Pregnant during probation period with a fixed-term contract
May 27, 2014 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Rechtsanwältin Jasmi Jasmin Pesla
Hello and good day,
I am pregnant during the probation period (01.01.2014 to 30.06.2014) with a fixed-term contract (end 31.12.2014). Section 2 of the probation period states: "This employment contract is provisionally concluded for a trial period of 6 months and ends by lapse of time without the need for termination.
Question: Do I have protection against dismissal until 31.12.2014?
Best regards
Dear inquirer,
According to § 9 Maternity Protection Act (MuSchG), it is prohibited to terminate the employment of a pregnant woman until four months after childbirth.
There is an absolute prohibition of termination that applies to all pregnant employees (including those in probationary periods).
It is important that the employer is informed of the pregnancy no later than two weeks after receiving the notice of termination. The receipt of the notification should be able to be proven in case of dispute. Otherwise, there is a risk of losing the special protection against termination under § 9 MuSchG solely due to missing this deadline.
Only in exceptional cases could a termination be carried out with official approval. Such special cases could be, for example: business closure, insolvency or partial closure, if the job opportunity for the affected woman in this company has ceased or there are serious violations such as intentional criminal acts or particularly serious breaches of contractual obligations by the employee.
I hope this information has been helpful, and remain
Yours sincerely
