In one sentence
The first question after a dismissal is not whether it is valid, but how many days remain: anyone who does not bring a Kündigungsschutzklage (claim for protection against dismissal) before the labour court within three weeks of receipt has, by operation of law, even an unlawful dismissal treated as valid against them.
The period runs from receipt, not from the date on the letter
§ 4 Satz 1 KSchG ties the three weeks to receipt of the written notice of dismissal — the moment at which the letter enters your sphere of control in such a way that you can normally take note of it. That is usually when it is dropped into the letterbox, not the day on which you open the envelope. A letter dated the 1st that is delivered on the 4th starts the period on the 4th; anyone away on holiday loses days. Because the day of receipt can hardly be reconstructed later, record it first.
The real trap is in § 7 KSchG
The most dangerous sentence in the law on protection against dismissal is not a deadline but a fiction: under § 7 KSchG the dismissal is deemed valid from the outset if its invalidity was not asserted in time. It is then no longer examined whether there was a ground, whether the works council was heard or whether the social selection was correct. A defect that would have brought the dismissal down in the second week is meaningless in the fourth.
Also where the Kündigungsschutzgesetz does not apply
A widespread misconception: that in a small business, or in the first six months, the deadline does not matter because protection against dismissal does not apply anyway. Only half of that is correct — general protection against dismissal presupposes a business size above the threshold in § 23 Abs. 1 KSchG and the qualifying period under § 1 Abs. 1 KSchG. The time limit for bringing a claim applies nonetheless: § 13 Abs. 3 KSchG extends §§ 4 to 7 to dismissals that are invalid on other grounds — for instance for want of consent from the integration office, because of a prohibition on dismissal, or because of a formal defect. In a small business those grounds are precisely the only ones that remain — and unused, they lapse too.
A formal defect is worth the first look: a dismissal requires written form as a matter of compulsion, and electronic form is excluded (§ 623 BGB) — by email or messenger it is invalid. That, too, is of no use once the period has expired.
Two exceptions you should not rely on
- A later start to the period: if the dismissal requires the consent of an authority — for instance in the case of severe disability or during pregnancy — the period runs only from notification of that decision (§ 4 Satz 4 KSchG).
- Subsequent admission: anyone who was prevented from bringing a claim in time despite all reasonable care can have it admitted subsequently under § 5 KSchG — within two weeks of the impediment ceasing, and at the latest six months after the end of the period. The standard is strict; holiday or ignorance of the deadline is as a rule not enough.
The first 72 hours
What is secured now determines the evidential position later: keep the envelope with the postmark, note the day of receipt, record witnesses to the delivery, check the letter for a signature and for authority to represent, and put together the employment contract and the number of employees.
Be careful with an Aufhebungsvertrag (termination agreement) offered at the same time: it does not circumvent the deadline, it replaces the dispute — usually to your disadvantage. Protection against dismissal falls away, and the employment agency examines a period of disqualification from benefits. Do not sign anything under time pressure in an HR meeting.
What the platform can do — and what it cannot
You can upload the letter of dismissal and have it classified: the end of the period calculated from the stated day of receipt, a check of formal requirements, an assessment of the starting position. For the claim itself a clear limit applies: it is a task for a lawyer, the deadline cannot be extended, and a missed date cannot be repaired. The analysis prepares the first consultation, it does not replace it.
→ Protection against dismissal in the glossary · Use case: dismissal · Severance calculator · Reviewing a termination agreement
