Dismissal While on Sick Leave

Can you be dismissed while signed off sick?

Yes. A sick note is not protection against dismissal. The employer may give notice during a period of incapacity for work, and the dismissal is valid if the general requirements are met.

The common line „nothing can happen to me while I am signed off" is simply wrong. It confuses illness with the genuine special protection cases, such as pregnancy, parental leave or severe disability.

What is not permitted is a dismissal based solely on the fact that you reported sick. That would be a reprisal under section 612a of the German Civil Code and therefore void.

Do you keep receiving continued pay after dismissal?

Yes, until the end of the employment relationship and within the six weeks. Continued pay does not end when the notice arrives but when the notice period expires.

There is an important exception in the employee's favour: if the employer gives notice because of the incapacity for work, continued pay carries on under section 8 (1) of the Continued Remuneration Act beyond the end of the employment relationship, until the six weeks are used up.

If you are ill beyond the end of the employment relationship, the health insurer pays sick pay. Register for it in good time and have the incapacity for work certified without gaps.

What happens after six weeks: sick pay, amounts and deadlines →

Which deadline is now running for you?

Three weeks. If you want to challenge the dismissal, section 4 of the Protection Against Dismissal Act requires you to bring a claim before the labour court within three weeks of receiving it. After that the dismissal counts as valid, regardless of how open to challenge it was in substance.

That deadline runs while you are ill too. It is not extended because you are in bed, and it starts when the letter arrives, not when you recover.

If you are considering fighting it, that is the point at which advice makes sense. Three weeks sounds like a lot and is not, when you are ill.

I only fell ill after the dismissal. Does that change anything?

Nothing about the dismissal. For continued pay the same applies as otherwise: it runs until the end of the employment relationship, within the six weeks.

Expect a sick report shortly after a dismissal to be looked at particularly closely. The evidential value of a properly issued certificate is high, but the Federal Labour Court has regarded it as shaken in several decisions where the sick leave covered the notice period exactly.

In practice that means: see a doctor, have yourself properly examined, and have the incapacity for work certified for the period for which it medically exists.