I. Legal Claim to a Work Reference
According to § 630 BGB, § 109 GewO, and § 16 BBiG, employees are entitled to receive a work reference upon termination of their employment relationship. In addition to employees, this entitlement extends to home workers, freelancers, trainees, and temporary workers.
The right to a reference generally arises with the end of the employment or training relationship.
II. Types of References
Pursuant to § 630 BGB or § 109 GewO in conjunction with § 262 BGB, the employee has the right to choose whether he or she wishes to exercise a simple or a qualified right of termination. Job reference required.
A simple work reference includes only the employee’s name, profession, and job title, as well as the type and duration of employment. A qualified work reference, on the other hand, also includes assessments of the employee’s performance and conduct.
III. Format of the Reference
The certificate must be issued in writing in accordance with Section 109 (1) GewO and electronic form is excluded in accordance with Section 109 (3) GewO. In addition, the certificate must be written on a company letterhead and signed by the Employer or signed by an authorised representative.
IV. Content of the Reference
A typical work reference consists of a job description, a performance and behavior evaluation, and a concluding statement.
The job description must include the Employees The tasks assigned to the employee must be stated so completely and precisely that a competent third party can obtain proper information about the tasks performed by the employee.
The performance evaluation assesses the employee’s skills, knowledge, work method, and success at work.
The behavior evaluation rates the employee’s conduct towards superiors, colleagues, employees, customers, and business partners.
In addition to information on the termination of the contract, the final wording contains employment relationship, often a thank-you or regretful formulation as well as wishes for the future.
The Federal Labour Court has established in several rulings that the content of an employer's reference must be truthful (principle of truthfulness) and must be based on „reasonable goodwill“ (see, for example, BAG, judgement of 23 June 1960, AP No. 1 on Section 73 HGB). In this respect, the employer is obliged not to make any coded, contradictory or ambiguous statements in order not to impede the employee's further advancement.
The legal basis for this regulation is § 109 Para. 2 GewO.
Understandably, the obligation for a favorable evaluation is somewhat in tension with the principle of testimonial truthfulness. This stems from the dual purpose of a work reference: to serve as a basis for the employee’s future job applications while also informing the new employer about the employee’s performance and conduct.
Over time, certain standard phrases have developed to provide sufficient information to the future employer, roughly corresponding to school grades:
“always to our fullest satisfaction” = Very Good
“to our fullest satisfaction” = Good
“to our full satisfaction” = Satisfactory
“overall to our satisfaction” = Poor
"Overall to our satisfaction" = Unsatisfactory
V. Limitation Period for the Reference Claim
The claim for a work reference is subject to the regular limitation period under § 195 BGB. The limitation period begins, according to § 199 BGB, at the end of the year in which the claim arises and ends after three full years.
Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, due to the complexity and constant evolution of the subject matter, we must exclude liability and warranty. Important Notice: The content of this article has been created to the best of our knowledge and understanding. However, due to the complexity and constant changes in the subject matter, we must exclude any liability and warranty.
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