This may help some of you. Suffering from culture shock, some of you may always be thinking of how things work back at home and how things here don't work so easily. It does not get any easier when you have found work and signing that job contract and having a change of heart, wanting to leave that job, after weeks or months, because of stressful conditions or other legitimate reasons. Signing a contract here in Germany, means you are literally signing your life, because if you do not honour the contract your employer will hold you in breach and will take you to court over it, sueing you for damages and your life will be disrupted.
Be responsible and READ CAREFULLY EACH CLAUSE OF YOUR WORKING CONTRACT and then decide if this job is worth working in the conditions stated in the contract. Once your signiture is on it you are lawfully binded to the Company, Firm whatever. Business is taken very seriously here.
Things to check are:
See the conditions ,that is for the duration of employment and how long for giving in your notice in the case of you wishing to leave your job.
See if their is a clause where you are free to leave with out giving notice.
See if you can hand in your notice in a week
Being Binded to a peice of paper, can be horrific when you wish to terminate immediately, their is no escape here. Either you have to stick it out or face the consequences.
Some employees give in a days notice or a weeks notice, where they are binded to giving in their notice to their employer, 1-3 months These people are then in very big trouble.
Your company or firm etc, will slap you hard for REFUSAL OF WORK !!!
They play dirty here, they will turn your situation to their favour. I know personaly of a lovely lady who because of stressful conditions in her job, wanted to leave immediately as it was affecting her mental health,
and they slapped her with refusal of work, she then went to the Doctors and was not able to get Health certification releiving her from her work duties and so she ended up staying at work right to the end. She now is a total wreck and is undergoing therapy as I write. She has no energy to persue this matter and needs to get well and she will be returning back to England as soon as she becomes better.
It is a horrible story.
So PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU PUT YOUR SIGNATURE... LIFE HERE IS NOT A JOKE.
