Quit your job or not: you have to pay attention to this when you retire

Created: 01/11/2023 10:25 am

By: Steffen Maas

Retirement does not always automatically mean the end of the employment relationship.

In some cases, new retirees must give notice beforehand.

Hamburg – For many it is somehow clear: If I retire, my boss will no longer expect me to work on Monday.

But this perceived self-evidence does not apply in every case.

Some future retirees are required to explicitly quit their jobs before they retire.

The answer as to when this is necessary is almost certainly given by one's own employment contract - but general guidelines also help to determine when consumers have to give notice before they retire.

Retirement when you reach the statutory retirement age: Usually no notice of termination is necessary

With certainty, the question of whether the job has to be terminated when you retire can only be clarified by looking at the employment contract.

Employees who, according to the textbook, retire when they reach the statutory retirement age, are usually already contractually provided for: In the vast majority of cases, a clause in the employment or collective agreement regulates that after the end of the month in which the statutory retirement age is reached , the contract is dissolved.

Of course, what is fundamentally the top priority also applies when you retire at the standard age: no pension without an application.

You cannot retire without first contacting the statutory pension insurance agency and having clarified your retirement date.

There is therefore no automatic pension even when the statutory retirement age is reached.

Speaking of applications: In the ideal case, pensioners can be exempted from the GEZ fee.

Soon retirees should take a closer look at their employment contract: Retirement is not always regulated and it must be terminated in compliance with the notice period.

(kreiszeitung.de assembly) © Patrick Pleul/dpa/imagebroker/Imago

Retirement with early retirement: Notice or termination agreement required

Very seldom can a collective agreement stipulate that the employment relationship ends if the future retiree retires early – be it with deductions or without deductions for pensioners who are entitled to early retirement or for severely disabled people.

In the vast majority of cases, however, this is not the case.

This means that early retirees must give notice to their employer or negotiate a termination agreement.

A timely discussion with the employer helps here, because in the event of an ordinary termination, the previously contractually regulated notice period also applies to soon-to-be retirees.

But be careful: If early retirement is not regulated seamlessly, financial bottlenecks can occur.

If you give notice yourself, in most cases there is a three-month blocking period for unemployment benefit I.

Retirees with partial disability: dismissal, termination of contract or adjusted hours

It gets a bit more complicated when it comes to retirement due to health problems.

For example, in the case of a partial disability pension: Here, too, communication with the boss or the human resources department is essential, because the employment relationship does not automatically expire under any circumstances.

As with early retirement, a discussion should clarify whether termination is necessary, whether agreement is reached on terminating the contract – or whether a modified employment contract with a reduced number of hours is drawn up.

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Pension due to a full reduction in earning capacity: Usually already regulated by contract - whether limited or unlimited

In the case of the full disability pension, it depends on whether it was granted for a limited or unlimited period.

Both cases could well already be regulated in the employment contract.

This is more likely with the unlimited full disability pension: As soon as the decision from the pension insurance company arrives and is available to the employer, the employment relationship should expire at the earliest possible date.

But the same applies here: If there is nothing in the working paper, you have to give notice yourself.

If pensioners are only granted a disability pension for a limited period of time, a clause in the contract also applies in most cases: Here the employment relationship is usually suspended for the respective period.

Incidentally, anyone who wants to continue working despite a possible early retirement has had significantly more financial leeway since January 2023: Thanks to the flexi-pension, pensioners can earn unlimited additional income in 2023.