Probation Period in Germany: Your Rights During the Probezeit

1. Why the First Six Months Feel Different

Roughly 80% of new hires in Germany start with a probation period, according to the Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB). It is standard practice, not a red flag aimed at you.

For a German colleague, the Probezeit means one thing: a shorter notice period for a few months. For you as an expat, it means two clocks running at once. One is your job. The other is your residence permit, which usually depends on that job staying alive. Lose the first and you can put the second at risk.

That double exposure is the real story of the Probezeit, and it is why this guide spends as much time on your visa as on your contract. The good news: German labor law hands you concrete rights from your first hour of work. You just need to know which ones survive the probation period and which ones do not.

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2. What the Probezeit Actually Is

A probation period in Germany runs for a maximum of six months. During that window, §622(3) of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) shortens the notice period for both sides to two weeks.

Two details trip people up:

• The two-week notice is taggenau (to the exact day). Outside probation, German notice usually runs to the 15th or the end of a calendar month. Inside probation, it does not. Two weeks means fourteen calendar days from the day the written notice reaches you, ending on any weekday.
• The clause has to be in your contract. A probation period does not exist by default. Your Arbeitsvertrag must name it. If your contract says nothing about a Probezeit, the normal statutory notice periods apply from day one.

Employers cannot stack a probation period longer than six months. They can agree a shorter one, three months is common, or skip it. What they cannot do is use "probation" as a label to keep the two-week notice running into month seven.

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3. Probezeit Is Not the Same as Wartezeit

This is the single most useful thing in this guide, and almost every expat gets it wrong.

The Probezeit controls your notice period. A separate rule, the Wartezeit under §1 of the Kündigungsschutzgesetz (KSchG), controls your protection against dismissal. They both last up to six months, so people assume they are the same clock. They are not.

| | Probezeit (§622(3) BGB) | Wartezeit (§1 KSchG) | |---|---|---| | What it governs | Length of notice | Whether you have dismissal protection | | Duration | Up to 6 months (as agreed in contract) | Always the first 6 months of employment | | Depends on your contract? | Yes, must be written in | No, it is fixed by law | | Can the employer shorten it? | Yes | No |

Here is the trap. Say your employer agrees a generous three-month Probezeit. After month three, your notice period gets longer, good. But the Wartezeit still runs to month six. Between month three and month six, your employer can still dismiss you without giving a business, personal, or conduct reason, because full dismissal protection has not kicked in yet. A shorter Probezeit lengthens your notice; it does nothing for your dismissal protection.

Full protection under the KSchG also only applies in businesses with more than ten full-time-equivalent employees (§23 KSchG). In a five-person startup, the KSchG never applies, no matter how long you stay. You still keep the baseline protections in the next section.

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4. Getting Dismissed During Probation

Inside the Wartezeit, your employer does not need to justify a dismissal. That sounds brutal, and it is the point of the period. But the dismissal still has to follow strict rules, and several of them work in your favor.

• It must be in writing. §623 BGB requires a signed paper document. An email, a WhatsApp message, or a verbal "this isn't working out" is legally void. Electronic form is expressly excluded. Until you hold a signed letter, you have not been dismissed.
• The two-week notice applies if you are inside the Probezeit. The clock starts when the written notice physically reaches you (Zugang), not when your manager mentions it in a meeting.
• No reason is required, but forbidden reasons are still forbidden. A dismissal that punishes you for taking legal sick leave, or that discriminates based on origin, gender, religion, age, disability, or sexual orientation (protected under the Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz, AGG), is challengeable even during probation.

If you receive a written dismissal and you believe it was discriminatory or retaliatory, you have three weeks from receipt to file a claim (Kündigungsschutzklage) at the labor court (Arbeitsgericht). Miss that deadline and the dismissal becomes final, even if it was unlawful.

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5. The Rights You Hold From Day One

The Probezeit strips away almost nothing. These protections apply from your first day, veteran or newcomer.

• Pregnancy protection. Under §17 of the Mutterschutzgesetz (MuSchG), an employer cannot dismiss a pregnant employee from the start of the pregnancy until four months after birth, including during probation, as long as the employer knew about the pregnancy or you inform them within two weeks of receiving the dismissal. This overrides the two-week probation notice completely.
• Anti-discrimination. The AGG covers you from the interview stage onward. Probation gives no exemption.
• A written work reference. §109 of the Gewerbeordnung (GewO) gives you the right to an Arbeitszeugnis when you leave, even after a two-month stint. Always request the qualified version (qualifiziertes Zeugnis) that assesses your performance, not just the bare confirmation that you worked there.
• Pro-rata vacation. Under §5 of the Bundesurlaubsgesetz (BUrlG), you earn one twelfth of your annual leave for every full month worked during the first six months. Leave a job after four months and you are owed roughly a third of the annual allowance, paid out if unused.

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6. Getting Sick During Probation

Falling ill in your first weeks is the classic expat panic. The rules are calmer than the fear.

Your employer only owes you continued full pay (Entgeltfortzahlung) after four weeks (28 days) of continuous employment, under §3(3) of the Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz (EFZG). Get sick on day ten and your employer pays nothing for that illness.

You are not left with zero income. If you are in statutory health insurance (GKV), your Krankenkasse pays Krankengeld (sick pay) from the first day of a documented illness during those first four weeks. It runs to 70% of your gross salary, capped at 90% of your net. After the four-week mark, your employer takes over with full pay for up to six weeks.

The dismissal myth needs killing too. Yes, your employer can dismiss you during probation. No, a documented flu is not a smart reason to do it, and firing you specifically for taking lawful sick leave is a Maßregelung (retaliation) you can challenge. Powering through and infecting the team annoys managers far more than a clean two-day recovery.

For the full mechanics of the eAU digital sick note, the six-week rule, and Krankengeld, read our sick leave in Germany guide.

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7. The Expat Layer: Your Visa and Your Benefits

This is the section your German colleagues will never read, and it is where probation gets genuinely high-stakes.

Losing your job puts your residence permit in play

If you hold a residence permit tied to skilled work, an EU Blue Card under §18g AufenthG or a skilled-worker permit under §18a or §18b AufenthG, that permit exists because you have a qualifying job. Lose the job during probation and the legal basis wobbles.

Two duties follow immediately:

1. Tell the Ausländerbehörde within two weeks. §82(6) AufenthG obliges you to report the premature end of the job your permit was issued for, within two weeks of learning about it. This is a hard deadline, not a suggestion. Do it in writing.
2. Find a new qualifying job inside the grace period. Losing the job does not make your permit expire automatically. The immigration office can grant time to find a new qualifying position rather than revoke the permit, and how long is decided case by case. So confirm your own window with your local office in writing rather than relying on a number from a forum. Do not treat any figure you read online as a hard cliff.

The safe move: the day you know your job is ending, contact your Ausländerbehörde, ask in writing how long you have to find a new role, and start applying. Silence is the mistake that turns a job loss into a residence problem.

Register as job-seeking immediately

Regardless of ALG I eligibility, register as job-seeking (arbeitsuchend melden) with the Agentur für Arbeit as soon as you learn your job is ending, and at the latest within three days of the termination taking effect (§38 SGB III). Registering late can trigger a benefit reduction if you do eventually qualify.

Negotiate the Probezeit, not just the salary

Here is a lever most expats never pull. When you get the offer, ask for a shorter probation period. A three-month Probezeit instead of six halves the window in which you can be dismissed on two weeks' notice, and it shortens the period of visa exposure. For a relocating expat, that security is often worth more than another few hundred euros a month.

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8. Special Cases Worth Knowing

• Vocational training (Ausbildung). §20 of the Berufsbildungsgesetz (BBiG) sets a probation period of between one and four months. During it, both the trainee and the training company can end the contract with immediate effect and no notice.
• Working students (Werkstudenten). Same probation rules as any other employee. The six-week continued-pay right and pro-rata vacation apply to you too.
• Fixed-term contracts (Befristung). A fixed-term contract can still include a probation period. But watch §15(4) of the Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz (TzBfG): in a fixed-term contract, ordinary termination during the term is only possible if the contract explicitly allows it. Check that your Probezeit clause actually gives either side the right to give notice, otherwise the fixed term may lock you in until it ends.

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9. Before You Sign: The Probezeit Checklist

• Find the Probezeit clause and read the exact length. Six months is the legal maximum; a shorter one favors you.
• Confirm the notice period during probation. Two weeks taggenau is standard under §622(3) BGB.
• Check whether the company has more than ten employees. Below that, the KSchG never protects you.
• For a fixed-term contract, confirm the clause allows notice during the term (§15(4) TzBfG).
• Map your visa: which permit are you on, and what happens to it if the job ends in month four?
• If your permit is job-tied, save your Ausländerbehörde contact and know your notification duty before you start.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)