Lost your job in Germany? The deadlines that matter

What to do in the first days after a dismissal in Germany, or when a contract is not renewed. Three deadlines, in the order they run out.

Losing a job is hard enough without a clock running. In Germany several clocks start at once, and some of them are very short. This page puts them in order.

This is general information, not legal advice. Every deadline below starts from a date that depends on your own case. If anything is unclear, get advice quickly — the free services are at the end of this page.

First: is it a valid dismissal?

A dismissal — Kündigung — has to be in writing, on paper, with a signature. Since 2000 the law has required written form, and a dismissal by email is not valid.^[1] Keep the letter, and write down the date you received it: most of the deadlines below count from that day.

If you are offered a termination agreement — an Aufhebungsvertrag — you do not have to sign it on the spot. Signing one can cost you unemployment benefit for up to twelve weeks (see below).^[2]

Deadline 1: three days — register as job-seeking

You must register with the Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) as job-seeking — arbeitsuchend:

• at least three months before your job ends, if you know that far ahead;
• within three days of finding out, if you learn later — which is the usual case after a dismissal.^[3]

This also applies when a fixed-term contract is not renewed.^[3] You can register online.^[3]

Registering late costs money. If you register too late, the agency can suspend your benefit for one week (a Sperrzeit).^[4]

This is a separate step from registering as unemployed. One does not replace the other.^[3]

Deadline 2: three weeks — challenge the dismissal

If you think the dismissal is unfair, you can take it to the labour court (Arbeitsgericht). You have three weeks from the day you received the letter. The deadline cannot be extended: if you file later, the dismissal is treated as valid from the start.^[1]

The general protection against unfair dismissal — the Dismissal Protection Act, Kündigungsschutzgesetz — applies once you have worked there for at least six months and the business has more than ten employees.^[1] Under it, a dismissal needs a reason tied to you as a person, to your conduct, or to the needs of the business.^[1]

Three weeks goes quickly. If you are even thinking about it, get advice in the first week.

Deadline 3: your first day without work — register as unemployed

Register as unemployed — arbeitslos — at the latest on your first day without work. You can do it online. If you register later, unemployment benefit is paid from the day you register at the earliest, not from the day your job ended.^[5]

Unemployment benefit: Arbeitslosengeld

Who gets it. You must have been insured for at least twelve months in the thirty months before you register as unemployed. Ordinary employment counts.^[2]

How much. 60% of your previous net pay, worked out from your gross earnings over the last twelve months — 67% if you or your spouse have at least one child.^[2]

How long. It depends on your age and how long you were insured. Under 50, the maximum is twelve months, after at least 24 months of insurance. From 50 it rises in steps, to a maximum of 24 months at 58 and over.^[2]

When it can be stopped for a while. If the agency decides you caused your own unemployment — you resigned, were dismissed for your conduct, or signed a termination agreement — it can suspend payment for up to twelve weeks, unless you had an important reason.^[2]

If your residence permit depends on the job

If you are not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, your permit may be tied to your work. Tell your foreigners authority straight away. For an EU Blue Card, the early end of a job must be reported within two weeks.^[6] What happens to your permit after that depends on your situation — the changing jobs guide covers the rules we could check, and your foreigners authority decides.

Before you leave: get your reference

When a job ends, you have a right to a written employment reference — an Arbeitszeugnis.^[7] Ask for it. The German CV guide explains where it goes in an application, and the reference decoder reads the coded wording.

Free help, in your language

• Faire Integration — free, anonymous advice on work and social law for refugees and migrants from outside the EU: pay, working hours, holidays, dismissal, health insurance. In many languages. Funded by the Federal Ministry of Labour.^[8]
• Faire Mobilität — free, anonymous advice for workers from Central and Eastern Europe, run by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), including on dismissal and unpaid wages. Several languages, English among them.^[9]
• A trade union, if you are a member, and a specialist employment lawyer (Fachanwalt für Arbeitsrecht) if the case is worth fighting.

What we cannot do

We cannot advise on your dismissal or contact anyone for you. This page is general information. When your next job search starts, every listing on this site links straight to the employer's own advert.

This guide is about Germany. Austria and Switzerland have their own rules. See working in Austria and working in Switzerland.

Where to check

• Federal Employment Agency: registering as job-seeking (German)
• Federal Employment Agency: unemployment benefit (German)
• Faire Integration and Faire Mobilität, in English and many other languages

Checked on 29 September 2026 against the sources below. Deadlines count from dates in your own case; when in doubt, act early.