HR-Glossar

Befristetes Arbeitsverhältnis (fixed-term employment)

When a German fixed term is valid with and without an objective reason, why the written form decides everything and which deadline applies to a challenge.

1. What is Befristetes Arbeitsverhältnis (fixed-term employment)?

A fixed-term employment relationship ends without any dismissal – by expiry of time or on achievement of an agreed purpose. The legal basis is the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG).

Section 14 TzBfG distinguishes two routes. A fixed term with an objective reason is permissible where one of the grounds listed there exists – temporary need, substitution, trial, or a reason in the person, for example. A fixed term without an objective reason is possible only up to a maximum duration and with a limited number of extensions, and it is excluded where an employment relationship with the same employer has existed before.

Above all of this stands a formal requirement on which most fixed terms fail: Section 14(4) TzBfG requires written form for the fixed-term agreement. Where it is missing, or signed only after work has started, the fixed term is ineffective – and under Section 16 TzBfG the contract counts as concluded for an indefinite period.

Two sentences there deserve reading twice in a group context. Electronic signature does not satisfy the written form here. And a previous internship or student job with the same employer can be enough to block the route without an objective reason.

2. Origin and development

German employment law takes the open-ended relationship as the normal case. A fixed term is the exception, because it sets aside dismissal protection: where a contract ends by itself, no ground for dismissal and no social justification is needed.

The structure follows from that exceptional character. Either an objective reason justifies the departure – in which case repeated fixed terms are also possible. Or there is none; the statute then permits a limited trial phase, but only once per employer and only for a maximum duration.

The prior employment bar is the most contested part of this construction. On its wording, any earlier employment with the same employer excludes a fixed term without an objective reason, without any time limit. The Federal Constitutional Court confirmed that strict reading but required exceptions for cases where the earlier employment was very long ago, of an entirely different nature, or of very short duration. Exactly where the line runs is a matter for the individual case – which makes the prior employment bar the most dangerous cliff in practice.

3. Core principles and how it works

Written form before work begins

Section 14(4) TzBfG requires written form for the fixed-term agreement. It must be in place before work is taken up. A fixed term signed afterwards is ineffective, even where both sides wanted it.

Two routes that exclude each other

Either an objective reason or a fixed term without one. Relying on an objective reason means not being bound by the maximum duration and number of extensions; managing without one means being bound by both.

The prior employment bar without an objective reason

Where an employment relationship with the same employer has existed before, a fixed term without an objective reason is excluded. Exceptions come into consideration only for prior employment that was very long ago, of an entirely different nature, or very short.

An extension means only an extension

An extension may change the term alone – and must be agreed before the current contract expires. Where pay or working time is changed at the same time, this is a new contract, and that is impermissible without an objective reason.

An ineffective fixed term produces an open-ended contract

Section 16 TzBfG says so expressly. The consequence of a formal defect is therefore not nullity but an employment relationship for an indefinite period.

Three weeks to bring a claim

Under Section 17 TzBfG the ineffectiveness of the fixed term must be raised in court within three weeks of the agreed end. After that it counts as effective.

Ordinary termination only where agreed

A fixed-term contract can be terminated on notice during its term only where that is expressly agreed or provided for by collective agreement. Otherwise it binds both sides until the end.

4. Who is Befristetes Arbeitsverhältnis (fixed-term employment) relevant for?

- Employers with fluctuating need – projects, seasons, cover. - Employees on fixed-term contracts – for them the formal question decides whether the employment continues. - HR departments – the formal errors arise with them, usually under time pressure when hiring. - Academia and the public sector – separate fixed-term regimes apply there alongside the TzBfG. - Businesses with many returners – working students, seasonal staff, former interns: the prior employment bar bites with them.

5. How it differs from related terms

- Fixed term by time and by purpose – a fixed term by time ends on a date, one by purpose on achievement of the purpose. With a purpose-based term the ending must be announced in writing, and the employment ends at the earliest a set period afterwards. - Fixed term and probationary period – the probationary period shortens the notice period but does not end the contract. With short fixed-term contracts the permissible length of the probationary period is additionally limited. - Fixed term and condition subsequent – a condition subsequent attaches to an uncertain event and is largely treated like a fixed term. - Fixed term and dismissal – a fixed-term contract ends by itself; dismissal protection nevertheless applies during its term, so far as notice can be given at all. - TzBfG and the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act – a separate fixed-term regime applies to academic staff at universities.

6. Variants and adaptations

The common objective reasons in Section 14(1) TzBfG at a glance:

- Temporary operational need – a project, an order, a season. The need must be foreseeably coming to an end when the contract is concluded. - Substitution – parental leave, illness, a sabbatical. The case being covered must be specific. - Trial – as an objective reason of its own, independent of the probationary period. - Following training or study – to ease the transition. - Reasons in the person – a time-limited residence permit or the person's own wish, for instance. - Budgetary fixed term – in the public sector, with narrow requirements. - Court settlement – the fixed term is agreed in the proceedings.

7. Advantages and challenges

Advantages

  • Makes staffing possible for a foreseeably ending need without a later dismissal process
  • The contract ends without notice, consultation or dismissal protection proceedings
  • For employees often the entry point that would otherwise not be offered
  • A fixed term without an objective reason allows a longer trial than the probationary period
  • The legal consequences are clearly regulated and easy to predict

Challenges

  • The written form before work begins is regularly missed under time pressure — producing an open-ended contract
  • The prior employment bar is hard to assess in the individual case
  • An "extension" that also changes the contract is a new contract and usually impermissible
  • Without an express agreement the contract cannot be terminated on notice — which binds the employer too
  • For employees a fixed term means less certainty when seeking credit or housing
  • With a purpose-based term the duty to announce the ending is frequently overlooked

8. Best practices for implementation

Signature before the first working day, without exception

That is the one rule preventing the most damage. Someone who starts on Monday and signs on Tuesday has an open-ended contract – regardless of what both sides intended. And electronic signature does not satisfy the requirement.

Ask actively about prior employment

An internship, a student job, temporary help, holiday work: any earlier employment can exclude a fixed term without an objective reason. A question on the hiring form is cheaper than litigation.

On an extension, change only the term

Pay, working time and duties stay untouched – otherwise a new contract arises. Changes belong in a separate step at a different time.

Document the objective reason, do not merely assert it

Which need, which project, which substitution. In proceedings the objective reason has to be set out; a reason constructed afterwards rarely convinces.

Announce a purpose-based ending in good time

The ending must be communicated in writing, and the employment ends only a set period afterwards. Missing that extends the contract unintentionally.

9. Tips for employers and employees

For employers

  • **Written form before work begins** – Section 14(4) TzBfG, without exception
  • **Ask about prior employment** – internships and temporary work count too
  • **Extend the term only** – any further change turns it into a new contract
  • **Agree that notice can be given** – otherwise you are bound until the end as well

For employees

  • **Check the date of signature** – a fixed term signed after you started work is ineffective
  • **Three weeks after the end** – Section 17 TzBfG; after that the fixed term counts as effective
  • **Earlier employment can help you** – it often excludes a fixed term without an objective reason
  • **Read an extension closely** – if something else is changed at the same time, that points to a new contract

10. Conclusion

A fixed term is the exception to open-ended employment, and the statute treats it strictly to match. In practice, though, what decides matters is neither the objective reason nor the maximum duration but a formality: Section 14(4) TzBfG requires written form before work begins. Where that is missed, Section 16 TzBfG produces a contract for an indefinite period – by far the most common route by which fixed-term contracts become permanent.

The second cliff is the prior employment bar. Any earlier employment with the same employer – including an internship or temporary work – can exclude a fixed term without an objective reason. Exceptions exist, but they are questions for the individual case.

And a third, often overlooked: an extension may change the term only. Adjusting pay at the same time concludes a new contract, and that is impermissible without an objective reason.

For an international group the first and second combine into one predictable failure. A graduate hired on a fixed term after interning at the same company, with the contract e-signed on their first morning, fails both tests at once – and the result is not a defective fixed term but a permanent employee.

A note on sources: there is no official English version of the TzBfG (checked on 2026-09-27); its German text governs. The Civil Code has one, cited below.

Sources

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