Your German employment contract (Arbeitsvertrag) signed

Who this applies to and who can skip it

This checklist item is only relevant if you are coming to Germany as an employee. If you are arriving as a freelancer or self-employed person, on a job-seeker or Opportunity Card visa, as a student, or as the spouse or child of someone else, you will not have a German employment contract at the start, and that is completely normal. In those cases you can mark this item as not applicable and focus on the documents your own route requires.

For employees, the contract is doing double duty: it is both the legal basis of your job and a core piece of evidence for your visa, since the embassy uses the stated gross salary to check Blue Card or skilled worker thresholds.

What a German Arbeitsvertrag contains

German law (the Nachweisgesetz, or Evidence Act) requires employers to set out the essential terms of employment in writing. A typical Arbeitsvertrag states the names and addresses of both parties, the start date, the place of work, the job title and description, and whether the contract is permanent (unbefristet) or fixed-term (befristet).

It will specify your gross salary (Bruttogehalt), the payment schedule, and how overtime is handled, along with your working hours and break/rest rules. Note that the contract quotes a gross figure: your net pay depends on your tax class (Steuerklasse), social-security contributions, church tax if applicable, and health insurance. Vacation entitlement is stated too; the statutory minimum is 20 days for a five-day week (24 working days based on a six-day week), though many employers offer 25 to 30.

Two clauses deserve special attention. The probation period (Probezeit) is commonly up to six months, during which either side can terminate with a short notice of typically two weeks. The notice period (Kuendigungsfrist) after probation is at least four weeks to the 15th or the end of a calendar month, and the employer's notice period grows with your length of service. A useful rule: your notice period as an employee may not be longer than your employer's.

What to check before you sign

You are not obliged to sign on the spot. It is normal and sensible to take the contract away, read it carefully, and ask questions. Verify the exact gross salary and that it meets your visa's threshold, the payment schedule, working hours and overtime rules, the number of vacation days, the length of probation, and the notice periods for both sides.

Watch for clauses on bonuses (and whether they are guaranteed or discretionary), non-compete agreements, relocation support, and any reference to a collective agreement (Tarifvertrag) that may modify standard terms. If anything is unclear or you are unhappy with it, raise it with the employer before signing. For non-EU applicants the salary line is critical, because a figure even slightly below the Blue Card threshold can mean the difference between a Blue Card and a less favourable permit.