notice period

noun · Kündigungsfrist

Kündigungsfrist, the period before an ordinary dismissal takes effect, § 622 BGB. It is a different word from notice in the sense of the notification itself, and it is asymmetric: the employer’s period lengthens with the employee’s years of service, while the employee’s own period stays at the basic length.

Which translation, when

nicht Mitteilungthe word: notice period is the Kündigungsfrist, the time that must elapse before an ordinary termination takes effect, § 622 BGB, distinct from notice in the sense of the communication; the length turns on who is giving it and on length of service, not on a single figure.

Asymmetriethe trap in the figures: from a basic period that applies to both sides, the employer’s notice lengthens in steps with the employee’s years of service, § 622 Abs. 2 BGB, while the employee’s own notice stays at the basic length, and a contract may not impose a longer notice on the employee than on the employer, § 622 Abs. 6 BGB; the exact step-lengths belong in a notice calculator, not in prose.

Why

Notice period is the Kündigungsfrist, and two things trip translators. First the word: German keeps the notification apart from the period. The act of giving notice may be rendered otherwise, but the period before an ordinary dismissal takes effect is the Kündigungsfrist of § 622 BGB. Second the asymmetry. There is a basic statutory period that applies to notice by either side, but for notice given by the employer the period lengthens in fixed steps with the employee’s length of service, § 622 Abs. 2 BGB, up to a statutory maximum for very long service; notice given by the employee stays at the basic period regardless of service, and a contract may not require a longer notice period from the employee than from the employer, § 622 Abs. 6 BGB. A shorter period applies during an agreed probationary period, § 622 Abs. 3 BGB, and collective agreements may vary the periods, § 622 Abs. 4 BGB. The specific lengths are movable detail for a notice calculator rather than the dictionary. So rendering the words as Kündigungsfrist is right, but treating the period as a single symmetrical figure misses that the employer’s notice grows with service while the employee’s does not.

Typical mistakes

Notice period is the Kündigungsfrist, the time before a dismissal takes effect, not notice in the sense of the notification, so collapsing the two into one word blurs the distinction German keeps.
The period is asymmetric: the employer’s lengthens with the employee’s service while the employee’s stays at the basic period, § 622 BGB, so assuming a single equal period for both sides is wrong.
The step-lengths are movable figures for a calculator; stating a fixed number in the dictionary invites a stale or wrong period.

What matters

Rendering a clause on termination timing, the translation should use Kündigungsfrist for the period before a dismissal takes effect, note that the employer’s period rises with the employee’s service while the employee’s stays at the basic length, § 622 BGB, and leave the exact step-lengths to a calculator. Treating it as one symmetrical figure misstates the rule.

Authority

§ 622 BGB

What the machine misses

Machine output renders notice period as Kündigungsfrist but then treats it as one fixed period equal for both sides. It loses that under § 622 BGB the employer’s notice period lengthens in steps with the employee’s length of service while the employee’s stays at the basic period, that a contract may not burden the employee with a longer period than the employer, and that the exact lengths belong in a calculator. The rendering flattens an asymmetric rule.

See what the machine does with this clause →

Examples

the statutory notice period	die gesetzliche Kündigungsfrist
the notice period lengthens with service	die Kündigungsfrist verlängert sich mit der Betriebszugehörigkeit
the notice period during probation	die Kündigungsfrist in der Probezeit
to observe the notice period	die Kündigungsfrist einhalten

More notes on these sections

notice Mitteilung