You land a new job, hand in your resignation, and assume you will start in a month, the way it works back home. Then HR points at your contract and the calendar and explains that no, you leave not "in four weeks" but on the next valid 15th or month-end, which might be six or seven weeks away, and your new employer will have to wait. German notice periods (Kündigungsfrist) run on a logic that catches people: the clock does not stop on an arbitrary date but on specific calendar points, and the rules differ depending on whether you are quitting or being dismissed, and how long you have been there. Counting wrong by a single day can cost you half a month.
This guide covers German notice periods: the statutory minimums, why employer notice grows with tenure, the much shorter probation rule, and what your contract can change. Count it right, and you time your job move cleanly.
The standard notice for resigning
The everyday case, you resigning from a normal job: the statutory base notice is four weeks to the 15th or the end of a calendar month.
That phrasing matters. It is not "four weeks from today". It is four weeks, ending on either the 15th of a month or the end of a month, whichever valid point comes next at least four weeks away. So:
- If today is the 1st, four weeks lands mid-month, but you must round to the next valid 15th or month-end, potentially pushing you further
- Hand in notice slightly too late and you miss a cutoff, adding half a month to your leaving date
Your contract may set a longer period (employers often do), but generally not shorter, except during probation. So the everyday answer is around four weeks, to the 15th or month-end, but you must check your contract for a longer clause and count the date carefully. This notice governs the full resignation process.
Notice grows with tenure (for the employer)
A point that confuses people: notice periods can lengthen with how long you have worked somewhere, but this mainly applies to the employer dismissing you, not you resigning.
- Employer dismissing you: statutory notice increases with your length of service, rising in steps the longer you have been employed (so a long-tenured employee gets more notice/protection before being let go)
- You resigning: the statutory notice generally stays at the four-week base regardless of tenure, unless your contract sets a longer period
So tenure lengthens the employer's notice to you more than your notice to them (under statute). This is a protection for employees, the longer you have served, the more notice (and thus security/transition time) you are owed if dismissed.
The asymmetry can be evened out by contract: some contracts require your notice to match the longer employer notice as tenure grows. So while statute gives you the four-week base when resigning, read your contract, it may tie your notice to your tenure too. The contract is where these details live.
Probation: much shorter
During the probation period (Probezeit), the notice period is much shorter, typically just two weeks, and it applies both ways.
So in your first months (Probezeit can run up to six months):
- You can leave a job with two weeks' notice
- The employer can let you go with two weeks' notice too
This is far shorter than the four-week-plus notice after probation. It makes the probation period a genuine easy exit for both sides, if the job is wrong, you can leave quickly; if you are not a fit, they can release you quickly. The full implications of probation (including the visa angle for expats) are in our Probezeit guide.
So the notice picture has two phases: short (two weeks) during probation, then the longer statutory/contractual notice (four weeks+) after. Know which phase you are in when planning a move, leaving during probation is much faster than leaving after.
What your contract can change, and counting right
Your contract and the notice period: a contract can set a longer notice period than the statutory minimum (and longer employer notice usually must at least match the employee's), but it generally cannot undercut the statutory minimum to your disadvantage. So your contract may require more than four weeks, but not less (post-probation).
Always read your contract's notice clause, it is common for German contracts to specify longer notice (e.g. three months to month-end for senior roles), which dramatically changes your job-move timing. Do not assume the four-week base; your contract may bind you to far more.
Counting correctly is the practical trap. The base notice runs to a specific point (the 15th or month-end at least four weeks out), so:
- Calculate the next valid cutoff, not just "four weeks from now"
- Handing in notice a day late can push your leaving date by half a month (you miss one cutoff and roll to the next)
- For longer contractual notice (e.g. "three months to the end of a quarter"), the cutoffs are even chunkier, miss one and you wait months
So: read the clause, identify the cutoffs, and hand in your notice with margin to hit the date you want. This matters most when changing jobs, your new employer's start date must align with your old notice, and miscounting can leave an awkward gap or force the new job to wait. (How the job ends also affects unemployment benefit timing if relevant.)
What to do this week
- Find your contract's notice clause: the statutory base is four weeks to the 15th or month-end, but your contract may require longer, do not assume four weeks.
- Count to the correct cutoff (the next valid 15th or month-end at least four weeks out), and hand in notice with margin, since missing a cutoff by a day adds half a month.
- Remember probation notice is much shorter (about two weeks both ways), so leaving during the Probezeit is far faster than after it ends.
