Proof of authorization for termination by personnel manager LAG Schleswig-Holstein 25.02.2014 - 1 Sa 252/13

The Regional Labor Court had to decide a case in which a sales employee had received a letter of termination signed by a HR manager. The HR manager had conducted the recruitment interview with the employee and signed the employment contract. The termination was rejected by the employee due to a lack of authorization and challenged with an action for unfair dismissal. The action for protection against dismissal was upheld at first and second instance. The dismissal was declared invalid.

The position as personnel manager is not sufficient to rule out the rejection of a dismissal by the employee. Pursuant to Section 174 sentence 1 BGB, a dismissal is invalid if the authorized representative does not submit a power of attorney and the other party immediately rejects the legal transaction. If a personnel manager does not present an original power of attorney from the employer when giving notice of termination, the employee may reject the termination. This does not apply if the employer has informed the employee of the authorization of the personnel manager. A transfer of functions based on the position of the authorized representative in the company alone is not sufficient for this. The authority to conduct recruitment interviews and to be authorized to sign employment contracts does not yet constitute an authorization to give notice of termination. Rather, the employer must make it known to the outside world that the HR manager has been appointed to this position.