Employers are required to give notice prior to the termination of employment. Unless otherwise agreed, the notice period is calculated based on the employee’s length of service, as follows:

• 14 days of notice if employed for less than one year;
• one month if employed for 1–4 years;
• two months if employed for 4–8 years;
• four months if employed for 8–12 years;
• six months if employed for more than 12 years.

In case of cooperation negotiations, employers must notify the employees five days before the negotiations begin if there are likely to be layoffs. When fewer than 10 employees are affected, negotiations will last a minimum of 14 days; with 10 or more employees affected, the minimum negotiating period is six weeks. In practice, redundancies can then take effect at earliest five days plus 14 days or five days plus six weeks from the employer's first notification.