Writing notice of termination: How do I terminate my employment contract?

Created: 02/24/2022Updated: 02/24/2022 11:26 am

By: Andrea Stettner

When you cancel, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

© Patrick Pleul / dpa

Do you want to resign from your employer?

In the letter of termination you must observe a few rules - otherwise, in the worst case, the termination could be ineffective.

The boss is mean, the colleagues only gossip - and the tasks more than boring?

There are many reasons for termination*.

But if you want to change your employer, you can't avoid a letter of resignation.

But how do I write a notice of termination so that it is valid? 

Also read:

Termination of employment contract: It must contain these components

In order to avoid formal errors, certain

must be  observed when terminating the employment contract.

Otherwise you risk that your termination will be invalid and you will not be able to leave your old employer in time. 

1. Labor law always requires the

for termination (§623 BGB).

An e-mail or a fax is not enough. 

2. A notice of termination must always be

(not scanned).

To avoid

, these things should also be included in a notice to the employer: 

• Full address of employee and employer

• if applicable, personnel number

• current date in order to prove compliance with the notice period in case of doubt

• The subject should contain the word "Termination" to be legally binding

• Salutation: "Dear Sir or Madam" or addressed to the boss / HR manager personally

• Notice period ("I hereby give notice of termination as of [date].")

• handwritten signature (not scanned)

Employment lawyers recommend

and avoiding any embellishment.

Otherwise, this could unnecessarily provide "fodder" for an employment law process.

Also read

Sample & template: This is what a letter of resignation could look like

termination of my employment contract

Dear Ms/Mr...,

I hereby terminate my employment contract from ….

properly and in a timely manner as soon as possible.

Please confirm receipt of the cancellation in writing.

In addition, I ask you to issue me a qualified work reference.

I would like to thank you for the good cooperation over the past few years and wish you all the best for the future.

Kind regards

Signature of the employee

Also read

This is how you find out the right notice period 

Of course, you need to know

so that you can get out of your old employment contract in time for your new job .

You can find out how to find out about this and which legal regulations apply to this here.

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Delivering a resignation letter: in person or by post?

Your cancellation is generally deemed to have been delivered as soon as it has been received by the company.

If you hand in the letter of termination in person, it is best to have this acknowledged.

Registered mail is recommended for delivery by post.

You can find out more about the subject of termination here: Termination of employment contract - the most important rules and deadlines.