Muut:
required by law to write you a favourable reference letter when you leave. But since the letter must always sound positive, it can be interpreted in the most cynical way.
Flash forward more than a hundred years and we arrive to a situation where Germany, alongside with Switzerland, are the only countries in Europe where the employee has the right to a reference letter in which their performance is graded, the Arbeitszeugnis.
Not only that, the letter must be “kindly” written, not to “impede career advancement”. Should the employer not comply with this requirements, it will be an open invitation for a lawsuit.
This might sound like an advantageous situation for the employees, but after years of interactions, we’ve arrived to a status quo of misleading grades and hidden meanings that allow companies in Germany to grade you positively or negatively on each job you’ve had while avoiding any legal danger.
