You open the PDF. Forty-three pages. Half in German, half in legalese that doesn’t get clearer in translation. The company seems great, the role is a good fit, and the salary is real — but you have 48 hours to sign and you’ve never read an EU employment contract before.
Most developers do what most people do: skim the compensation section, make sure the title is right, and sign. That works until it doesn’t — until you realize the non-compete is unenforceable because you should have asked for the compensation clause, or the notice period means six months before you can start the next job, not three.
Here are the seven clauses worth reading carefully, with the specific statutory articles that tell you what’s standard, what’s negotiable, and what is an actual red flag.
TL;DR — what to check in each clause:
- Probation: Max 6 months in Germany/Spain, max 2 months in the Netherlands. “Can be extended” = red flag.
- Notice: Check end-of-month/quarter alignment — a 3-month German notice without it is effectively 6.
- IP assignment: Make sure personal side projects on personal equipment outside work hours are carved out explicitly.
- Non-compete: No compensation payment = often void in Germany. No legitimate interest = contestable in Spain and Netherlands.
- Working hours: Vertrauensarbeitszeit is not unlimited — 48h/week cap still applies under German law.
- Remote work clause: “At employer’s discretion” means you can be called back full-time. Know before you sign.
- Collective agreement: If one is named, look it up — its minimums override your individual contract terms.
1. Probation Period (Probezeit / période d’essai / período de prueba)
The probation period is the window at the start of your employment where notice periods are dramatically shorter. During German probation, either side can terminate with two weeks’ notice instead of the standard statutory minimums — that’s BGB §622(3). For a six-month probation, this means your employer can let you go with a fortnight’s warning for five and a half months of your employment.
What’s standard by country:
- Germany: Maximum 6 months (BGB §622(3)). Reduced notice of 2 weeks during the probation period.
- Netherlands: Maximum 1 month for fixed-term contracts under 2 years; maximum 2 months for indefinite contracts (Burgerlijk Wetboek Art. 7:652). Fixed-term contracts of 6 months or less cannot include a probation period at all.
- Spain: Maximum 6 months for qualified technicians (técnicos titulados); 2 months for all other workers under Estatuto de los Trabajadores Art. 14. Collective agreements can shorten these limits.
What to look for:
Any probation period longer than 6 months is non-statutory and raises a flag. More commonly, watch for language like “the probation period may be extended by mutual agreement” or “probation shall be extended by any period of absence.” These phrases are designed to give the employer a second bite — and their enforceability varies by jurisdiction. If you see them, ask for clarification before signing.
A 6-month probation is standard in Germany and Spain. In the Netherlands, anything beyond 2 months in an indefinite contract is already at the ceiling; anything beyond 1 month in a short fixed-term is illegal.
2. Notice Period (Kündigungsfrist / délai de congé / preaviso)
Notice period clauses deserve more attention than they usually get. A long notice period cuts both ways: it protects you from sudden termination, but it also locks you in if you want to leave.
Statutory baselines:
- Germany: BGB §622 establishes a base notice period of 4 weeks (to the 15th or end of the month). The period extends with tenure: 1 month after 2 years of service, 2 months after 5 years, up to 7 months after 20 years. Employers may agree to longer contractual notice for employees, but the minimum for the employer is always the statutory scale.
- Netherlands: Art. 7:672 BW sets notice at 1 month for employees with under 5 years of service, scaling to 4 months after 15+ years. The employer’s notice period scales longer; yours stays at 1 month unless your contract specifies otherwise (maximum 6 months contractual notice for an employee).
- Spain: Estatuto de los Trabajadores Art. 49 provides that employee resignations require “the notice established by collective agreements or local custom” — there is no universal statutory minimum figure. Fifteen days is the most common convention across Spanish collective agreements, but the specific period depends on your sector’s applicable agreement; senior roles often face 1–3 months.
The German end-of-month trap:
This is one of the most practically significant gotchas in German contracts. BGB §622 states notice runs “zum Ende des Kalendermonats” — to the end of the calendar month. If your contract says “3 months’ notice” and you hand in your notice on, say, October 16, your notice doesn’t start running until November 1. You leave January 31. That is effectively 3.5 months. If your contract also specifies notice can only be given at the end of a quarter — which some older Konzern contracts do — handing in notice in late October means you’re in until March 31. A stated 3-month notice becomes a practical 5–6 months.
Check whether: (a) notice is calculated from the date of notice or from the end of the month, and (b) whether there’s an end-of-quarter restriction as well.
3. Intellectual Property Assignment (Abtretungsklausel / cession de droits)
This is the clause developers care about most and read least carefully.
What’s standard: IP created during work hours using employer resources while performing your job duties belongs to your employer. This is uncontroversial and enshrined in statute.
- Germany: UrhG §69b explicitly states that the economic rights to software created by an employee in the execution of their employment duties or following the employer’s instructions belong to the employer.
- Netherlands: Auteurswet Art. 7 provides that works made “in the performance of duties” belong to the employer.
The overreach to watch for: Some contracts use broader language — assigning all IP created “during the period of employment,” or “in connection with any work performed for the employer,” or “in any field related to the employer’s business activities.” This framing attempts to sweep in code you write at home on weekends on a personal project. Courts in Germany and the Netherlands have generally not enforced such overbroad assignments for work genuinely outside the scope of employment — but “generally not enforced” is not the same as “clearly void,” and a dispute costs you money and anxiety.
What to ask for: A written carve-out, added to the IP clause, along these lines:
“The above assignment does not apply to works created by the employee entirely outside of working hours, using personal equipment, without use of employer confidential information or resources, and unrelated to the employer’s current or reasonably anticipated business activities.”
Most employers who are not trying to grab your side projects will agree to this without pushback. If they push back hard, that tells you something.
4. Non-Compete Clause (Wettbewerbsverbot / concurrence déloyale / pacto de no competencia)
A non-compete restricts where you can work after leaving. Whether it’s enforceable — and whether you can be compensated for the restriction — varies significantly by country.
Germany: Compensation is not optional
Under HGB §74 (Handelsgesetzbuch), a post-employment non-compete clause is only valid if:
- It is in writing and signed by both parties.
- The employer commits to paying at least 50% of your last total contractual compensation for the entire duration of the restriction.
A non-compete without the compensation commitment is generally legally void in Germany — which means the employer cannot enforce it. However, you still need to know about this before you sign; courts do not automatically throw it out without a case being filed. If your German contract has a non-compete with no corresponding compensation clause, ask for clarification in writing before signing.
The maximum duration of a German non-compete is 2 years (HGB §74a).
Netherlands: Indefinite contracts require written justification
Since amendments to the Burgerlijk Wetboek came into force, non-compete clauses in indefinite employment contracts must include a written explanation of the specific business interest the employer is protecting. A boilerplate non-compete in an indefinite Dutch contract that doesn’t justify the restriction can be nullified by a Dutch court. Dutch courts also regularly reduce the geographic scope or duration of non-competes they find disproportionate.
Spain: Adequate compensation is required
Art. 21 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores requires that a post-employment non-compete be supported by a “legitimate commercial interest” of the employer and provide “adequate compensation” to the employee. The maximum duration is 2 years for senior technicians (técnicos), 6 months for other workers. An agreement without adequate compensation can be declared void.
Red flags across all three countries: Non-compete with no compensation clause; geographic scope broader than the markets the employer actually operates in; duration beyond 2 years; language restricting you from working “in any company in the software industry” (this is almost certainly unenforceable as written, but still worth removing before you sign).
5. Working Hours and Overtime (Arbeitszeitgesetz / durée du travail)
The clause that determines whether “we work hard” means “sometimes it’s a long week” or “you’re implicitly signing up for 60-hour weeks with no overtime pay.”
Statutory limits:
- Germany: The Arbeitszeitgesetz (ArbZG) caps working time at a maximum of 48 hours per week, averaged over a 6-month reference period. The daily working time maximum is 10 hours (8 hours plus 2 hours overtime). Minimum daily rest is 11 uninterrupted hours. These limits apply regardless of what your contract says — they cannot be contracted away.
- Netherlands: The Arbeidstijdenwet caps working time at 48 hours per week (averaged over 16 weeks), with a maximum of 60 hours in any single week and 12 hours in a single day. Minimum daily rest is 11 hours.
The Vertrauensarbeitszeit misrepresentation:
Vertrauensarbeitszeit — “trust-based working hours” — is a German flexibility arrangement where you manage your own schedule without rigid clock-in/clock-out requirements. It is frequently misrepresented in job ads (and sometimes contracts) as equivalent to “results-based” or “no fixed hours,” implying unlimited availability.
It is not. Vertrauensarbeitszeit removes the obligation to record hours in many implementations, but it does not remove the statutory limits themselves. Employers using Vertrauensarbeitszeit cannot require you to average more than 48 hours per week, and they remain responsible for ensuring rest periods are taken. The BAG (Bundesarbeitsgericht, Germany’s federal labor court) has been clear on this.
What to look for: Clauses stating you will work “such hours as are necessary to fulfill your duties” or “as many hours as the role requires” without any reference to ArbZG limits or overtime compensation. If your role is non-exempt (i.e., you are an employee, not a genuine executive or director), these clauses do not override statutory limits — but a contract that ignores them entirely often signals a culture that will test those limits informally.
6. Remote Work / Home Office Clause
Remote work clauses are where the gap between what was promised in the interview and what the contract actually says is most likely to bite you.
The regulatory backdrop:
There is no statutory individual right to remote work in Germany — a 2021 legislative proposal failed. What you have contractually is what you can enforce. In the Netherlands, the Wet werken waar je wilt (Work Where You Want Act, effective 2022) gives employees the right to formally request remote work, and employers must have objective grounds to refuse. This is a right to request and receive a reasoned response — not an unconditional right to work remotely.
The 2002 European Framework Agreement on Telework, incorporated into many national frameworks, establishes that telework should be voluntary and reversible, that equipment and connection costs are typically the employer’s responsibility, and that remote workers should have the same collective rights as office-based workers.
What the contract actually needs to say:
There is a meaningful difference between:
- “The employee shall work from the company’s office in [city]” with a side letter permitting remote work “at employer’s discretion” — this means the office is the contractual work location, and the employer can revoke remote-work permission without breaching your contract.
- “The employee shall work remotely from [location]” or “The employee’s work location is their home address” — this makes remote work a contractual term; changing it requires a contract amendment and your agreement.
If your employer verbally told you the role is remote-first, that promise needs to be in the contract to be enforceable. A clause that says the employer “may permit” home office working is not the same as a clause that makes home office your designated work location.
Ask before you sign: “Is remote work a contractual term or a discretionary permission?” Get the answer in writing.
7. Collective Agreement Reference (Tarifvertrag / CAO)
Many EU employment contracts contain a clause like: “The employment relationship is additionally governed by the [Tarifvertrag/CAO] applicable to the employer’s sector.” This clause matters more than most candidates realize.
What a collective agreement does:
A Tarifvertrag (Germany) or CAO (Netherlands) is a sectoral bargaining agreement negotiated between employer associations and trade unions. Where one applies, its minimum standards on pay, working hours, annual leave, and other terms override your individual contract if the contract offers less. The CAO or Tarifvertrag floor is a floor — you get whichever is better, the collective agreement or your contract, on each individual term.
Germany: Relevant agreements for tech workers include those from IG Metall and ver.di. Different Tarifverträge cover different subsectors — a software company might fall under the Tarifvertrag for the IT industry (TV IT), or under a metalworking agreement if it’s part of a larger manufacturing conglomerate. The applicable agreement determines your pay grade classification, vacation minimums, and other baseline terms.
Netherlands: The ICT~Office CAO and Metalektro CAO are the most common for tech employers. The CAO is public — you can look it up and compare its minimums to what your contract offers on any given term.
What to do: If your contract references a collective agreement, ask your employer which agreement applies and request the current text. Cross-reference your vacation days, pay, and hours against the CAO/Tarifvertrag minimums. You are entitled to whichever is higher on each term.
Red flags: A contract that references “the applicable collective agreement” without naming it; or a contract that explicitly states “no collective agreement applies” in an industry where one normally would. The latter deserves clarification — it may be accurate (not all employers are members of the relevant employer association), but it is worth confirming.
The Carve-Outs Worth Requesting
If you spot issues in any of these seven areas, you have a few practical options:
Ask for a written clarification. For ambiguous clauses — especially the IP assignment and remote-work clauses — a side letter or addendum clarifying the employer’s intent is often easier to get than a contract redraft. Employers who are acting in good faith will agree. The written clarification is enforceable.
Request specific amendments. For clauses with known legal deficiencies (a German non-compete without the compensation clause, a Dutch non-compete in an indefinite contract without written justification), ask for the clause to be brought into statutory compliance. You are not asking for a favor — you are asking them to make the clause legal.
Document what was said in the interview. If remote work, flexible hours, or any other working condition was part of the pitch but is absent from the contract, ask for it to be added before you sign. Written offers, email confirmations, and offer letters are useful evidence if things go wrong later — but your employment contract is what your rights ultimately rest on.
Using Xeito to Track the Offer-to-Start Timeline
Once you have multiple offer stages in flight — pending contract review, waiting for amendments, comparing two offers with different sign dates — tracking the sequence manually across email and calendar gets messy fast. Xeito’s job tracker lets you log each offer alongside its key dates (offer received, sign deadline, start date) and any notes from your contract review. It’s not a legal tool, but keeping the timeline organized when you’re negotiating amendments in parallel with a notice period at a current job is genuinely useful. Set up your tracker at xeito.ai.
Sources
- Germany — Probation, Notice: Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) §622
- Germany — Working Hours: Arbeitszeitgesetz (ArbZG) §3, §5
- Germany — IP (Software): Urheberrechtsgesetz (UrhG) §69b
- Germany — Non-Compete: Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB) §74, §74a
- Netherlands — Probation/Notice: Burgerlijk Wetboek (BW) Art. 7:652, 7:672
- Netherlands — IP: Auteurswet Art. 7
- Netherlands — Working Hours: Arbeidstijdenwet
- Netherlands — Remote Work Request: Wet werken waar je wilt (2022)
- Spain — Probation, Non-Compete, Notice: Estatuto de los Trabajadores Art. 14, 21, 49
- EU — Telework Framework: European Framework Agreement on Telework (2002)
This article describes general legal principles for informational purposes. It is not legal advice. If your contract contains non-standard clauses or you are in doubt about enforceability in your specific situation, consult a licensed employment lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction.