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Employment law · Settlement agreement

Offered a settlement agreement?Check it before you sign

What is customarily paid, you will see here in ten seconds — without giving any personal details.

Write to me in English — I will answer in English. The agreement itself and any proceedings are governed by German law; I take care of that.

1 Your figures
2 Your enquiry

The confirmation and my assessment are sent to you by email, so I need the address. A phone number only if you would rather I called.

If the dismissal letter is at hand, you can send it along right away. Everything else can follow later.

    What affects your negotiating positionOptional — the more of this is settled, the more precise my assessment.

    Your employment and the business

    Special circumstances — any one of these can change everything

    Your address — only so the power of attorney reaches you complete

    What it costs

    This initial consultation costs you nothing. Costs arise only once you instruct me. Fees then follow the value in dispute. What that means in your case is worked out by the costs calculator.

    Employment matters I charge according to the statutory fee schedule (RVG), not by the hour. This makes costs calculable in advance and makes it easier to obtain cover from your legal expenses insurer.

    One peculiarity of German employment law you should know beforehand: at first instance each side bears its own legal costs, even the winner (§ 12a para. 1 ArbGG). That is precisely why it is worth checking your legal expenses insurance — I will handle the coverage enquiry.

    Prefer to call? 08091 617 7777

    Only this click transmits your details and documents.

    Christian Czirnich, attorney at law, at his practice in Kirchseeon

    Christian Czirnich, attorney at law (Rechtsanwalt)

    Admitted since 1994, Munich Bar Association

    Focus of practice: protection against dismissal and employment law

    The initial consultation is free. Costs arise only once you instruct me.

    More about me

    I have been admitted as a German attorney since 1994 and run my practice in Kirchseeon near Munich, with a branch office in Haag an der Amper. Employment law, and within it above all representing employees, has made up the largest part of my work for years.

    You are dealing with one person, not with a team that changes. I read your enquiry myself and I come back to you myself. What you write to me is covered by attorney confidentiality from the first word, even if no engagement follows.

    Do call me.
    08091 617 7777

    What else counts in a settlement agreement

    1. Unemployment benefit. Signing a settlement agreement means taking part in ending your employment. The employment agency then usually imposes a suspension period of twelve weeks (§ 159 SGB III). If the employment ends earlier than ordinary notice would have ended it, the claim is additionally suspended (§ 158 SGB III). Both can often be avoided or softened by how the agreement is drafted — but only before you sign.
    2. Job reference. The grade and the closing formula belong in the agreement, not in a later negotiation.
    3. Garden leave and holiday. Whether the leave counts against your holiday entitlement or not decides money. If it is not in the agreement, it is disputed.
    4. Non-compete and confidentiality. Clauses that keep binding you after you sign are easily missed on a first read.

    Which of these are in your agreement, I will look at before you sign.

    If it is urgent: 08091 617 7777 —Appointments at the office: Mon–Thu 9–12 and 14–17, Fri 9–12. I also read enquiries submitted through this form in the evenings and at weekends.

    • Christian Czirnich
      Admitted since 1994 as a German attorney at law
    • You deal with me directly — no case handlers
    • Costs settled in advance, insurance coverage enquiry handled by me

    What happens next

    1. You submit. You will immediately receive confirmation that your enquiry has arrived. This does not yet create a lawyer-client relationship.
    2. I first check that I do not already represent the other side. Professional conduct rules require this, and it cannot be automated — which is why the form asks for your employer’s name.
    3. I will get back to you within 24 hours on working days, and as a priority if a deadline to accept is running. If I can take the case, you will receive an initial assessment and my offer: power of attorney, instruction, notice of your right of withdrawal, and my terms of engagement. If I cannot take it, I will tell you just as quickly — but without any comment on your case, as that would require an engagement.
    4. You sign and return. Only then am I instructed and able to act for you. As a consumer you then have a 14-day right of withdrawal; the offer will explain this in full.
    5. Review and negotiation. I go through the agreement, name the points that cost money or a suspension period, and negotiate them with your employer. You sign only afterwards.

    Frequently asked questions

    Do I have to sign a settlement agreement?
    No. A settlement agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag) only comes about if both sides enter into it — nobody can be forced. If you do not sign, your employment continues. An employer who wants it to end must give notice, and against a dismissal you can bring an unfair dismissal claim (§ 4 KSchG, the German Protection Against Dismissal Act). That is precisely why the negotiating position before signing is often better than it feels.
    Will I face a benefit suspension period?
    As a rule, yes. Anyone who takes part in ending their own employment is treated as having acted contrary to the insurance scheme; the employment agency then regularly imposes a suspension period (Sperrzeit) of twelve weeks (§ 159 para. 1 SGB III, German Social Code Book III). An important reason can remove it. If the employment ends earlier than ordinary notice could have ended it, the claim is additionally suspended (§ 158 SGB III). Both depend on how the agreement is drafted — and can only be influenced before you sign.
    How much severance is customary?
    There is no standard amount, and as a rule no entitlement either. As a negotiating benchmark, the common rule of thumb is half a gross monthly salary per year of service; the statute picks this up for one special case in § 1a para. 2 KSchG and there rounds a period of more than six months up to a full year. The calculator on this page gives you that order of magnitude. What is actually negotiable depends above all on how robust a dismissal would be if one were issued instead of the agreement.
    Can I withdraw from a settlement agreement I have signed?
    There is no general right of withdrawal; consumer withdrawal rights under distance selling law do not apply to an agreement concluded at the workplace. What may come into play is rescission for unlawful duress or fraudulent misrepresentation (§ 123 BGB, the German Civil Code) and the requirement of fair negotiation developed by the Federal Labour Court — for instance where someone was taken by surprise or given no time to think. Both are exceptions, not a return ticket. The safe route is to have it checked beforehand.
    How long may I take to think about it?
    There is no statutory period for reflection. If your employer sets a deadline, that deadline binds the employer to the offer; once it expires, the offer lapses (§§ 145, 146 BGB). The pressure to sign “today” is therefore a negotiating position, not a legal consequence. If a deadline has been set for you, say so in the form — I will then deal with your enquiry as a priority.
    How does this differ from a winding-up agreement?
    A settlement agreement ends the employment itself. A winding-up agreement (Abwicklungsvertrag) presupposes that notice has already been given and only governs the consequences — severance, reference, garden leave — in return for giving up the claim. For the benefit suspension period this makes no reliable difference: taking part in the winding-up can likewise be treated as conduct contrary to the insurance scheme.
    What besides severance belongs in the agreement?
    The grade and closing formula of your job reference, whether a period of garden leave counts against your holiday entitlement or not, the return of company car and equipment, any post-contractual non-compete clause together with the compensation payable for it, and the reach of the final settlement clause at the end. Whatever is not in there is hard to enforce afterwards — in case of doubt the settlement clause also disposes of everything nobody thought about at the meeting.

    Where to find me

    Practice at Hubertusstr. 8a, 85614 Kirchseeon(district of Eglharting) — a few minutes from Eglharting S-Bahn station, parking in front of the building. Directions and map

    If it is urgent, calling is the fastest way: 08091 617 7777, Appointments at the office: Mon–Thu 9–12 and 14–17, Fri 9–12. I also read enquiries submitted through this form in the evenings and at weekends.

    Have you received a dismissal instead? Then a three-week deadline is running — calculate it here.