Termination of employment during the trial period
During the trial period, the employee or the employer can terminate the employment relationship without a period of notice. Termination of employment during the trial period may not be discriminatory or inappropriate.

Updated 19.11.2021

Termination of employment
If your employer terminates your employment
When the employer terminates an employee’s employment relationship, it indicates that the employee’s work ends completely. In other words, the employer terminates the employment contract entered into by the employee and the employer. The employer may terminate an indefinite or continuous employment contract, but not a fixed-term employment contract.
The employer can only terminate an employee’s employment, if it has a valid and cogent reason. The employer must always explain the reason for the dismissal to the employee.
The reason for a dismissal may be
The reason for a dismissal cannot be the employee’s
You can ask the employer to notify you in writing of the employment contract’s end date and the reasons for the termination. The employer must then provide them to you as soon as possible.
If the employer has given you a notice of termination, your work will not end immediately, but continues still for the period of notice. If you have been dismissed for productional or economic reasons, that is, because the company’s products and services are not sufficiently purchased or its financial situation is poor, you are entitled to paid free time for job searching or preparing an employment plan. The free time is 5-20 days, depending on the length of the notice period. Notify the employer of the free time as soon as you can.
If you have worked for the same employer for at least 5 years and the employer has at least 30 employees, you are entitled to employment-promoting training and occupational health service paid by the employer for 6 months from the beginning of the unemployment.
Do not sign any papers regarding your dismissal that you do not understand.
If you do not agree with your employer regarding the dismissal, please contact the shop steward of your workplace or your trade union. You can also contact SAK employee rights hotline.
Readmission obligation
If the employer has dismissed you for financial or productional reasons (i.e. the company’s products and services have not been sufficiently purchased or the company has had a bad financial situation), he may be obligated to offer you a job later. This so-called readmission obligation is valid for 4 months after the termination of the employment, if the employer needs an employee for the same or similar duties as those the employee did before the dismissal. If the employee’s employment has continued without interruption for at least 12 years until the dismissal, the readmission obligation lasts for 6 months after the termination of the employment.
If you want to terminate your employment
The employee can terminate the employment relationship by notifying the employer.
If you want to terminate your permanent employment relationship, you must terminate your indefinite or continuous employment contract. Take a written notice of termination to your employer personally. If this is not possible, submit the termination to your employer by letter or electronic means.
You do not have to explain the reason for your resignation.
Once you have been resigned, you cannot stop work immediately. Instead, the work will continue during the period of notice.
Periods of notice
The notice period starts after the employee or employer has terminated the employment contract. The law stipulates how long the notice period is. In some situations, periods of notice can also be agreed upon in a collective agreement or an employment contract.
Your employment will only end after the period of notice. During the period of notice, you work normally and receive a regular salary for that time.
Statutory notice periods
When the employer dismisses the employee, the notice period is
When the employee terminates the employment contract, the notice period is
Termination of fixed-term employment
A fixed-term employment relationship ends on the day that reads in your employment contract. A fixed-term employment contract cannot be terminated unless agreed upon in the employment contract. Thus, you cannot stop working when the employment contract is in progress. The employer cannot dismiss you, either, when the employment contract in progress.
Even if no termination of a fixed-term employment contract had been agreed upon in the employment contract, you can still try to agree on the termination of the employment relationship with your employer before the fixed-term contract ends.
Cancellation of an employment contract
Cancellation of an employment contract means that the employment contract is terminated immediately. Then there is no notice period. During the trial period, the employment contract can be cancelled immediately. Otherwise, the employment contract can only be cancelled if there is a very strong reason.
The employer may have a strong reason to cancel the employment contract if the employee fails to fulfil his obligations or breaches the rules seriously, for example, if the employee steals from the workplace or comes to work drunk.
The employee may have a strong reason to cancel the employment contract if the employer fails to fulfil his obligations or breaches the rules seriously, for example, if the employer does not pay the salary or does not take care of occupational safety.

Cookie settings

Essential cookies

These cookies are necessary for the technical operation of our website and cannot be switched off. Functional cookies are critical for such abilities as browsing and using the features of our website.

Analytics

These cookies only collect anonymous information about how our website is used. Analytics cookies help us to measure and analyse how our website is working. For example, we use these cookies to determine which website content is popular, and to ensure that visitors find content that is relevant to them. The information collected is statistical data and cannot be used to identify individuals. You may nevertheless opt out of these cookies at any time.

Targeting and advertising cookies

We may use these cookies for such purposes as enhancing the relevance and interest of the advertising that you view. Cookies may also help to make the content of our website more interesting to you. Information gathering is based on the unique identifiers of your browser or device. You may opt out of these cookies at any time.