Our employment law lawyers will be happy to draw up an employment contract that reflects your interests in a legally secure manner.
Personal legal advice from our employment law specialists on employment contracts and termination agreements
Preparation of legally compliant employment contracts, review and revision of existing agreements and advice in the event of a planned or received dismissal
Advice on terminating an employment relationship through termination agreements, drafting, reviewing and contesting termination agreements
In the event of an action for unfair dismissal, we provide advice as well as legal support and representation in out-of-court settlements, for example settlements, and in court proceedings.
We recommend that you seek legal advice before concluding an employment contract.
In this context, please note that it is important for employers to regularly review their employment contracts and adapt them to current case law. We would be happy to carry out a check of your employment contracts.
Our team is available for you by telephone on 0351 -896 921 40 or by e-mail at recht@white-ip.com.
We are available for consultations in Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Hamburg and beyond. Contact us with your request and your wish for an online or on-site consultation!
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- Does a written employment contract have to be concluded?
- Why should an employment contract be concluded in writing?
- The contracting parties – employee and employer
- Termination agreement and settlement agreement – what’s the difference?
- Can the content of an employment contract be freely drafted?
- Can changes be made to the employment contract retrospectively?
- What are permanent and fixed-term employment relationships?
- What are the consequences of not taking up a job?
- How can the employment contract be terminated?
No, employment contracts can be concluded verbally, in writing, expressly or by conclusive behavior. In this context, conclusive or implied conduct means that work is commenced. This practical implementation can be understood as an expression of an employment contract commitment. Something else only applies if, for example, a collective agreement or a works agreement stipulates that the written form must be observed.
Another exception is a fixed-term employment relationship: in this case, a written contract must be drawn up.
Better safe than sorry – this also and above all applies to employment contracts. Many points can be regulated in an employment contract that are important for the subsequent employment relationship and its structure.
From the content of the job, vacation entitlement and protection against dismissal to provisions in the event of illness – the employment contract regulates the rights and obligations of the parties involved. If the key points are not set out in writing, “the usual” is deemed to have been agreed.
Many points are stipulated by law. However, a written employment contract gives employers the opportunity to use individual contract drafting at the points where the legislator gives them the freedom to freely design the working conditions.
In addition, employers are subject to the Evidence Act. This law does not establish a written form requirement, but only an obligation on the part of the employer to subsequently document the content of the contract in writing within one month of the start of employment. The obligation to provide evidence also applies in the event of a subsequent change to the essential working conditions.
An employee is someone who performs contractually owed work in personal dependence, under the control of others and subject to instructions from the employer. The employer has the right to issue instructions: it decides on the content, execution, place and time of the work.
A settlement agreement regulates how the employment relationship is terminated. A termination agreement, on the other hand, stipulates that an employment relationship will be terminated.
In contrast to the termination agreement, the settlement agreement presupposes that the contract has already been terminated (termination) or is about to be terminated (fixed term) and is only used to settle the contractual relationship.
In principle, there is freedom of contract and no obligation to conclude an employment contract. The parties to the employment contract are free to agree the terms and conditions of employment as long as they do not conflict with mandatory laws, e.g. the Working Hours Act or the Part-Time Fixed-Term Employment Act. The provisions of collective agreements or works constitution law must also be observed.
It is also important that an employment contract does not contain any inadmissible clauses and represents the interests of the parties in the best possible way. In most cases, the employment contract is provided by the employer. This allows the contract to be drafted in a way that is individual and employer-friendly. However, possible contractual errors or ambiguities are also at the expense of the employer.
Amicable changes to the employment contract after conclusion of the contract are possible at any time and without any problems.
But beware – contract amendments can also come about tacitly, through conclusive behavior. For example, if an employer repeats certain behavior, the employee can conclude that the employer will continue to behave in the same way in the future. This is known as company practice. Examples from practice include bonuses or travel allowances.
Permanent employment relationships are contracts that regulate the performance of work without any provision for termination by expiry.
Fixed-term employment relationships are regulated by the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG). These are permitted if there is an objective reason (objective reason fixed-term contract) or the contract does not exceed 2 years after a maximum of 3 extensions (objective reason-free fixed-term contract). Collective agreements may deviate from this.
Fixed-term employment without objective grounds is still dependent on the fact that no other employment relationship has previously existed with the employee.
If the employee does not take up the position, the contractually owed work has become impossible for the past period. This also applies to the delayed commencement of a job. The wage entitlement shall lapse – unless there is a case of incapacity for work for which continued payment of remuneration is to be made in accordance with special statutory provisions.
However, if the position is culpably not taken up, the employer can demand compensation and terminate the contract. The same applies if the employee starts work late or leaves work early (without observing the notice period). Reasonable agreements must also be observed, as these are effective according to case law.
The open-ended employment contract can be terminated with or without notice or by means of a termination agreement.
No notice of termination is required if the employment contract is for a fixed term or for a fixed purpose. An employment contract for a fixed term ends at the agreed time. An employment contract for a fixed term ends after prior notice when the purpose has been achieved, without the need for notice of termination.
You can find detailed information on the reasons for termination and the different types of termination in our article entitled “Terminating without cause – is that legal?”.
We recommend that you seek legal advice when drawing up or reviewing employment contracts.
Our employment law lawyers will be happy to draw up a contract for you that reflects your interests in a legally secure manner.
Contact us, our lawyers will be happy to advise you on this and other employment law issues.
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