Requesting approval for the dismissal of severely disabled people

Severely disabled and equivalent disabled people are particularly protected against dismissal. For this reason, you must obtain the approval of the competent authority before giving notice.

Approval is required regardless of the reason for the intended dismissal (personal, operational or behavioral). The special protection against dismissal also applies regardless of the size of your company.

You need the approval of the competent authority for all types of dismissals, i.e. for

• ordinary dismissals,
• extraordinary dismissals (without notice) and
• notices of change.

In addition to the actual reason for dismissal, the competent authority will take into account in its decision, as part of the legally required balancing of mutual interests, for example

• Size and economic situation of the employer and
• fulfillment of the employment obligation

as well as:

• The nature and severity of the disability,
• age,
• personal circumstances of the severely disabled person,
• the length of service with the company and
• his or her chances of finding another job on the general labor market in the event of dismissal.

Particularly in the case of dismissals for personal and behavioral reasons, the dismissal protection proceedings will clarify what the company or the department and the company integration team did to avert the dismissal in advance and whether any preventative measures were taken.

In the case of extraordinary dismissals (without notice), the competent body checks whether the dismissal is related to the severe disability. If this is not the case, it will approve the dismissal and thus open the way to the labor court.

Dismissal without the involvement of the representative body for severely disabled employees (if present in the company) is invalid.

Dismissal without the prior consent of the competent body is also invalid. It cannot be subsequently approved by the competent body.

You only do not need approval if the severely disabled employee

• resigns themselves,
• has worked in your company for less than 6 months,
• has reached the age of 58 and is entitled to a severance payment or similar benefit,
• in the event of dismissal for weather-related reasons, if the employer has given a binding promise of re-employment,
• if the status as a severely disabled person could not be determined by the competent authorities at the time of termination, or
• the employment relationship is terminated without notice, for example by means of a termination agreement.

Requirements

• Recognition as a severely disabled person: a degree of disability of at least 50 must have been determined by the pension office.
• Equality: if the degree of disability is 30 or 40, you must have been granted equality with a severely disabled person by the employment agency.
• An application must have been submitted to the pension office or the employment agency (equal status) at least 3 weeks before the application for approval of the termination.

What documents do I need?

• Severely disabled pass
• Recognition notice from the pension office about the severe disability
  

  (is requested from employees by the competent authority. The employer has no right to this document).

• Equal opportunities notice from the employment agency
• Job description
• Detailed justification of the intention to terminate