Is it possible to terminate an employment relationship via social media or messaging services?
We live in an age in which many things are done quickly via cell phone. Private and increasingly also professional communication takes place via cell phone. We often use messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram or email, to name just a few. Many invoices can now be submitted and settled using a photo taken from a cell phone. So it's only natural to ask whether you can also terminate your employment contract using a messaging service. The answer here is clear: No. Why? Because Section 623 of the German Civil Code ( § 623 BGB) stipulates that the termination of employment relationships by notice of termination or a termination agreement must be in writing. The electronic form is excluded. This requirement for the written form with a handwritten signature in accordance with Section 126 BGB can only be replaced by a qualified electronic signature within the meaning of Art. 3 No. 12 eIDAS Regulation. Even sending a photo of the written notice of termination via WhatsApp does not change the invalidity (LAG Munich, judgment of October 28, 2021, AZ: 3 SA 362/21). This means that neither a typed text in Messenger nor a photographed original document is sufficient. For a notice of termination to be effective, the recipient - in our example this is the employer, but of course it works the other way around - must receive the original document with a handwritten signature (i.e. signed by the recipient, see Section 126 BGB). A notice of termination by WhatsApp or email does not meet these requirements.
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