Signatures
July 23, 2009 | 25,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
Hello,
I work in the bail and credit sector and as a clerk I issue guarantees, some of which of course contain paragraphs that I do not know the legal backgrounds of.
Now, my colleagues and I are supposed to receive signing authority starting from Monday.
What are the legal implications if, for example, a guarantee is called and we are held liable?
Could we be held responsible for that?
Or lose our jobs?
And what if we refuse to sign? Would it be possible for our employer to provide a certificate stating that we cannot be held liable?
I would be very grateful for a prompt response.
Kind regards,
Ursula
Dear advice seeker,
Thank you very much for your inquiry!
Please excuse the initial unavailability of the response.
If you have any further questions regarding my following response, please feel free to address them to the email address provided at the very bottom.
Now, finally to the response:
If I understand correctly, you have been granted the authority to sign surety agreements.
This does not obligate you, but rather the grantor of the power of attorney.
Therefore, there is no surety agreement between you and the relevant person, but between your boss/company and the person.
So, in principle, you would not be held liable under the surety agreement yourself.
The only exception would be if you were to exceed your authority (e.g. regarding the maximum amount to be guaranteed) and as a result, cause damage to your principal.
In that case, the principal/grantor of the power of attorney could potentially hold you liable as a representative without authority according to § 179 of the German Civil Code.
I also see no risk of you losing your job. It wouldn't make sense since it is your job to sign surety agreements on behalf of your principal.
It may be possible to obtain a liability waiver from your employer or to contractually agree on one. However, I do not see a reason for this at the moment.
As long as you stay within the scope of your authority and issue the sureties as requested, you should not be held liable or have any negative consequences to fear.
Refusing to sign, however, could be considered insubordination, which theoretically could lead to dismissal after a corresponding warning.
I would like to point out the following:
The legal advice I have provided is based solely on the information you have provided. My response is only an initial legal assessment of the situation and cannot replace a comprehensive review of the facts. Adding or omitting relevant information could lead to a completely different legal assessment.
I hope my explanations have been helpful. Please feel free to contact me via email for further questions.
Wishing you a pleasant Thursday evening!
Kind regards,
Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney at Law
Heilsbergerstr. 16
27580 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Tel. 0471/3088132
Fax: 0471/3088316
