone can decide whether the dismissal is valid.
5. Register as a jobseeker. Register with the employment agency as a jobseeker in good time, even while you’re challenging the dismissal. This secures your unemployment benefit.
6. File your claim within 3 weeks. Without a timely unfair dismissal claim, you lose almost all the leverage described on this page.

And if you don’t have a dismissal yet but see one coming: get your paperwork in order (assessment notice, equivalent status notice, documentation of any BEM offers), respond to any warning notice (Abmahnung) thoughtfully rather than impulsively, and get an early assessment. Going into a conversation about a termination agreement with severance pay prepared leads to measurably better negotiations.

Get clarity now: The severance calculator gives you a first orientation for your conversation or proceedings in 2 minutes.

How can we help you?

Have you received a dismissal, or are you expecting one, as a person with a severe disability or equivalent status? We review your case together with lawyers specialising in employment law: consent from the Integration Office, involvement of the SBV and works council, social justification, and negotiate the best possible outcome for you.

We carry the risk: purely success-based, no upfront cost. Start with a first assessment through our severance calculator, it only takes 2 minutes, and keep the 3-week deadline in mind.