Dismissal, severance pay, termination agreement, formal warning or employment reference: we assess your situation quickly, are open about deadlines and prospects, and enforce your interests – out of court and before the Labour Court. For employees, executives and companies – in Hanover, Berlin, Bielefeld, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart.
Choose your concern. Each topic page explains the legal position, deadlines and procedure in detail – with practical examples and the most frequently asked questions.
Record when and how the notice of dismissal reached you. The three-week deadline for the unfair dismissal claim runs from that day.
Register as a jobseeker with the Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) within three days of receipt (§ 38 SGB III) – late registration can trigger a one-week suspension of unemployment benefit (Sperrzeit).
Do not sign a settlement receipt (Ausgleichsquittung), a settlement agreement or a termination agreement until the consequences for severance pay, unemployment benefit and your employment reference have been reviewed.
Simplified, typical scenarios from everyday employment law practice. Every case is different – the examples show what matters.
Situation: A clerk is dismissed because her “position has ceased to exist”. Younger colleagues without maintenance obligations are kept on.
What matters: Errors in the social selection (§ 1 Abs. 3 KSchG) are common. A claim filed in time creates bargaining power for continued employment or significantly higher severance pay.
Situation: A head of sales is asked to sign, at short notice, a termination agreement with severance pay of three months' salary.
What matters: If the notice period is not observed, a suspension of unemployment benefit may follow. Garden leave, variable pay, company car and the reference grade belong in the agreement.
Situation: An IT specialist receives a reference containing covertly negative wording and no closing statement.
What matters: The reference must be benevolent and truthful (§ 109 GewO). With evidence of performance, a correction can usually be achieved out of court.
Situation: A manufacturing company wants to dismiss an employee for persistent unpunctuality.
What matters: A conduct-related dismissal generally requires a relevant, properly documented formal warning and the proper consultation of the works council.
Lawyers, certified specialist lawyers and patent attorneys under one roof. In employment law, you have a dedicated contact person; where matters overlap with areas such as employee inventions, trade secret protection, employee data protection or public procurement and collective wage compliance, our specialised colleagues are involved.
Andreas Friedlein
Lawyer
Employment and civil service law, contract law, litigation
Dipl.-Ing. Michael Horak, LL.M.
Lawyer · Certified Specialist in Intellectual Property Law · Certified Specialist in Copyright and Media Law
Employee inventions, trade secret protection, non-compete clauses
Julia Ziegeler
Lawyer · Certified Specialist in Intellectual Property Law · Certified Specialist in Copyright and Media Law
Contract drafting, rights to work results
Anna Umberg, LL.M., M.A.
Lawyer · Certified Specialist in Intellectual Property Law
Employee data protection, compliance
Katharina Gitmann-Kopilevich
Lawyer · Certified Specialist in Intellectual Property Law
Unfair competition law, press law
Karoline Behrend
Lawyer · Certified Specialist in Public Procurement Law
Public procurement law, white-collar criminal law
Stefan Karfusehr
Lawyer
Contract law, court proceedings
Robin Jannis Mai, LL.B.
Lawyer
IT law, contract law
Dipl.-Phys. Andree Eckhard
Patent Attorney · European Trade Mark and Design Attorney
Employee invention law, patents
Dr. Marie Wagner
Patent Attorney
Employee invention law, patents
Art in our premises – centrally located near the opera house, around five minutes from the main railway station.
Online, by email or by telephone. Send your notice of dismissal, contract, formal warning or reference straight away and tell us the date of receipt.
We clarify deadlines and goals and tell you the expected costs. If you have legal expenses insurance, we handle the coverage request.
Negotiate or go to court? You decide on the basis of a candid assessment of prospects, risks and the financial outcome.
We conduct the correspondence, negotiate settlements and represent you before all labour courts and regional labour courts.
Good to know: Before the Labour Court, each side bears its own legal fees at first instance (§ 12a ArbGG). An initial consultation for consumers costs no more than €190 plus VAT (§ 34 RVG). For those on a low income, advice assistance (Beratungshilfe) or legal aid (Prozesskostenhilfe) may be available.
Short answers to the most important questions. You will find detailed explanations on the respective topic pages.
The unfair dismissal claim (Kündigungsschutzklage) must reach the Labour Court (Arbeitsgericht) within three weeks of receipt of the written notice of dismissal (§ 4 KSchG). If you miss this deadline, the dismissal is as a rule deemed valid – even if it was in fact invalid. You should therefore contact us, if possible, within the first few days after receiving the dismissal.
No. A statutory right to severance pay exists only in exceptional cases, for example with a severance offer under § 1a KSchG or under a social plan (Sozialplan). In practice, however, severance payments are very frequently agreed in unfair dismissal proceedings because the employer wants to avoid the litigation risk. A rule of thumb is half a gross monthly salary per year of service; the actual amount depends on the prospects of success.
Fees are based on the Lawyers' Remuneration Act (Rechtsanwaltsvergütungsgesetz) or on a fee agreement. For an initial consultation with consumers, the fee is capped by law at €190 plus VAT. Many legal expenses insurers cover the costs in employment law matters; on request, we will submit the coverage request for you. We will tell you the expected costs before we begin work.
At first instance, each party bears its own legal fees – regardless of who wins the case (§ 12a ArbGG). No court fees are charged if the proceedings end in a settlement. This is why legal expenses insurance is particularly valuable in employment law.
Both. We represent employees, executives and managing directors as well as companies, works councils and public bodies. Whether we can accept an instruction is checked in advance by means of a conflict check.
No. You can meet us in person in Hanover or at one of our other locations, but the consultation can also take place by telephone or video conference. Documents can be sent securely in digital form. We represent you before labour courts throughout Germany.
Head office in Hanover, offices in nine other cities. Advice in person, by telephone or by video conference – representation before all labour courts.
Briefly describe your matter and send us your notice of dismissal, contract or employment reference. We usually respond within 24 hours – in person, by telephone or by video conference.