Declaration of commitment / Severability clause
August 31, 2009 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
In our company, a comprehensive commitment declaration has been created and is now being handed out for signature, formulated as a supplement to the employment contract.
In the severability clause, the following passage is stated:
"This commitment declaration (CD) ... is valid for a period of one year. It will then be extended by one year each time, unless terminated with a notice period of three months before the end of the respective term. Employees are obligated to accept changes to the CD even without termination.
...
In place of the ineffective or unenforceable provision, the effective and enforceable provision shall apply, which comes closest to the security-related objective pursued by the parties with the ineffective or unenforceable provision. The above provisions apply accordingly in the event that the agreement is found to be incomplete."
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry!
I would like to address your questions as follows, taking into consideration the facts you have provided and your commitment:
Unfortunately, it is not clear what the commitment refers to specifically, so a final statement at this point will not be possible.
However, the clause you mentioned is not uncommon and will generally be effective in an individual contract.
While the last section (the actual severability clause) may be ineffective and subject to warnings in general terms and conditions (at least according to the case law of some courts), it is common and generally valid in your case, an individual contract.
I hope this provides you with an initial legal orientation and wish you success and all the best!
I would like to finally point out the following:
The legal information I have provided is based solely on the facts you have provided. My response is only a first legal assessment of the situation and cannot replace a comprehensive evaluation of the facts. Adding or omitting relevant information can lead to a completely different legal assessment.
I hope my explanations have been helpful. Please feel free to contact me via my email address or the follow-up option.
I wish you a pleasant Monday evening!
Best regards,
Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney at Law
Heilsbergerstr. 16
27580 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Tel. 0471/3088132
Fax: 0471/3088316
