Administrative services A-Z

Forms: the application form can be obtained from your regional Integration or Inclusion Office

Online procedure possible: no

Written form required: yes

Personal appearance required: no

Severely disabled persons and persons with disabilities of equivalent status are particularly protected against dismissal. Therefore, you must obtain the consent of the Integration Office (in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia: Inclusion Office) before giving notice of termination.

Consent is required regardless of the reason for the intended termination (personal, operational or behavioral). The special protection against dismissal also applies regardless of how large your company is.

You need the approval of the Integration Office for all types of dismissals, i.e.:

• ordinary terminations,
• extraordinary (without notice) terminations as well as
• Change Terminations.

In addition to the actual reason for dismissal, the Integration Office takes into account in its decision within the framework of the legally prescribed necessary balancing of mutual interests, for example:

• the size and economic situation of the employer, and
• Fulfilment of the employment obligation

as well as:

• the nature and severity of the disability,
• Age
• personal circumstances of the severely disabled person,
• length of service, and
• their chances of finding another job in the general labour market in the event of redundancy.

In particular, in the case of dismissals for personal and behavioural reasons, the dismissal protection procedure clarifies what the company or the department as well as the company integration team have done in advance to avert the dismissal and, if necessary, whether preventive measures have been initiated.

In the case of extraordinary (without notice) dismissals, the Integration Office checks whether the dismissal is related to the severe disability. If this is not the case, it agrees to the dismissal and thus opens the way to the labour court.

A termination that you pronounce without the participation of the representative body for severely disabled persons (if available in the company) is ineffective.

A dismissal pronounced without the prior consent of the Integration Office is also ineffective. Nor can it be subsequently approved by the Integration Office.

They only do not need consent if the severely disabled employee:

• terminates himself,
• has been working in your company for less than 6 months,
• has reached the age of 58 and is entitled to a severance payment or similar benefit,
• in the event of dismissal due to weather conditions, if the employer gives a binding promise of reinstatement,
• if, at the time of dismissal, the status of severely disabled person could not be determined by the competent authorities, or
• the employment relationship is terminated without notice, for example by means of a termination agreement.
   

• Recognition as a severely disabled person: a degree of disability of at least 50 must have been determined by the pension office.
• Equality: with a degree of disability of 30 or 40, equality with a severely disabled person must have been granted by the Employment Agency.
   

• Disabled person's pass
• Notification of recognition from the pension office about the severe disability (requested by the Integration Office for employees. The employer is not entitled to this document)
• Equal opportunities notice of the Employment Agency
• Job description
• Detailed reasons for the intention to terminate the contract

none

You must apply in writing for consent to the dismissal of a severely disabled person:

• Contact your regional Integration or Inclusion Office to obtain the application form for consent to termination. Fill it out completely and send it to the Integration Office with the required documents.
• After receiving the application for consent to the termination, the Integration Office examines the facts. To this end, it hears the severely disabled person and obtains the opinion of the works or staff council and the representative body for severely disabled persons.
  • Tip: You can obtain the opinion of the works or staff council and the representative body for severely disabled persons in advance and add it to your application.
• If necessary, the Integration Office also engages experts (for example, the Integration Service or the Technical Advisory Service) and obtains further opinions and expert opinions. In order to clarify the facts, it may also conduct witness examinations.
• The Integration Office is obliged to work towards an amicable settlement at every stage of the proceedings. This can be done particularly well in oral proceedings with all parties.
• Within the framework of an amicable settlement, the Integration Office may also offer services of accompanying assistance in working life from funds of the compensatory levy, for example to design workplaces suitable for the disability or to compensate for extraordinary burdens that may be associated with the employment of the severely disabled person.
• If an amicable agreement cannot be reached, the Integration Office will make a decision on the application at its due discretion and weighing up the mutual interests of the two parties. Special rules apply in the event of dismissals in connection with the cessation of operations, significant operational restrictions and insolvencies.
• The Integration Office issues a notice of dismissal, which is addressed to you as the applicant and at the same time to the employee as a party to the proceedings. In addition to the decision, the decision shall contain detailed reasons and an appeal.
   

• Consent to extraordinary (without notice) termination: You must give notice of termination immediately after approval by the Integration Office. Immediate means here within 3 working days. If you miss this deadline, the approval of the Integration Office is invalid. You can then only seek a new ordinary termination procedure.
• Consent to ordinary termination: You must give notice of termination within one month of receipt of the consent of the Integration Office. Thereafter, the consent to termination expires. You can then only seek a new ordinary termination procedure.
   

Your regional integration office (Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia: Inclusion Office).

In Brandenburg, the State Office for Social Affairs and Supply

• Find the responsible Integration or Inclusion Office

Your regional integration office (Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia: Inclusion Office).

In Brandenburg, the State Office for Social Affairs and Supply

• Find the responsible Integration or Inclusion Office

• §§ 168 et seq. of the Ninth Book of the Social Code (SGB IX)

• Information on subsidies and assistance in the employment of severely disabled people on the website of the Integration Offices
• Information on the special protection against dismissal of severely disabled people on the website of the Integration Offices

Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS)