German notice period by § 622 BGB and the exact last day of your job
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 18 Oct 2026.In Germany an employee gives four weeks' notice to the 15th or the end of a month under § 622 BGB. An employer needs 1 month after 2 years of service, rising to 7 months after 20 years. A notice from the employer arriving on 20 October 2026 after 7 years ends the job on 31 December 2026.
2026 · Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 18 Oct 2026); they may have changed since.
Choose who gives notice: the employer or you.
Enter the day the job started and the day the written notice arrives.
If a probation period was agreed, enter its months.
Read the last day of the job, the notice length and the latest day notice may arrive for that date.
This calculator finds the last day of a job in Germany from the legal notice periods of § 622 of the Civil Code (BGB). Enter who gives notice, when the job started and the day the written notice arrives.
The basic rule. Either side may end the job with four weeks' notice to the 15th or to the end of a calendar month. For the employee that is the rule for the whole job, unless a contract or collective agreement sets something else.
Longer periods for the employer. After the job has lasted 2 years the employer must give 1 month to the end of a month; after 5 years 2 months; after 8 years 3; after 10 years 4; after 12 years 5; after 15 years 6; and after 20 years 7 months. The length of service is counted up to the day the notice arrives, so the page also shows when the next step starts.
Probation. During an agreed probation of at most six months, two weeks' notice applies, to any day.
Counting the days (§§ 187, 188 BGB). The day the notice arrives does not count. Four weeks end on the same weekday four weeks later; months end on the same date, or on the last day of a shorter month. The last day of the job is then the first 15th or month end, or for the employer's periods the first month end, on or after that day. The page also gives the latest day a notice may arrive and still end the job on the same date.
Form. A notice must be in written form; the electronic form is excluded (§ 623 BGB). It takes effect when it reaches the other side. Contracts and collective agreements can set longer periods, and collective agreements shorter ones; this page shows the legal minimum.
After the job ends, the Germany Arbeitslosengeld Calculator estimates unemployment benefit, and the Germany Abfindung Calculator the tax on a severance.
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Under § 622 (1) BGB an employee gives four weeks' notice to the 15th or to the end of a calendar month, however long the job has lasted. A contract or collective agreement may set a longer period, but the employee's period may never be longer than the employer's.
Under § 622 (2) BGB the employer needs 1 month to the end of a month after 2 years of service, 2 months after 5, 3 after 8, 4 after 10, 5 after 12, 6 after 15 and 7 months after 20 years. Below 2 years the basic four weeks apply.
During an agreed probation of at most six months, either side can end the job with two weeks' notice to any day under § 622 (3) BGB. The two weeks are counted from the day after the notice arrives, and the probation itself may not be agreed for longer than six months.
A notice period starts the day after the written notice reaches the other side; the day of arrival itself does not count (§ 187 BGB). Four weeks then end on the same weekday four weeks later, and a period of months ends on the same date in the last month.
With four weeks to the month end, notice must arrive four weeks before the last day, for example by 2 November to end on 30 November 2026. With the employer's monthly periods it must arrive by the last day of the month that lies that many months earlier.
No. Section 623 BGB requires the written form for ending a job by notice or by agreement and excludes the electronic form, so an e-mail, text message or scanned letter does not end the job. A signed paper letter that reaches the other side does.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
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