How AbfindungsHero helps dismissed expats get fair severance pay

Losing your job is always challenging. A termination can come out of the blue and seriously throw you off track. This is especially the case for expats, who are facing an unfamiliar legal system, the challenge of finding good legal advice, and documents in a technical and unfamiliar language. 

Unfortunately, the state of the economy has led to a rising number of dismissals in Germany. If you have lost (or are facing the prospect of losing) your job, the legal-tech startup AbfindungsHero can help you. AbfindungsHero has a network of expert, English-speaking lawyers who specialise in German labour law. On their website abfindungshero.de, you can find a lot of helpful content on employment issues.

Get a free initial consultation with one of AbfindungsHero's partner lawyers

Your rights as an employee in Germany

Germany tends to be among the more employee-friendly countries around the world, especially when it comes to firing employees. In principle, every dismissal in Germany requires a reason for termination. There are therefore very strict requirements for a valid termination, and strict timelines that both employer and employee must adhere to. 

As an employee facing a dismissal, it’s good to know that you can challenge your termination as an “unfair dismissal” in court. In Germany, this type of lawsuit is a perfectly normal move, fast and efficient, and not considered “aggressive”. 

Here are the most important facts you should be aware of: 

• After being dismissed you have three weeks to take legal action against the dismissal. Many dismissals will be considered “unfair” in court. 
• While the “official” objective of your legal action would be to get your job back, both parties usually settle for severance pay.
• The severance amount depends on your gross salary and your tenure. Although there is no “statutory” severance pay in Germany, you can - as a rule of thumb -  multiply your gross salary by the number of years the company has employed you, and apply a factor of between 0,5 and 1,5. To get an idea of what you could be entitled to, you can use Abfindungshero's free severance pay calculator.

Check your severance pay entitlement

How does AbfindungsHero help?

Many expats in Germany are not fully aware of their rights as an employee, especially when it comes to cases of (un)fair dismissal. On the AbfindungsHero website you can find a lot of information about how to deal with dismissals in Germany. They have created an online library on legal employment questions, along with calculators and other online tools to support expats facing disputes with their employers.

Among others, you can find information on the following topics: 

• Severance pay
• Terminations
• Termination agreements
• Warning letters
• Job references

Additionally, AbfindungsHero helps expats to find a lawyer in Germany. Abfindungshero has a pool of experienced, English-speaking labour lawyers. They can help you arrange a free initial consultation with a lawyer, regardless of whether you have legal protection insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung).

Partner lawyers with nationwide coverage especially for expats

Whether you are in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich or Cologne. The AbfindungsHero experts provide advice nationwide throughout Germany, digitally, quickly and easily. After making an enquiry, you can expect to get a response from a lawyer within one to two hours at the latest. Typically, they can answer a lot of questions right away. 

During your free initial consultation, you and your lawyer can also discuss: 

• If your case has legal grounds, and what you can do
• The likelihood of you receiving severance pay or an increase of an existing offer (if any)
• Any issues from an unfair dismissal related to compensation benefits (Entgeltersatzleistungen) your residential status (e.g., Blue Card), and so on 

There might be money in that free consultation for you - or at least the assurance that you can accept an existing offer from your employer without leaving “lots of money on the table”. Start your free initial consultation now.