Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the German termination-law terms that show up across the gates, the attack catalog, and the replay gallery. Every entry cites its statute and links to where the term gets used.
Abmahnung (formal written warning)
Abmahnung · Verhaltensbedingte Kündigung doctrineFormal written warning that identifies a specific breach of duty and warns the employee that repetition will lead to termination. Usually a prerequisite to a conduct-based dismissal.
Where it appears: G2 — Conduct & warning chain · Attack Catalog
Änderungskündigung (variation dismissal)
KSchG §2Termination combined with an offer to continue employment on changed terms. The employee may accept under reservation and contest only the change.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground
AGG §1, §22 (anti-discrimination, evidentiary shift)
AGG §§1, 22The General Equal Treatment Act prohibits discrimination on protected characteristics. §22 lightens the employee's burden: once indicia of discrimination are shown, the employer must disprove discrimination.
Where it appears: G5 — Discrimination screen · Attack Catalog
Annahmeverzug (default in acceptance / back-pay)
§§293 ff., 615 BGBIf a termination is later found invalid, the employer is in default in accepting the employee's services and owes back-pay for the period the employee was unemployed.
Where it appears: G7 — Cost & remedy modelling · HR view
ArbGG (Labour Courts Act)
ArbeitsgerichtsgesetzSets the procedural rules for labour-court disputes, including the two-stage Gütetermin–Kammertermin structure.
Where it appears: External counsel view
ArbZG (Working Time Act)
ArbeitszeitgesetzRegulates maximum daily working hours, rest periods, and Sunday/holiday work. Working-time breaches frequently feed into conduct dismissals.
Where it appears: G2 — Conduct & warning chain
Außerordentliche Kündigung (extraordinary, immediate termination)
§626 BGBTermination for important cause without the ordinary notice period; subject to the two-week Ausschlussfrist from knowledge of the relevant facts.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground · G4 — Procedural timing
BAG (Bundesarbeitsgericht — Federal Labour Court)
BundesarbeitsgerichtThe highest German court for labour-law disputes. Its rulings drive instance-court interpretation of every termination concept on this page.
Where it appears: Case Repository · Attack Catalog
BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act)
BDSG · alongside GDPRFederal data-protection statute applied in parallel with the GDPR. §26 BDSG governs employee data processing including monitoring and termination preparation.
Where it appears: Security · G1 — Evidence admissibility
BEEG §18 (parental leave protection)
BEEG §18Termination during parental leave is generally prohibited. Exceptional consent of the competent authority is required.
Where it appears: G0 — Special protection screen
BetrVG §87(1) Nr. 6 (co-determination on monitoring tech)
BetrVG §87(1) Nr. 6The works council has a co-determination right over the introduction and use of technical devices designed to monitor employee behaviour or performance.
Where it appears: G1 — Evidence admissibility
BetrVG §99 (co-determination on personnel measures)
BetrVG §99Above the size threshold, the works council must be involved in hires, gradings, and transfers; refusal grounds are statutorily defined.
Where it appears: G4 — Procedural completeness
BetrVG §102 (works council hearing before termination)
BetrVG §102The works council must be heard before every termination, with full disclosure of the dismissal reasons. A termination issued without proper hearing is invalid.
Where it appears: G4 — Procedural completeness · Attack Catalog
Betriebsbedingte Kündigung (operational termination)
KSchG §1(2)Termination grounded in an entrepreneurial decision that removes the employee's role. Subject to social selection among comparable employees.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground
Beweislast / Darlegungslast (burden of proof / substantiation)
ZPO · ArbGG · AGG §22Who must plead what facts (Darlegungslast) and who must prove them (Beweislast). The allocation often decides §102, AGG, and Verdachtskündigung disputes.
Where it appears: External counsel view · Attack Catalog
§242 / §138 BGB (good faith / contra bonos mores)
§§242, 138 BGBGeneral good-faith and good-morals limits. A termination that is grossly unfair or violates accepted morality can be void even if formal grounds exist.
Where it appears: G6 — Defensibility synthesis
§612a BGB (anti-retaliation)
§612a BGBMaßregelungsverbot — the employer may not disadvantage an employee for legitimately exercising their rights, including refusing to disadvantage them by termination.
Where it appears: G5 — Discrimination & retaliation
§613a BGB (transfer of undertaking)
§613a BGBOn a transfer of business, employment relationships pass to the acquirer. Termination on the ground of the transfer itself is prohibited.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground
§623 BGB (written form requirement)
§623 BGBTermination is only effective in original written form, signed by hand. Electronic form is excluded; defective form makes the notice void.
Where it appears: G4 — Procedural completeness
§626 BGB (extraordinary termination + 2-week Ausschlussfrist)
§626 BGBAuthorises extraordinary termination for important cause. The notice must be issued within two weeks of the employer obtaining decisive knowledge of the facts.
Where it appears: G4 — Procedural timing · Attack Catalog
§43e BRAO (attorney professional secrecy)
§43e BRAOSets out what an attorney may share with service providers without breaching professional secrecy. Relevant to external-counsel use of replay tools.
Where it appears: External counsel view · Security
BUrlG (Federal Vacation Act)
BundesurlaubsgesetzEstablishes minimum annual paid leave entitlements and the rules on carry-over and pay-out of untaken vacation on termination.
Where it appears: G7 — Cost & remedy modelling
Druckkündigung (pressure-induced termination)
Druckkündigung doctrineTermination demanded by third parties (customers, colleagues, clients). Only valid under narrow conditions and after the employer has tried to deflect the pressure.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground
EntgFG (Continued Pay Act)
EntgeltfortzahlungsgesetzEntitlement to continued remuneration during illness for the statutory period; relevant to person-based dismissals grounded in long-term illness.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground
Güte- / Kammertermin (conciliation / chamber hearing)
ArbGGThe two-stage labour-court structure: an early conciliation hearing (Gütetermin) for settlement, followed by the chamber hearing (Kammertermin) if no settlement is reached.
Where it appears: External counsel view
HinSchG (Whistleblower Protection Act)
HinweisgeberschutzgesetzProtects employees who report breaches of law from reprisals, including dismissal in connection with the report.
Where it appears: G5 — Discrimination & retaliation
Integrationsamt (integration office)
SGB IXPublic authority whose prior consent is required before terminating a severely disabled employee under SGB IX §168.
Where it appears: G0 — Special protection screen
Klagefrist (filing deadline)
KSchG §4Three-week deadline within which an employee must file a Kündigungsschutzklage. Missing it makes the termination effective regardless of substantive defects.
Where it appears: G4 — Procedural timing
KSchG §1 (general dismissal protection)
KSchG §1Once the act applies, an ordinary termination is socially unjustified unless grounded in conduct, person, or operational reasons.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground
KSchG §4 (three-week filing deadline)
KSchG §4Drei-Wochen-Frist. An employee must bring the Kündigungsschutzklage within three weeks of receiving the notice or it stands.
Where it appears: G4 — Procedural timing
KSchG §9 (Auflösungsantrag)
KSchG §9Court-ordered dissolution of the employment relationship against severance where continued cooperation is not reasonable for the parties.
Where it appears: G7 — Cost & remedy modelling
KSchG §17 (mass dismissal notification)
KSchG §17Massenentlassungsanzeige — certain volumes of dismissals must be notified to the Agentur für Arbeit before any notice is issued. Failure makes the notices void.
Where it appears: G4 — Procedural completeness
MuSchG §17 (maternity protection against termination)
MuSchG §17Special protection for pregnant employees and those after childbirth. Termination is in principle prohibited and subject to prior authority consent.
Where it appears: G0 — Special protection screen
NachwG (Documentation Act)
NachweisgesetzRequires the employer to document the essential terms of employment in writing and provide them to the employee.
Where it appears: G1 — Evidence admissibility
Ordentliche Kündigung (ordinary termination)
§622 BGBTermination observing the statutory or contractual notice period. The default form of termination outside §626 BGB cases.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground
Personalakte (personnel file)
PersonalakteThe personnel file documenting the employment relationship. Employees have rights to inspect it and to have inaccurate entries removed.
Where it appears: HR view · G1 — Evidence admissibility
Personenbedingte Kündigung (person-based termination)
KSchG §1(2)Termination grounded in the employee's personal capability, typically long-term illness or loss of qualification, subject to a negative-prognosis test.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground
SGB IX §168 (severely disabled employee protection)
SGB IX §168Prior consent of the Integrationsamt is required before terminating a severely disabled employee. Absent consent, the notice is void.
Where it appears: G0 — Special protection screen
Sozialauswahl (social selection)
KSchG §1(3)In operational dismissals, the employer must compare comparable employees on social criteria — tenure, age, dependents, severe disability — and select the least socially burdened.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground · Attack Catalog
Verdachtskündigung (suspicion-based termination)
Verdachtskündigung doctrineTermination grounded in a strong, fact-based suspicion of a serious breach. Requires the employee's prior hearing on the suspicion.
Where it appears: G3 — Substantive ground · Attack Catalog
Verhaltensbedingte Kündigung (conduct-based termination)
KSchG §1(2)Termination grounded in a culpable breach of the employee's contractual duties. Generally requires a prior Abmahnung for comparable conduct.
Where it appears: G2 — Conduct & warning chain
Verhältnismäßigkeit / Ultima Ratio (proportionality / last-resort)
Verhältnismäßigkeit doctrineTermination is only justified where no milder, equally effective measure — warning, transfer, change-notice — is available. Termination is the last resort, not the first option.
Where it appears: G6 — Defensibility synthesis
Wiedereinstellungsanspruch (reinstatement claim)
Wiedereinstellungsanspruch doctrineRight to be re-engaged where the ground for an operational dismissal falls away before the notice period expires.
Where it appears: G7 — Cost & remedy modelling
§203 StGB (professional secrecy)
§203 StGBCriminal-law professional-secrecy provision protecting confidential information entrusted to certain professionals. Relevant for in-house counsel handling personnel data.
Where it appears: In-house counsel view · Security