Yes — and this is one of the biggest surprises for foreign employees used to stronger probationary protections elsewhere. During the first six months of employment, the substantive protection of the Kündigungsschutzgesetz does not yet apply (§ 1(1) KSchG). Your employer can issue an ordinary dismissal without giving any specific reason and without having to justify it before the labor court.
The two layers of “probation”
Two separate concepts overlap here:
- The statutory waiting period (Wartezeit, § 1(1) KSchG). Six months. Until this is over, the KSchG’s social-justification requirement does not apply, regardless of what your contract says.
- The contractual probation (Probezeit, § 622(3) BGB). An optional clause your contract may include. It allows both sides to dismiss with a shortened notice period of two weeks (without further specification of the termination date — unlike the normal 4-weeks-to-the-15th-or-end-of-month rule). The maximum length of a Probezeit is six months.
If your contract has no Probezeit, the normal four-week notice still applies during the first six months — but the substantive protection of the KSchG is still off.
Reasons your employer doesn’t have to give
During the waiting period the employer does not need a recognised reason. “It’s not working out” is enough. The employer doesn’t even have to tell you what they’re thinking. That said, even during the waiting period the dismissal must:
- Be in writing on paper with a wet-ink signature (§ 623 BGB).
- Comply with the applicable notice period.
- Not be discriminatory under the AGG (no dismissal because of pregnancy, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability).
- Respect special protection rules: pregnant employees, parental-leave employees, severely disabled employees, and works-council members remain protected from day one and require government consent.
Should you still file a claim?
Sometimes, yes. Even probation-period dismissals can be challenged where:
- The dismissal is discriminatory (you can pursue both a Kündigungsschutzklage and an AGG damages claim).
- You are protected by a special-protection category and the employer failed to obtain consent.
- The form is defective (no wet-ink signature, wrong signatory).
- You want to negotiate a higher severance and a better reference letter as part of an amicable exit.
The three-week deadline applies in probation too. Don’t let it run.
Probation-period dismissals that are challengeable
The “no protection” rule applies only to the substantive KSchG framework. Even during probation, the dismissal is void if any of the following apply:
- Discrimination (AGG). Dismissals on grounds of ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation are unlawful from day one. We have won several probation-period cases on this basis.
- Pregnancy / parental leave. Special protection applies regardless of tenure.
- Severe disability. Once the Schwerbehindertenausweis (severely disabled status) is acknowledged, dismissal requires consent of the Integrationsamt — even in probation, once the status has existed for at least six months.
- Works-council membership. Special protection from day of nomination.
- Form defects. No wet-ink signature, wrong signatory, notice period mis-stated.
What probation-period severance typically looks like
Severance during probation is usually modest because the KSchG leverage is missing. Typical settlements are in the range of one to two gross monthly salaries plus a Grade 2 reference letter. The negotiation hook is usually the time and reputational cost the employer wants to avoid, not a strong substantive case. Even so, settling is often better than litigating because of how little of the KSchG framework is available to the employee in this phase.
Probation extensions
If the employer offers to extend the probation period beyond six months, look carefully. A genuine extension is generally not enforceable — the KSchG protection kicks in after six months regardless of what the contract says. But the employer may try to characterise the extension as “voluntary” to dismiss with the shorter probation notice period during what is in substance a post-probation phase. Get advice before agreeing.