Under certain circumstances, the employer can still validly issue an extraordinary termination after the two-week period has expired. This was decided by the Federal Labor Court.
Labor law stipulates that the employer or a person authorized to terminate in the company must issue an extraordinary termination within a period of two weeks after the grounds for termination are known. After this period, the extraordinary termination can generally no longer be validly issued, explains the corporate law firm MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte, which advises employers on employment law issues. However, there are exceptions, and the termination can still be valid after two weeks, as shown by a Federal Labor Court ruling from May 5, 2022 (Case No.: 2 AZR 483/21).
In the proceedings before the Federal Labor Court, a sales manager violated the compliance rules prevailing in the company. The violation would have provided sufficient grounds for an extraordinary termination. However, the company management wanted to investigate the matter thoroughly before issuing a termination and set up a compliance team, which conducted extensive investigations. The investigations took time, and after 11 months, the management received the preliminary report from the investigation commission. Ten days later, they issued an extraordinary termination to the sales manager.
The man’s wrongful dismissal lawsuit, which was successful in the first two instances, ended up before the Federal Labor Court. The judges in Erfurt ruled that the extraordinary termination was issued within the deadline and is valid.
The Federal Labor Court argued that the two-week notice period only began when the management was presented with the investigation report. It was only then that the employer could assess the breach of duty and weigh the reasons for or against termination. This would only be different, according to the Federal Labor Court, if the knowledge of the termination-relevant circumstances had been unfairly avoided by the employer. The establishment of a compliance team and the presentation of an interim report, however, argue against this.
MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte provides advice on terminations and other employment law issues.
