Reading your first German employment contract
Open the PDF in a calm hour. You are not translating every word—you are locating the levers that change your next year.
Most newcomers start at salary and stop. Salary matters, but German employment consultations often turn on duration language, overtime mechanics, and what happens if the project funding ends early.
1. Find the end date—or the absence of one
Look for befristet versus unbefristet wording. If the contract is fixed-term, note whether a Sachgrund is stated and whether renewals are mentioned. Verbal promises of extension belong in email, not only in memory.
2. Map working time before culture stories
Weekly hours, core time, and overtime compensation (pay versus Zeitausgleich) should appear in writing. If colleagues say “we never track evenings,” treat that as culture data, not as a waiver of Arbeitszeitgesetz basics.
3. Secondary employment and IP
Nebenbeschäftigung clauses sometimes require approval for any side work, including teaching or open-source maintainership. Ask early if your side project is already live.
4. Exit and garden leave
Notice periods during and after Probezeit can differ. Garden leave (Freistellung) may appear in later agreements even if absent from the first offer—know the vocabulary so a future letter does not surprise you.
What we do in Foundations
In German Employment Foundations, learners annotate a sample contract in week two and bring one anonymized clause from their own offer to clinic. If you need a faster pass, book an Orientation Desk hour.