About Layoff Simulator
Layoff Simulator is free and runs in your browser. It is for people hit by a layoff in Germany, or worried about one. Losing a job is serious. Here you can practice the conversation safely, on a made-up case. It shows what is on the table: your options, your rights and the steps. Your company announces a layoff and your job is on the list. You sit at the table across from HR, play action cards, and discover your rights under German employment law. A case ends when you accept an offer or lose it. A debrief then shows the best possible deal for your case and how close you came.
Every case is different: age, years of service, family, salary, company size, Betriebsrat and special protection all change the rules that apply. A link such as layoffsim.com/#case=12 reopens the same case, so you can share it.
The simulator models a layoff for operational reasons in Germany. Every rule cites its statute. Checked against the statutes on 12 November 2026.
In the simulator
- Voluntary exit offer (Aufhebungsvertrag), with the Sperrzeit and Ruhen traps
- Dismissal, the 3-week deadline to sue, and the § 1a severance
- Labour court: Gütetermin, settlement, Kammertermin, then back to the job or a buyout
- Dismissal protection: company size, the 6-month waiting period, Sozialauswahl, Namensliste, open jobs
- Betriebsrat: hearing before dismissal, Sozialplan, Transfergesellschaft
- Special protection: pregnancy, parental leave, severe disability, Betriebsrat members, collective agreements
- Site closure and Änderungskündigung
- Notice periods, jobseeker registration, lawyer fees, legal insurance
- Deal terms: Freistellung, Arbeitszeugnis, Sprinterklausel, payment date
- Net money: 2026 income tax, social contributions, tax class, Fünftelregelung
- Insolvency: Insolvenzgeld, the administrator, capped notice and Sozialplan
Simplified
- Net pay uses standard allowances only, without church tax or a personal tax return.
- Severance amounts follow a simple formula. Real ones vary by court, region and industry.
- A court outcome is certain once the facts are known. Real judges are not.
- A kept job counts as one year of salary.
Not in the simulator yet
- Sale of the business (Betriebsübergang)
- Dismissal for conduct or illness, and dismissal without notice
- Fixed-term contracts, apprentices, executives, public service
- Errors in the mass-layoff notification
- Appeals and second-instance courts
- Countries other than Germany
Not legal advice
The simulator is education with fictional cases. It does not replace advice for your situation. If a layoff affects you, talk to an employment lawyer, your union or your Betriebsrat.