Early termination of employment contract

Dismissals and resignations must be in writing and signed by the person tasked with dismissing an employee or the person desiring to resign. Employees must not provide reasons for their resignation.

The following dismissal notice periods apply:

Employees with permanent contracts, research associates, and non-salaried employees

Notice periods are regulated under Section 34 of the collective wage agreement for the public sectors of the German states (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst der Länder, TV-L) and depend on the length of the period of employment. Up to the end of the 6th month, either party may terminate the employment agreement with a notice of 2 weeks before the end of the month. Please see the table below for longer terms of employment.

Employment period	Notice period
up to 1 year	1 month before the end of the month
exceeding 1 year	6 weeks before the end of a calendar quarter
up to at least 5 years	3 months before the end of a calendar quarter
up to at least 8 years	4 months before the end of a calendar quarter
up to at least 10 years	5 months before the end of a calendar quarter
up to at least 12 years	6 months before the end of a calendar quarter

Fixed-term employees (excepting research associates)

Notice periods are regulated under Section 30 of the collective wage agreement for the public sectors of the German states (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst der Länder, TV-L) and depend on prior periods of employment. Until the end of the probationary period the notice period is 2 weeks before the end of the month. In case of successive employment contracts with the same employer, please see the following table for the respective notice periods.

Periods of employment with one or several successive employment agreements with the same employer	Notice period
exceeding 6 months in total	4 weeks before the end of the month
exceeding 1 year in total	6 weeks before the end of the month
exceeding 2 years in total	3 months before the end of a calendar quarter
exceeding 3 years in total	4 months before the end of a calendar quarter

In place of termination with statutory notice periods, employment can also be terminated by means of a dissolution contract. If you want to end your employment relationship and you and your superior are in agreement on this as well as on the employment end date, a contract dissolution agreement is possible. A dissolution agreement immediately terminates the employment relationship.

If you seek employment dissolution, you may lodge a written application with HR Services. Please submit your superior’s declaration of consent together with your application to ensure the dissolution agreement can be finalized by the agreed date.