Probezeit in Frankfurt: Two Weeks' Notice, the Six-Month Wait and What Still Protects You Before Day 181

Probezeit and Wartezeit: Two Clocks, Not One

When people say they are on probation in Germany, they usually mean two different things at once. They are worth separating, because they have different rules.

§ 622 BGB gives employees four weeks’ notice, to the 15th or the end of a calendar month, as the basic rule. During an agreed Probezeit of at most six months, either side may end the contract with two weeks’ notice. Absatz 3 names no fixed termination date, unlike Absatz 1’s 15th or month-end. The same rule works for you: if the job is not what you expected, you can leave on two weeks’ notice.

Who the Kündigungsschutzgesetz Covers

§ 1 KSchG makes a dismissal ineffective if it is socially unjustified, but only for an employee whose employment has lasted longer than six months without interruption in the same workplace or company. A dismissal is socially justified only if it rests on reasons relating to the person, reasons relating to conduct, or urgent operational needs, and the employer must prove the facts. Before the six months are over, you cannot use that route.

The second condition is size. § 23 KSchG excludes workplaces that generally employ ten or fewer people, if you started after 31 December 2003. Trainees are not counted, and part-timers count as 0.5 up to 20 hours a week and 0.75 up to 30 hours. For a Frankfurt office that is a branch of a larger group, the statute speaks of the Betrieb, the workplace unit, so ask an adviser how your case is counted.

In short, you need both: more than six months and more than ten employees. If either is missing, the employer does not have to show a justified reason.

What Still Protects You in the First Six Months

The law is thin, not empty.

On discrimination: in its judgment of 19 December 2013 the Bundesarbeitsgericht held that an ordinary dismissal that discriminates on a ground listed in § 1 AGG is void, even where the Kündigungsschutzgesetz does not yet apply. The case concerned a dismissal in the waiting period of an employee with a symptom-free HIV infection. The court did not decide the dismissal itself and sent the case back, but the principle is what matters: the absence of dismissal protection does not make discrimination lawful.

On pregnancy, § 17 MuSchG covers a woman during pregnancy and at least four months after birth, and the protection applies if the employer knew or if she informs the employer within two weeks of receiving the notice.

The Three-Week Rule

The most important number in this guide is three. § 4 KSchG says that to claim a termination is socially unjustified or invalid for any other reason, you must file a claim at the Arbeitsgericht within three weeks of receiving the written termination. That includes claims that a termination breaks a pregnancy or discrimination rule. If a termination needs official approval, the period starts when the authority’s decision reaches you. A claim filed late can be admitted only under narrow conditions, so do not plan on it.

Treat the date the letter reached you as day one. Write it down, keep the envelope, and count three weeks.

Frankfurt: Where the Fight Happens

Labour disputes in Frankfurt go to the Arbeitsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Gutleutstraße 130, 60327 Frankfurt, phone 069 15047-0. Its district covers 27 municipalities including Frankfurt, Bad Homburg, Oberursel, Bad Soden, Bad Vilbel and Kelsterbach. From the Hauptbahnhof, leave on the south side next to track 1, walk along Mannheimer Straße to Familie-Jürges-Platz and follow the signs. The walk takes about 5 to 10 minutes.

You do not have to hire a lawyer to start. The court’s Rechtsantragstelle on the first floor helps you file, for example a Kündigungsschutzklage.

Three more details from the court’s pages are worth knowing. The Güteverhandlung, the first hearing aimed at a settlement, usually takes 15 to 20 minutes. Hearings are generally public, so you can sit in on one beforehand. A filing box next to the main entrance takes documents at any time, and items put in before midnight count as received that day, for deadline-bound documents where electronic filing is not required.

If money is tight, the Rechtsantragstelle page says low-income applicants can ask the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main for a Berechtigungsschein for a legal consultation, at the Beratungshilfe office in Hahnstraße 25, building G, second floor, room 215. It also names the Frankfurter Anwaltsverein’s information desk, which gives labour-law information for a fee of 15 euros.

After a Dismissal: The Agentur für Arbeit

Do this on the same day you learn the end date. § 38 SGB III requires you to register as a job-seeker within three days of learning the end date if less than three months remain, even if you plan to challenge the dismissal in court. Under § 159 SGB III, a late registration can lead to a one-week Sperrzeit, during which unemployment benefit is not paid. Registering as a job-seeker is separate from the claim for benefit itself.

If you are on a work-related residence permit, tell an adviser about the dismissal quickly, because your permit may depend on the job. The Frankfurt guide on a spouse’s job search and the permit work right covers one common case.

Step by Step

1. Check your contract.Is there a Probezeit clause, and how long is it?
2. Check the form.A paper letter with a signature. Note the date it reached you.
3. Count three weeks.That is your deadline to file at the Arbeitsgericht.
4. Register as a job-seekerwith the Agentur für Arbeit within three days.
5. Get advice the same week.A lawyer, a union or the court's Beratungshilfe route.
6. Collect documents.Contract, payslips, any warnings, messages about why you were let go.
7. File at the Rechtsantragstelle (Gutleutstraße 130) or by post, never by e-mail.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general framework of §§ 622 and 623 BGB, the Kündigungsschutzgesetz and related rules, and the Arbeitsgericht Frankfurt am Main as described on official pages in October 2026. It is not legal advice. Deadlines in dismissal cases are short and absolute in practice, and the outcome depends on your contract, your employer’s size and your circumstances. Talk to a lawyer, a union or another advice service as soon as you receive a termination.