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Hi,  After working exactly for an year, my employer dismissed my full-time contract at the end of February 2023. I was relieved from work and told that I'll be on garden leave during the 3 months notice period until May 31st. I was also offered severance payment of one month gross salary and the employer told that this time can be used to search and seek a new job.  Now, I got a new offer from another company and they are asking to join on April 3rd. Can I accept this new offer while I'm under the payroll of current company? Should I inform the current company about this new offer and is there a possibility to loose my severance pay because of this? Will there be any problem if I receive salary from both the companies (new&old) for April and May? My new company is not a competitor to my current company. My new company asked to submit only the reference letter from my current company which included my employment termination date as May 31, but I asked my current company to remove this employment termination date from the reference letter and they agreed to it. Please find attached screenshot for reference and looking forward for your suggestions. 

Hello people   A year ago I was caught by police for buying weed(20 euros) in Berlin.I remember the police saying that I might have to come to court to testify against the person who sold me weed since he was caught as well. A month later I received a letter saying that the case against me is dropped. I had to get my criminal record for work purposes and it was clean and no mention of any case.    However now I received a letter asking me to appear in court as a witness. I'm kind of worried now and not sure what I am supposed to do.   Has anyone been in a similar situation? Will I need a lawyer?    Thank you.   

Hi,   Need your advice on legal options against the action or behavior of Tagesmütter.   We had a Tagesmütter and our kid was with that lady since last +1.5 years. Recently there have been few developments due to which now we have terminated the contract but due to stress and blame game I am thinking to see what are legal options against her.   Since last 3 months our kid started resisting while sleeping at Tagesmütter with other kids in the same room (he used to sleep there since last 18 months without any issue). She came to the idea to put my kid's bed in bathroom (with no window). Once we came to know through her and our kid - we told her not to do it again but she excused that the kid is comfortable in sleeping there rather than in kids room with other kids ( there are also other rooms in her apartment where a kid can sleep). We said NO in any case. if she needs help with him we can help but sleeping in bathroom is not Acceptable. We hoped that things will be normal but during last 1 month she used to do it again without informing us. One day we asked our kid and he said "he slept in bathroom". We decided to double check and next day we asked kid in front of her "how was your sleep" and he said same "he slept today in bathroom". To confirm we asked her at the same time and she said YES he slept there and it is O.K. This triggered us and we decided to complain against her in relevant local authority (which is Nachbarschaftshilfe - through which we have contract with this Tagesmütter).   we hoped that after Nachbarschafts complain she will accept the wrong doing and the matter will be resolved.   Nachbarschaftshilfe confirmed that it is not acceptable to put a kid in bathroom especially the one without a window. They talked to her and our complain action triggered her and she started blaming everything on the kid such as "I can't move forward because due to our kid's issues other kids are being disturbed and she will terminate the contract after trying few times more with the kid if things go well or not".   This point was really disrespectful for us because after all this she was now blaming the kid and wasn't in a mood to accept her wrong doing. At this time we decided to terminate the contract (which we should have done at first but due to work of both parents, lack of available places with other tagesmütter and switching tagesmütter at a time when the kid was about to go to Kindergarten in next 8 months - we decided not to complain first but after all this happened we said NO to her behavior).   this all created stress for both of us especially my wife because of her pregnancy.  Now my question is: what are legal options against her?   Note: there have been few other disrespectful incidents happened in the past how she treated the parents especially myself where once she called me a LIAR (using a whatsapp audio message to my wife) because she thought my kid was sick and I didn't told her while dropping him at tagesütter (he wasn't sick and he went to tagesmütter days after as well - so I didn't have to tell her about a thing which was never happened in my view).   thanks.          

Hi,   I got fired from work due to "restructuring changes". I was some of the few affected from my team and it was done during my vacation. They sent me a settlement agreement as a pdf which is not yet valid from any parts. I was fired by e-mail and since then they did not answer the questions that I had. They promised on another e-mail 12 weeks of severance but in the deal there is only 8 weeks described. I have only two/three weeks to act on this, so I am not sure if someone here can help me to understand my chances:   - Does it worth to take them to court? I heard court can take years to solve and I am not sure if I can work in the meantime or if they will provide me with my salary until is solved. - What is the best way to negotiate with them as they neither sent me the real deal nor they want to answer my questions. - Can I getter a better deal for the settlement agreement?   I will have a lawyer appointment soon but I just want to find the best strategy to leave it in peace.   Thanks everyone for any help,

Hi,   I am preparing Elterngeld applicaiton for my wife. She had shares in UK LTD and that company is also closed. I just want to know if income from company shares will be counted in the Elterngeld assessment? Although she did not get dividends.    Just checked on Elterngeld office website and came to know that Income from shares does not fall under self employment.   Do we need to declare that income in the Elterngeld application?   Regards, Warshad

Hello,   I had been experiencing some problems with my upstairs' neighbor for the last 3 months. Things had escalated to a weird and dangerous territory, where I am afraid for my health and life.   We had a minor conflict back in October, because he was spraying a copious amounts of an insecticide spray daily without opening windows. I am asthmatic, and in this weather, once a chemical enters air circulation in the home, it stays there till the next morning at least. I tried talking to him but he kept avoiding me, I wrote a note on the house entrance (without naming anyone), he ripped it off. I wrote to landlord who wrote to him. That same day, he retributed by much more spraying, that he actually overloaded his smoke alarm, cutting down power of the whole block for 3 hours. and I had to visit ER at 2 am for sever asthma attack.   For the following months, he unleashed his revenge upon me: * Asthma inducing scents and stenches ( even Onions!) all around the clock * Noise ( bass- heavy music during the night, moving furniture and hammering after 22:00) * Throwing littering and garbage over my windows when open, and my door step. at one point, he was putting his mattress over his window (cleaning it) 3 or 4 days a week for maybe a month, when he sees my windows open to air the apartment. * I continued writing to the landlord, and the Ordnungsamt through this period * Just before Christmas, he actually used a driller to drill 3 holes through his floor into my roof. I heard the noise but I didn't pay much attention until I found the debris on the floor. Three holes one in each corner covering the whole living area. (I kid you not! I know it is hard to believe, but i have been keeping records for each insult and I have pictures)   * Throughout the holidays ( and still), he used the new access he drilled to inflict  a grave harm upon me with asthma inducing sprays putting me in a perpetual and constant danger with no more than 2 hours of sleep per night ( by then I had been smelling weed and cigarettes; that's when I understood he was covering the smell with that insecticide, and why things escalated quickly) * these drill holes ( and I suspect , his subsequent attempt to fix them during the holidays ) had led to appearance of signs of moisture on the walls, with mold starting to grow around the damages, and of course all kinds of bugs (silverfish, bedbugs) in the apartment. there are multiple small crackings in the paint spreading from the corners. * I had notified the landlord immediately by email. and as soon as the break ended, I sent a formal complaint letter to the company's address. House meister is supposed to visit this week to check the defects (exactly one month since the drilling) * for someone with asthma, and with that level of determination to harm me, the apartment had became inhabitable for me. I have been spending most of my nights at a friend's place.   I hope someone would help me with few questions: * What do you suggest I do next regarding the structural damage and mold ? mold is a pitfall that usually gets back to the tenant somehow, and if I manage to prove it was a direct result of his actions, the process would take quiet some time, meanwhile, my health is severly affected. * regarding the unsanitary living conditions: Do they constitute enough reason for extraordinary termination of the tenancy contract ? (I only moved in at the first of October) I hope you have peaceful nights, and please excuse the weirdness.  

  Short story: told a bus driver (after i was already off the bus and the bus was not in service) to go f-himself after he claimed i could no longer take the bus because he didn't like the fact that my dog lost dog hair.    Longer story:  After exiting the bus on the last stop the bus driver bid me come back on the bus and showed me dog hair on the seat.  I told him this is unfortuante but my dog does shed - and there is no law against having a dog who sheds.  This is normal.  He said it is not OK to have on his bus.  I told him he is the bus driver only and does not make the rules of what is acceptable.  DB allows dogs - even those that shed.  What does he think he is - the king of bavaria - making his own rules?  Upon this he said he would call the police.  I was like - for what?? I'll call e police myself.  Then while walking away from the bus i exclaimed he's a f'a**_h___.    3 months later i get a letter from the police simply saying how i would liek to respond to a complaint of 'beleidigung 185'    ------   I can't even believe the police department bothers itself with this kind of stuff.  Surely they have better stuff to do?    Regardless, now i'm wondering how serious I should take this and whether i should get a lawyer or just see what happens.    For you that are going to flame me: keep in mind i have to take the bus to munich for work with my dog and it was totally NOT acceptable for him to think he can block my transit route because a few pieces of hair were too much for him.  I've taken buses for years with my dog here and never had issues.    Would mainly be interested in any legal opinions on this for those that have some experience in that area.    Merry Christmas!

Hi there. - I was caught shoplifting a cheap bottle of alcohol (it was really stupid, and I didn’t need to), and I’m scared now of how this might affect my visa.  I’m currently in Germany on a Blue Card. Here are my questions.:   1) does shop lifting affect my ability to get a blue card renewed?   2) does shoplifting prevent me from getting residency (which I can do thru the blue card after a number of years? I’ve read that a serious crime could prevent one from getting residency, so does shop lifting count as serious?   3) I just received a letter from the police asking for more information / my statement (including economic conditions). What should i do?   At the time i was caught, I said it was a mistake and I just forgot about this one bottle. We paid for everything else. Should I just reiterate that it was a careless mistake on my part? Does saying I have a job make it harder to persecute my case?   4) if I do pay a fine for this, how long will it be in my criminal history?   thanks all.