How do I legally resign in Germany when no one is at the office?

Question

Today is Friday. I would like to give my notice by the end of this month (Monday) as the notice period only starts from the end of the month in which it is given. If I am too late it could add an extra month which I would like to avoid.

Unfortunately I doubt that anyone from HR will be at the office this month still which means I won't be able to hand it in in person. It's also already too late to send it via mail since they wouldn't be able to read it at the office, even if it arrived on time.

According to German law I can't quit via E-Mail / Fax so what other options do I have? It seems a bit unfair considering I want to quit on time but I can't.

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Extra details:

My contract does not specify any rules for the termination process besides the notice period.

I can bring the letter there myself but no one from HR would be able to read it or acknowledge receiving it.

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Update:

Today I quit my job. I scheduled a meeting with HR and told them I'd like to leave at the end of my notice period. They took it well and right after the meeting I sent them a scan of my resignation and asked for a confirmation, which I promptly received. I then handed the original copy to someone that will hand it over to HR.

I never expected this to go badly to begin with but I wanted to be on the safe side legally. I'm usually pretty paranoid about these things...

Answer 1

According to several online sources, you don't have to hand in the resignation letter personally in Germany, it's enough to put it in your employer's mailbox. This may, however, result in a dispute if the letter is retrieved there later and they claim it was not there by the last day of your notice period. So it is advisable to bring a witness, who ideally has seen the content of the letter with you when putting the letter in the mail. Additionally, I would send an email to HR and your manager after putting the letter in the mailbox.

Sources (in German):

• Zugang der Kündigung (arbeitsrecht-ratgeber.de)
• Einwurf der Kündigung durch Zeugen (rechtsanwaltarbeitsrechtberlin.wordpress.com)

Answer 2

There is a type of letter delivery in Germany that is equivalent to handing it in in-person.

The "Einschreiben" https://www.deutschepost.de/de/e/einschreiben.html is a legally certified way of handing in your resignation (and all official documents for that matter). You get a legally valid receipt that you sent the letter (and that/when it was delivered).

Afaik: nobody being there to read it is their problem, not yours. In any way I'd send an Email right after the Letter, just to give them a fair chance as well.

Answer 3

Unfortunately I doubt that anyone from HR will be at the office this month still which means I won't be able to hand it in in person.

Hand it in in person to someone other than HR (your boss, the CEO, someone at the front desk, etc). Ask for a written and dated acknowledgement from whoever accepts it.

Follow that up with an email to HR stating what you did, and where they can find your written resignation letter. Include a copy of your letter in the email for their convenience.

Answer 4

I think you need to consider why a German company won’t accept an email as resignation. They won’t accept it because the law, not their contract with you, says it’s not effective unless it is on paper. They aren’t trying to trap you into working longer or somehow enslave you, they legally can NOT consider an email as a resignation.

Why do they care about the law in this, since you wouldn’t be showing up for work and should be happily working elsewhere? No harm, no foul, right? That might works if everyone is above board, but a dishonest person could resign, wait a year, and then file suit for back wages, and the court will look at the law and the law says that person still works for that company. The contract wasn’t properly terminated and was still in effect. And there could be further complications even with out a dishonest person involved. Workers compensation for instance, what if the worker dies while working, whose insurance pays and how much?

In short, for the companies own legal protection, they need a piece of paper with your resignation on it. Sine the law doesn’t say it has to be received by someone with a particular title or working in a particular department, the company doesn’t care about that as it doesn’t effect their legal liability.

Either use a same day delivery service that can be used as proof delivery, or turn it in by hand to someone that can make sure it eventually gets to the right person. Either will do, the company isn’t trying to prevent you from departing, it is trying to obey the law and reduce their liability.

Answer 5

I'm not a lawyer so I cannot answer your specific question but I can offer you a practical way to move forward.

Focus on reducing the risk as much as you can.

1. See Simons answer to get the highest chance on having it legally save handed in this month. I recommend to include the exact cancellation date in your letter.

2. Use other ways to move forward with your cancellation. I would write an email today to HR and your supervisor and informing them what you like to quit and how you handed in the official letter.

On Monday I would call HR and/or your supervisor if they have received your cancellation. Don't ask for the letter itself or start a discussion of your timing, ask for the cancellation in general.

There are 3 options from here:

1. If they say yes, you should be good. Ask for a confirmation.
2. They say they need the letter: Ask them to look at the mailbox or wherever the letter is. If they refuse, ask them how you can hand it in today (Monday in this case)
3. They tell you, that you are already too late. Answer, that you think it is still on time, but if they like to discuss this matter without involving lawyers. Nobody, including most companies, likes the effort for law fights and they know that employees that already have cancelled are not the most efficient workers, will call in sick anyway or worst case demotivate their team.

If you are not able to reach anybody to talk about your cancellation. Write down what you have tried. A lawyer might use this later in your favor. Try the next day, document it and so on.

Answer 6

The most secure way for legal letters is the "Zustellung durch Gerichtsvollzieher", in English "Delivery by court bailiff". You need to find out if the one, responsible for the location of your company, can deliver it on Monday.

Answer 7

If the German labour laws regarding resignation are similar to Dutch law (and as far as I can tell it is), then the law does not actually require that your resignation is delivered in hardcopy on paper, but rather that it bears your legal signature.

I was in a similar position last month and agreed with my employer to send a scan of the signed resignation letter by email to them. In that email I also asked for a confirmation that they received it.

That would satisfy the legal requirement of a signature, combined with having same-day delivery.

Answer 8

I think the best would be by certified mail that provided a guarantee of the content of the letter. Not sure how is that service named in Germany or how many companies provide it, I looked for some options below. You still might be in time to do this, but purchasing it on Saturday and having it delivered next-day (Monday). (With an higher cost that a regular letter, of course)

Please note that it shouldn't matter when HR read the letter, just when it was delivered to the company. Otherwise, a company could keep a set of enslaved tricked employees unable to quit by just refusing to read them, with the unopened envelopes piled on HR office.

It would only need to be accepted by the company (is a janitor there tasked to receive mail, perhaps?).

Also, I would expect that, as long as HR would reply to your email acknowledging receiving your resignation, it would be valid (and surely, the notice period may be changed on mutual agreement). The issue would be if they don't, and then wanted you to work one extra month based on that technicality. I assume you expect such kind of pushback, which is more reason for using a service that not only certifies that it was delivered, but also its content.

Looking at companies providing delivery services in Germany I found:

Deutsche Post has a PRIO service where they would usually have it delivered the next working day (if posted on the same branch, which shouldn't be a problem for you). For registered mail they have a different service. You would probably want a combination of them.

DHL website offers hand delivery. It lets me schedule a shipment sending it on November 28, with an estimated delivery by 30 November (to the same city). That should be booked before November 28, 1:00 pm and it being picked up up to 2:30 pm. They also have several options if you want it delivered in the morning.

Answer 9

Yet another idea is simply:

1. Walk to the office and put it on the reception desk, or, if there's literally no one there, through the mail slot.

2. Using phone, take a photo of it on the reception desk, or, going in the mail slot.

3. At that moment, using phone, send the following email. CC everyone (owners, HR, managers, colleagues, receptionists): (obviously, in German :) )

Dear team, At 14:27 on Friday I am serving my paper letter of resignation. Notice is served. This image shows it is served on physical paper at 14:27. By the way, would you please note that the entire HR department has been unavailable this month: I have been trying to serve for 13 days and it has not been possible. The notice is now served at 14:27 this day. mfg, Herr Fattie.

That's it. No big deal.