Signed a job contract in Germany but got a better offer: can you cancel before you start?

🇩🇪 DE · worker-rights · 2026-10-20

Translating to French. Showing the English original for now.

Yes, in most cases you can get out of a signed German employment contract before your first day, but you do it by giving notice, not by simply cancelling. The contract is binding once both sides sign it. What the law gives you is the ordinary right to terminate it with the notice period that applies, and many people can use that right before they start. The notice has to be a signed letter on paper, and if your contract has a contractual penalty clause, that clause matters. The cleaner route is usually to talk to the employer and agree in writing that the contract ends. It is general information, not legal advice.

What the law says about ending the contract

Section 620 BGB says that when the length of an employment is not fixed, either party can terminate it in line with sections 621 to 623. Under section 622(1) BGB the basic notice period is four weeks to the 15th or to the end of a calendar month. Longer periods in section 622(2) apply only to dismissals by the employer and only after years of service, so they do not affect you as a new hire.

If your contract has an agreed probation period (Probezeit) of up to six months, section 622(3) allows either side to terminate with two weeks' notice during that period. Section 622(6) adds that an employer cannot make the employee's notice period longer than the employer's own.

The statute has no separate rule for the time between signing and the first day. Whether notice can be given before the start, and whether the notice period runs from the day the letter arrives or only from the first day of work, depends on your contract and on how courts read it. If yours says nothing, many people in Germany give notice as soon as they decide, so that as much of the notice period as possible runs before the start date. If the notice period ends after the start date, expect that you may have to work the remaining days.

Fixed-term and public sector contracts

Many research and university posts, including Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter roles, are fixed term. Section 620(3) BGB points fixed-term contracts to the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG). Section 15(4) TzBfG says that a fixed-term employment can be ended by ordinary notice only if this is agreed in the individual contract or in the applicable collective agreement.

So for a fixed-term contract, read two things: the termination clause in your contract, and the collective agreement it refers to. In the public sector of the federal states this is usually the TV-L. Section 622(4) BGB allows collective agreements to set notice periods that differ from the statutory ones, and where the contract says the agreement applies, its rules count. If you cannot find the relevant clause, ask the HR department which notice period applies before the start date.

How to give notice correctly

Section 623 BGB says that ending an employment by notice or by a termination agreement needs written form to be valid, and that electronic form is excluded. In practice this means:

a letter on paper with your handwritten signature;
not an email, not a scanned PDF, not a message in an HR portal;
delivered in a way you can prove, for example handed over against a signed receipt or sent by a method that records delivery.

The letter can be short: your name, the contract and its date, that you terminate with the applicable notice period, and the end date you expect. No reason is needed. Keep a copy.

Contractual penalty (Vertragsstrafe)

Some German employment contracts contain a Vertragsstrafe clause: a sum you agree to pay if you do not start work or leave without keeping the notice period. Section 339 BGB is the general rule. If a debtor promises to pay a sum of money as a penalty for not performing an obligation, or not performing it properly, the penalty becomes due when the debtor is in default.

The key point is that a penalty needs a promise. If your contract has no Vertragsstrafe clause, section 339 has nothing to attach to. If it does have one, read exactly what triggers it, for example not starting work at all, and how much it is. Plan your notice so that you do not trigger it, or raise it when you ask for an agreement.

The practical route: ask for a termination agreement

Before you send a formal notice, talk to the employer. You can propose a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag or Auflösungsvertrag) that ends the contract before the first day, or on the first day, with no work and no pay owed by either side.

Section 623 covers this too: a termination agreement also needs written form, so both sides sign the same paper document. An email from HR saying yes does not end the contract on its own.

One point on order. A positive decision or a non-binding offer from the other employer is not yet a contract. If you terminate the first contract and the second one falls through, you may end up with no job at all. The safest order is to have the new contract signed, then give notice or agree the termination with the first employer. If you are not an EU citizen, also check what a change of employer means for your residence permit before you sign anything; see our guide on changing jobs in Germany on a residence permit.

If you start the job and leave during probation

If the timing does not work out, the fallback is to start the job and resign during the Probezeit. Under section 622(3) BGB the notice period during an agreed probation of up to six months is two weeks, unless your contract or collective agreement says something different. The two-week rule works both ways, as our article on being dismissed during Probezeit in Germany explains from the other side.

If you end up between jobs after ending a contract yourself or by agreement, check the unemployment benefit rules before you sign. Our guide on the ALG I Sperrzeit after a settlement agreement explains what to look at.

FAQ

Can I cancel a signed job contract in Germany before the start date?

Not as if it never existed, but you can usually terminate it with notice or agree with the employer to end it. Check whether your contract excludes notice before the start.

Does an email count as notice in Germany?

No. Section 623 BGB requires written form and excludes electronic form, so you need a paper letter with your handwritten signature.

How long is the notice period if I have not started yet?

The statutory basic period is four weeks to the 15th or the end of a month. During an agreed probation period of up to six months it is two weeks. Your contract or collective agreement, such as the TV-L, can set other periods.

Do I have to pay a penalty if I do not start the job?

Only if your contract contains a contractual penalty (Vertragsstrafe) clause and you trigger it. Without such a clause, section 339 BGB has no promise to enforce.

My contract is fixed term. Can I still give notice?

Under section 15(4) TzBfG a fixed-term contract can be ended by ordinary notice only if the contract or the applicable collective agreement allows it. Read both, or ask HR.

Should I resign before the new contract is signed?

It is safer not to. A non-binding offer is not a contract.

How Jobsy fits

We build Jobsy, a job search service for Europe that searches for you: you say what work you want, and Jobsy finds employers and recruitment agencies, including in Germany, and prepares outreach in the language of the recipient. It does not give legal advice or check contracts, so the questions above stay with you, HR, your union or a lawyer. The first result is free.

Sources

Sources: Civil Code (BGB), section 620: End of the employment relationship · Civil Code (BGB), section 622: Notice periods for employment relationships · Civil Code (BGB), section 623: Written form of termination · Civil Code (BGB), section 339: Forfeiture of a contractual penalty · Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG), section 15: End of a fixed-term employment