Dismissal Without a Reason: When It Is Invalid

Your employer has dismissed you without giving a reason? Whether that is lawful comes down to just a few factors — and you have only three weeks to challenge it.

You have the dismissal letter in your hand, but not a word about why. Perhaps it simply says “ordinary dismissal, effective the end of the month”; perhaps you were told verbally that it “just isn’t working out any more”. Now you are wondering: is my employer even allowed to do this? The answer is uncomfortably specific. It comes down to two things: the size of your employer’s operation and how long you have been employed. I will show you how to make a rough assessment yourself. And I will tell you what to do now.

In brief

Whether a dismissal without any stated reason is valid depends above all on two things: the size of the operation and your length of service. If the Protection Against Dismissal Act (Kündigungsschutzgesetz, KSchG) applies to you, your employer needs a recognised reason. Otherwise, it does not. But even outside the KSchG a dismissal can be invalid — for instance because of formal defects, a missing works council consultation, or because you enjoy special protection. In every case a strict time limit applies: you must bring a claim within three weeks of receiving the dismissal. Otherwise it is treated as valid, even if in truth it was not.

How I can help

• Within the running time limit, I check whether the KSchG applies to you and whether the dismissal holds up both formally and on the merits
• I bring an unfair dismissal claim before the competent labour court within the deadline
• I negotiate a severance payment with your employer where continued employment is no longer wanted
• I check for special protection against dismissal (pregnancy, parental leave, severe disability, works council office) and assert it
• I clarify whether your legal expenses insurance will cover the costs

Does the Protection Against Dismissal Act apply to you?

The KSchG applies only where two conditions are met at the same time:

1. Size of the operation. What matters is when your employment began:

• For employment relationships that began after 31 December 2003, the KSchG applies only on one condition: the operation must, as a rule, employ more than ten employees.
• For older employment relationships (beginning before 1 January 2004), more than five employees are already enough. These legacy cases may therefore enjoy protection even though the operation is small.

When counting, part-time staff are taken into account proportionately: those working up to 20 hours a week count as 0.5, those working up to 30 hours as 0.75, and those working more than 30 hours count in full. Apprentices generally do not count.

2. Qualifying period. Your employment relationship must have existed without interruption in the same operation or business for longer than six months. During the first six months — the so-called qualifying period — your employer can, as a rule, dismiss you without giving any reason, even in a large operation.

If both conditions are met, your employer needs a socially justified reason for an ordinary dismissal — related to your person, your conduct, or operational requirements. If that reason is absent, or cannot be proven in unfair dismissal proceedings, the dismissal is invalid.

Invalid even without the Protection Against Dismissal Act

If the KSchG does not apply — for example in a small operation or during the qualifying period — your employer is still not entirely free. A dismissal can be invalid for other reasons:

• Formal defects: A dismissal must be in writing and personally signed by hand; a dismissal by email, text message or WhatsApp is invalid.
• Missing works council consultation: If there is a works council in your operation, it must be consulted before every dismissal. If that does not happen, the dismissal is invalid. This applies regardless of whether the KSchG would otherwise apply.
• Immorality or breach of good faith: A dismissal may be arbitrary, discriminatory, or motivated by extraneous or vindictive considerations. In that case it is invalid as contrary to public policy or good faith.
• Prohibition on victimisation: Your employer may not disadvantage you because you have exercised your rights in a permissible way. This applies, for example, where you have demanded overdue overtime, filed a complaint, or exercised a statutory right.
• Discrimination: Dismissals tied to characteristics such as sex, age, disability, religion or origin may be challengeable under the General Equal Treatment Act.
• Special protection against dismissal: Pregnant women, people on parental leave, severely disabled people and works council members enjoy their own, usually very strict, protection against dismissal. As a rule it requires prior official approval or special preconditions.

These grounds apply irrespective of whether you fall under the KSchG. That is why a review is worthwhile even if you work in a small operation or are still within the qualifying period.

The three-week deadline: your most important date

This is the point at which most claims are lost. Anyone who wants to challenge a dismissal must bring a claim before the labour court within three weeks of receiving the written dismissal. This deadline applies to practically every ground of invalidity — whether you rely on a lack of social justification, a formal defect, a missing works council consultation, or special protection against dismissal. If you miss the deadline, the dismissal is treated as valid from the outset. That is so even where, on the substance, it was not.

The correct remedy is the unfair dismissal claim (Kündigungsschutzklage), not a so-called “rescission” — that term has a different meaning in dismissal law and is not relevant here. The claim seeks a declaration that the employment relationship was not ended by the dismissal.

Important: the deadline runs from receipt of the dismissal, not from the date on which the employment relationship is due to end. So count from the day on which the dismissal letter actually reached you. Where it is handed over by messenger or put through the letterbox, receipt is enough; you do not have to have actually read it.

Special case: summary dismissal

If you are dismissed without notice, additional requirements apply that are considerably stricter for the employer. A summary dismissal is valid only where there is a compelling reason. It must, weighing up all the circumstances, make it unreasonable for the employer to continue the employment relationship until the ordinary notice period expires. In addition, the employer must give notice within two weeks of learning of the relevant facts. If the employer waits longer, the summary dismissal is invalid on that ground alone. On request, the employer must state the reason for dismissal in writing without undue delay. Here too the three-week time limit for bringing a claim runs in parallel.

A typical case from practice

My client has been employed for four years in an operation with around 15 staff and receives a written dismissal, given with proper notice, without any reason at all. The employer refers verbally only to “economic reasons”. The review shows: the KSchG applies. The operation is above the ten-person threshold, and the qualifying period passed long ago. In the proceedings the employer must set out and prove a specific operational reason — such as the disappearance of the role and a defensible social selection. As he cannot do so, the case usually ends with a severance payment as part of a court settlement. Actual reinstatement rarely comes into it — and that is often in both sides’ interests.

Common mistakes

• Letting the three-week deadline slip past because you wanted to “wait calmly” first, or to negotiate with the employer before anything else — once the deadline has passed, there is usually nothing left to salvage in law.
• Signing a termination agreement or settlement agreement too hastily, without having had the legal position checked. In doing so you often give up rights you would otherwise have had.
• Assuming that in a small operation “anything goes anyway” — formal defects, a missing consultation, or special protection against dismissal can lead to invalidity there too.
• Receiving the dismissal only verbally and treating it as binding — without the required written form it is invalid, but that has to be established by the court.
• Mixing up unemployment benefit questions with protection against dismissal — register as seeking work in good time, independently of the outcome of any claim, so as not to risk a benefit suspension period.

Frequently asked questions

Does my employer have to state the reason for dismissal in the dismissal letter?

For an ordinary dismissal, generally no. If you bring a claim, the reason usually only has to be set out and proven in the unfair dismissal proceedings. There is an exception for summary dismissal: there, the employer must state the reason in writing without undue delay on request. Apprentices are subject to their own, stricter obligations to give reasons.

What counts towards the size of the operation if I work in a branch?

As a rule, what matters is not the individual branch but the operation in the employment-law sense. It can also comprise several locations, and in some circumstances even the entire business. In the individual case this is often not obvious and is worth examining closely. Whether the Protection Against Dismissal Act applies at all depends on it.

Can I still do something after the three-week deadline has passed?

In very narrow exceptional cases the claim may be admitted subsequently — for example where, despite all due care, you were prevented from bringing the claim in time. That is the exception, not the rule — do not rely on it; act within the deadline instead.

Do I automatically get a severance payment if the dismissal is invalid?

No. As a rule there is no statutory entitlement to a severance payment when an unfair dismissal claim succeeds — the court initially only establishes that the employment relationship continues. In practice, however, a large proportion of these proceedings still end with a severance payment. Both sides often no longer wish to continue working together and reach a settlement.

What if I am still in my probationary period?

During the first six months of an employment relationship, general protection against dismissal under the KSchG does not yet apply, regardless of any probationary period agreed in the contract. Formal defects, special protection against dismissal, and the three-week deadline for bringing a claim, however, apply here too.

Your next step

A dismissal without reasons is not automatically invalid — but nor is it automatically lawful. Whether it holds up depends on the detail. You should clarify that detail in the first few days after receiving it, because you have only three weeks to act. Do not wait until the operation gets in touch or the notice period draws nearer. Bring me the dismissal. In an initial consultation I check whether the Protection Against Dismissal Act applies and whether there are any formal or substantive defects. I then discuss with you whether, and how, an unfair dismissal claim makes sense. You can find out more about my work in employment law at /en/topics/employment-law.

This article provides general information and is no substitute for legal advice in an individual case. Last updated: 2026-08-23.

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