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The motivation at work is gone, and after weeks of pondering it becomes clear: A job change is needed.
Unfortunately, resignations are rarely a pleasant affair.
Your colleagues may be disappointed, your boss may be offended.
If there is even a legal dispute, it can be expensive.
That's why many employees just don't want to go wrong.
Many questions arise: Is it enough to write an email?
How do I formulate the letter?
Should I have a one-on-one conversation with my boss beforehand?
The first stumbling block is shape.
Even in the digital age, employees have to type out their termination and print it out.
It is only valid in writing and with an original signature.
Terminations via SMS or WhatsApp are automatically ineffective because they do not have a signature.
E-mails or faxes are also not an option, because the digital signature, a copied or scanned signature, is not sufficient.
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Oral agreements are invalid anyway.
So anyone who audibly announces after a bad day at work that he is quitting has not achieved anything legally.
However, it is good form to talk to your employer before giving your notice in writing.
"If you have a good relationship with your boss, you should explain your termination in a previous interview," advises Jörg Kraft, career advisor at the management and personnel consultancy Liebich & Partner.
As with other letters, there are some formalities involved in resignation.
For example, the letterhead, which must contain the name and address of the sender and recipient.
The date is also important.
In the event of a dispute, it serves as evidence of when the termination was written.
The subject line is optional.
If you want, you can write “termination” or “termination of employment”.
Formulate termination: Short and without subjunctive
When addressing the employee, it is best to address the person to whom the notice of termination is addressed.
Anyone who sends the notice of termination to the company's HR department and does not know their contact person by name can, in an emergency, begin the letter with “Dear Sir or Madam”.
Otherwise, a look at the employment contract can help - the person who signed the contract often also processes the notice of termination.
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Employees do not have to justify their own departure in the letter of termination.
“It's like a newspaper subscription.
There is no obligation to give reasons because, unlike a contract, termination is a unilateral legal transaction, ”explains Fenimore von Bredow, lawyer specializing in labor law.
Only if an employee wishes to leave the company before the period of notice has expired - by extraordinary termination - the employer may request a written justification.
"An extraordinary termination is only possible for an important reason," says the lawyer.
“Continued employment must be unreasonable for the employee.” However, this is very rarely the case.
For example, if the employer has not paid the employee for a long time.
Von Bredow recommends keeping the termination as short as possible.
A “I hereby terminate my employment relationship in due time” is sufficient.
Subjunctive sentences like “I would like to quit”, on the other hand, seem insecure.
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Notice periods can vary depending on the contract.
The law stipulates four weeks on the 15th or the end of a calendar month.
During the trial period, the statutory notice period is only two weeks.
If you do not know your own notice period, it is best to take a look at the employment contract or ask the HR department.
Alternatively, employees can enter “in due time for the next possible date” instead of a date.
Notification of termination: letter or handover?
This is how it works
The letter of resignation is a good opportunity to ask for a qualified job reference.
In contrast to the simple job reference, it not only states when and where the employee was active - but also what the employee has achieved and how he treated his colleagues.
Everyone who leaves a company has a legal right to this final assessment.
Anyone who asks for it in the letter of termination may receive it before the last working day and does not have to beg for it months later.
There are several ways to submit a cancellation.
The most obvious one is to send it as a normal letter.
Employment lawyer von Bredow warns, however: “The letter of termination must be delivered verifiably.
In the event of a dispute, the employee must be able to prove in court that the letter has been received by the employer. "
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It is safer to send a letter by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.
But that can also go wrong.
If the postman doesn't find the recipient, the letter ends up in a post office.
If nobody picks him up there, he may come back to the employee after two weeks.
The safest method is to go to the employer with two signed copies of the notice of termination.
The employee has a version signed by the boss, stating a date, and takes it with him for his records.
The only catch: the boss can refuse to sign.
In principle, the employer is not obliged to confirm receipt of notice of termination.
As security in the event of a dispute, the employee can hand over the notice of termination a second time and this time take a witness, such as a colleague, with him.
This serves as proof that the notice of termination has actually been given.
If that doesn't work either, he could send a messenger who has read the notice and puts it in the employer's mailbox.
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Once all of that has been achieved, some employees are tempted to step up after they have been given notice.
Career consultant Kraft experienced this time and again during his time as HR manager.
"Many believe that they have no fool's freedom after they have been fired," he says.
Employees should try to leave the company with a positive impression, recommends Kraft.
"To blaspheme the boss and colleagues in the last few weeks of work is a no-go.
You always meet twice".
This article was first published in June 2019.