"A promise is a promise!" - If the boss says "yes", that counts too

From safe takeover to sudden termination

"Of course you'll be taken on." A sentence that sounds like music to the ears of most employees shortly before the end of their probationary period. This was also the case for an employee in North Rhine-Westphalia. But the supposedly certain promise turned out to be a pipe dream - because shortly afterwards he received a letter of dismissal. What's worse, the whole thing happened during his probationary period. But what sounds like a bad joke had legal repercussions - with a pretty clear ruling.

When words weigh more than resignations

The Düsseldorf Regional Labor Court (case no. 3 SLa 317/24) ruled that the dismissal was in breach of trust and therefore invalid. Why? Because the employee trusted his manager - and rightly so. The department director had acted with power of attorney, i.e. with real decision-making authority. His promise was not just small talk, but had legal weight.

According to the court, the employee was entitled to assume that the probationary period had been successfully completed. Anyone who receives such a clear promise - "Of course we'll take you on!" - and is then dismissed anyway is right to be suspicious. And so will the labor court.

Not every boss is allowed to say everything

The important thing is who makes such a commitment. If the team leader had said "I think it's going well for you" over coffee, things would be different. But this was someone with direct personnel responsibility - and that makes all the difference.

In retrospect, the employer could not give any valid reasons why the opinion suddenly changed. There were no new findings, no serious incidents. Simply a dismissal out of the blue - and that's not enough.

Whoever says "yes" should also mean "yes"

This ruling is a real exclamation mark - for all those who believe that you can resign without hesitation during the probationary period, regardless of what you promised beforehand. Wrong! Anyone who makes a binding promise cannot hide behind the probationary period regulation. And that's a good thing. Because trust is the basis of every working relationship - and if employers carelessly break this trust, they should be held accountable in court.