Notice of change (Änderungskündigung) – a wide sphere!
A few weeks ago I successfully completed two major proceedings, the central question of which was whether the notices of change that my clients had received, were effective or not. The first procedure was at the Stuttgart Labor Court and the second at the Baden-Württemberg State Labor Court. I concluded both with very good settlements for my clients, both of whom are senior managers.
Notices of change are still very unusual for laypeople. Most of them are familiar with a termination or a transfer though, or at least they know what it means.
In case of a notice of change the employer does not want to get rid of the employee straight away, but rather gives him or her the opportunity to continue working for him under changed conditions.
The employee does not have to accept this offer and, for example, accept drastic salary reduction or / and a new place of work that is far away. He can also play high stakes and bet that the termination of his employment contract is ineffective and that he can keep his old job.
Sometimes the employer does not give any notice of termination at all, but simply transfers the employee to another, usually less attractive, job. Another very popular option for employers is to first offer the employee a new employment contract, which is usually significantly worse than the last one, and to act as if the employee is obliged to accept it.
That´s not the case! There is the principle of freedom of contract. The employee is not obliged to conclude a new employment contract because there are sufficient employment contractual obligations in the existing employment contract already.
If your employer offers you a new employment contract, transfers you, or gives you notice of termination, you should definitely seek competent legal advice very quickly. It usually involves a lot of money. If the employer’s measure turns out to be ineffective in court, then a high severance payment awaits. As a rule, the employer no longer really wants to keep an employee if he transfers him / her to an unattractive job or dismisses him / her (or gives a notice of termination). If the employee goes to court with these measures and they turn out to be invalid, then there is a high probability that the employer will pay a nice severance payment to the employee in order to get rid of him / her.
Did your employer transfer you or did you receive notice of termination? Contact us! Attorney at law Ms. Hussain-Hämäläinen, LL.M. advises and represents you personally.