Working in Germany - Employment Contracts

An employment contract may be entered into orally or in writing. The written form is advisable in order to have proof available in the event of any legal disputes. The contract contains the name and address of the employer and the employee and information on the commencement and, where appropriate, the fixed term of the employment, the trial period and the duration of the trial period, the place of employment, the nature of the activity involved, the amount of pay and agreed working hours, the length of annual leave and the periods of notice for termination of employment.

Where no written employment contract is entered into, the employer is required to give the employee a written record of the essential terms of the employment contract within one month of the agreed commencement of the employment relationship.

Amendment of contractually agreed working conditions is possible only by amendment of the employment contract. Such amendment can be made only by mutual consent between the contracting parties or by dismissal for variation of contract. Dismissal for variation of contract enables the employer to implement a particular change to working conditions which would not have been possible under the terms of the contract which had previously been agreed. Dismissal for variation of contract must satisfy all the legal requirements that would otherwise have to be met in the case of dismissal. The employee may agree to or reject the change to his working conditions sought by the employer or may accept them on the proviso that the change to the working conditions is not socially unjustified.

Text last edited on: 11/2006

Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2007
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