A Turboklausel — also called a Sprinterklausel or Sprinterprämie — is a clause in a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag) or a court settlement that lets you end the employment earlier than the agreed termination date by simple written declaration, and converts part of the salary the employer saves into extra severance. Done right, a Turboklausel turns a notice period you no longer need into cash: typically 50–100% of every gross monthly salary you leave on the table is added to your severance. Done wrong, it can suspend your unemployment benefit, forfeit a company-pension vesting date or shorten a residence-permit runway. Here is how it works, why employers agree so readily, and when you should — and should not — press the button.
What a Turboklausel actually says
The standard setup: the settlement fixes a termination date, usually the end of your ordinary notice period — say 30 June — with garden leave until then. The Turboklausel adds three elements:
- A unilateral exit right. You may end the employment before the agreed date by written declaration, usually with a short announcement period — two weeks to the end of a month is common, sometimes just a few business days.
- A premium formula. For the period between your early exit and the original end date, the severance increases — typically by 50–100% of the gross salary you would otherwise have received.
- No reasons required. The clause is a Gestaltungsrecht: you exercise it by declaration, and the employer cannot refuse or delay.
Variants exist — a fixed lump sum per month saved, automatic acceleration once you sign a new employment contract, or a step-down formula (100% of saved salary in the first months, less later). All of it is negotiable.
Why employers say yes: the ~20% they save
On every euro of gross salary, a German employer pays roughly 20% on top in employer social-security contributions (pension, health, nursing-care and unemployment insurance, plus levies). Severance, by contrast, is generally free of social-security contributions. That asymmetry is the engine of every Turboklausel:
- Keeping you on garden leave for one more month at €8,000 gross costs the employer about €9,600 including employer contributions.
- Paying you 75% of that month as additional severance costs €6,000 — with nothing on top.
- The employer saves roughly €3,600 on the month; you receive €6,000 for a month you would have spent on garden leave anyway.
Add the soft factors — earlier legal certainty, headcount off the books, no further vacation accrual, no sickness risk during the remaining months — and it is clear why the Turboklausel is one of the easiest asks in an exit negotiation. In our practice, employers rarely fight the concept; the negotiation is about the percentage.
The benefits analysis: Sperrzeit and § 158 SGB III
The baseline: a benefits-safe settlement
A properly structured settlement — dismissal issued or genuinely imminent, ordinary notice period respected, severance within the usual corridor — is normally safe from the 12-week benefits block. Our guides on the Sperrzeit and on court settlements cover that baseline.
What sprinting changes
Exercising the Turboklausel means the employment ends earlier because of your own declaration. If you sprint directly into a new job — the classic use case — you are never unemployed and the Agentur für Arbeit has nothing to assess. If you sprint into unemployment, two separate rules can bite:
- Sperrzeit (§ 159 Abs. 1 Satz 2 Nr. 1 SGB III): whoever ends the employment themselves without an important reason faces a 12-week block that also shortens the total benefit entitlement.
- Suspension (§ 158 SGB III): where the employment ends before the date the employer’s ordinary notice period would have reached and a severance is paid, the benefit rests for the bridged period (subject to caps tied to a portion of the severance). This postpones rather than shortens the entitlement — but it can still mean months without payments.
The BSG line — and why structure matters
The Bundessozialgericht has accepted, in specific constellations, that exercising an early-exit option embedded in an otherwise Sperrzeit-safe settlement does not automatically turn the exit into a Sperrzeit case. But the case law is fact-specific: the reason for sprinting, the wording of the clause and the structure of the overall settlement all matter, and the Agentur für Arbeit examines each file individually. Treat any blanket „the courts have blessed turbo clauses” claim with caution — and have your specific clause reviewed before you exercise it into unemployment.
The tax angle: moving income between years
Severance is taxable income; the Fünftelregelung can soften the burden where the payment is concentrated in one year, and the relief is claimed through your income-tax return. A Turboklausel adds a timing lever:
- Sprinting can pull the exit — and, with the right drafting, the payment date — into a calendar year with little other income, which typically increases the Fünftelregelung benefit substantially.
- Sprinting can equally be a tax mistake if it stacks the severance, a near-full year of salary and new-job income into the same year.
These are planning questions for a Steuerberater — coordinate the exercise date and the payment clause before declaring, not after. Our overview of severance taxation explains the mechanics.
Drafting essentials
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A genuine unilateral right
„The employee is entitled to end the employment before [date] by written declaration with [X days’] notice” — not „the parties may agree on an earlier end date”. An option that needs the employer’s consent is not a Turboklausel.
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A clean premium formula
Define the base (gross monthly salary — including or excluding bonus and benefits), the percentage, and pro-rating for partial months. Ambiguity here is money lost.
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Payment date and treatment
The premium should be paid as additional severance with the final payroll run — free of social-security contributions and clearly separated from salary items.
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No knock-on losses
Vacation payout, pro-rated bonus, Zeugnis issue date, company-car return and equity treatment must all be anchored to the early exit without penalty.
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Benefits-safe wording
The clause must preserve the settlement’s Sperrzeit-safe architecture — recitals, initiative, notice-period logic. Have it reviewed as a package, not clause by clause.
When NOT to sprint
- Residence permit. If your right to stay in Germany is tied to employment, every month of formal employment is runway. Sprinting shortens it. Non-EU employees should read our guide on the residence permit after job loss and coordinate immigration and exit timing before exercising anything.
- Company-pension vesting dates (bAV). Employer-funded pension promises vest only after statutory or contractual periods have run. Sprinting weeks before a vesting date can forfeit five-figure values. Check every pension building block first.
- Bonus and equity cutoffs. „Employed on 31 December” clauses, RSU vesting dates, ESPP windows: an early exit a few days before a cutoff can cost more than the premium earns. Such Stichtag clauses are sometimes challengeable — but not litigating is cheaper.
- Sprinting into nothing. Without a signed new contract, the premium must be weighed against Sperrzeit and suspension risk plus the lost salary months. Run the numbers first.
Worked example
Programme manager in Frankfurt, €8,000 gross per month, eight years of service. After an operational dismissal and a Kündigungsschutzklage, the parties settle: termination on 30 September (end of the six-month notice period), garden leave, severance €48,000, plus a Turboklausel at 80% of saved gross salary with one week’s declaration notice.
She signs a new contract elsewhere starting 1 July at €8,500 per month. She declares the sprint effective 30 June — three months early:
- Sprint premium: 80% × 3 × €8,000 = €19,200, paid as additional severance. Total severance: €67,200.
- Her position July–September: €25,500 gross new salary plus the €19,200 premium — versus €24,000 garden-leave salary had she stayed.
- Employer’s position: saves three months of salary plus employer contributions (≈ €28,800) against a €19,200 premium — about €9,600 better off, plus final certainty.
- Benefits: no unemployment, so no Sperrzeit or § 158 SGB III exposure at all.
Both sides gain — which is exactly why the clause was negotiable in the first place.
Frequently asked questions
Can I demand a Turboklausel?
There is no statutory entitlement — it is a negotiation item. Because the employer’s own math usually favours it, a well-framed request succeeds far more often than it fails, especially while a Kündigungsschutzklage is pending.
What happens to my vacation days if I sprint?
Vacation accrues until the actual end date; untaken days must be paid out (Urlaubsabgeltung). Make sure the settlement states that garden leave counts toward vacation only up to the actual exit, and that the payout for the remainder is preserved.
Does the sprint premium benefit from the Fünftelregelung too?
Where it is drafted and paid as part of the severance for the loss of the job, it is generally treated the same way. The details — especially where the exit crosses a year boundary — belong with your Steuerberater.
Is a Turboklausel different in a court settlement versus an Aufhebungsvertrag?
The mechanics are identical. A court settlement adds enforceability and a generally more comfortable benefits posture; a private Aufhebungsvertrag demands even more care with structure and wording.
Do I have to tell my employer why I am leaving early?
No. The declaration needs the agreed form and notice period — nothing more. Your reasons are your business alone; only the benefits and tax consequences differ.