Severance Pay at Audi 2026: Job Cuts, Termination Agreement & Your Rights
Audi has not launched a severance programme so far and has not published a severance formula: according to available reports, the job cuts proceed through partial retirement and early retirement. If you are nevertheless offered a termination agreement, the amount is purely a matter of case-by-case negotiation. A common reference value is the rule of thumb of 0,5 monthly salaries per year of service, but there is no automatic entitlement to it. As a pure calculation example: 6.000 € gross and 15 years of service would work out to around 45.000 € under this formula. We help you work out what is realistically negotiable in your case.
Reviewed by specialized labor lawyers · Updated: September 2026
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Job cuts at Audi: what is happening right now?
In March 2025, Audi signed a "future agreement" (Zukunftsvereinbarung) with the works council (Betriebsrat): by 2029, up to 7.500 jobs are set to go in Germany, mostly in indirect areas such as administration and development at the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites (Audi press release; autohaus.de). The cuts are meant to be carried out in a socially responsible way, through partial retirement and early retirement, not forced dismissals. Audi has not launched its own severance programme so far, unlike other groups.
Your rights: social plan, termination agreement, protection against dismissal
For an operational change (Betriebsänderung) of this scale, the employer must negotiate a social plan (Sozialplan) with the works council (§§ 111, 112 BetrVG). It governs compensation for economic disadvantages, for example severance pay, partial retirement, and transfer arrangements. However, a social plan only sets a framework: an individually offered termination agreement can fall below or above it and is negotiable.
If an operational dismissal should nevertheless happen later, the strict three-week deadline applies: an unfair dismissal claim must reach the labour court within three weeks of receiving the dismissal notice (§ 4 KSchG). After that, the dismissal counts as effective, no matter how questionable it was. With a large employer like Audi, it is often exactly this claim that becomes the lever through which severance pay is negotiated in the first place.
Protection against dismissal until the end of 2033: what this means for you
As part of the future agreement, Audi extended job security from the end of 2029 to the end of 2033: operational dismissals at the German sites are ruled out until then (Audi press release).
For those affected, this means: you are not under pressure to be dismissed, and you do not have to accept a termination offer. A severance programme setting a fixed amount does not exist so far. So if you are still handed a termination agreement, you are negotiating freely and should have it reviewed beforehand. An offer that looks "generous" is not automatically the maximum.
Received an offer from Audi? Review it before you sign
What needs checking: the amount in relation to your age, length of service and chances in an unfair dismissal claim, the benefit suspension period risk for unemployment benefit (§§ 158, 159 SGB III), the waiver and settlement clauses (bonuses, variable pay, company pension) and the tax, since for larger packages the timing of payment decides whether the one-fifth rule applies. Upload your document, the critical points get flagged, at no upfront cost.
How it works with us
No-upfront-cost initial consultation, assessment of your offer by our partner law firm specialising in employment law, and if you engage us, negotiation funded via litigation financing, with no upfront cost risk for you. Here is how the cost model works.
Note: Team Abfindung is an independent provider and has no connection to AUDI AG.
Frequently asked questions
Audi has not launched a severance programme so far and has not published a severance formula: according to available reports, the job cuts proceed through partial retirement and early retirement. If you are nevertheless offered a termination agreement, the amount is purely a matter of case-by-case negotiation. A common reference value is the rule of thumb of 0,5 monthly salaries per year of service, but there is no automatic entitlement to it. As a pure calculation example: 6.000 € gross and 15 years of service would work out to around 45.000 € under this formula. We help you work out what is realistically negotiable in your case.
Not until the end of 2033: Audi extended the job security that rules out operational dismissals at the German sites from the end of 2029 to the end of 2033 as part of the future agreement (source: Audi press release). This means the job cuts have to be carried out through voluntary instruments, which strengthens your negotiating position, because Audi needs your signature.
That depends on your age, length of service, your chances in an unfair dismissal claim (Kündigungsschutzklage), and what comes next for you. Because Audi cannot issue operational dismissals until 2033, you hold the stronger position: you do not have to accept an offer. Audi has no voluntary programme with fixed top-ups so far, so every offer is individual and cannot be measured against a programme. Whether accepting, renegotiating, or staying is the better option is something we assess with you in a no-upfront-cost initial consultation.
According to the future agreement, the job cuts mainly target indirect areas, administration, development and administrative functions, at the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites. Direct production is less affected. Implementation happens mainly through partial retirement and early retirement.
A termination agreement can trigger a 12-week benefit suspension period (Sperrzeit) (§ 159 SGB III) if no good cause is documented, and an end date before the statutory notice period expires can put your entitlement on hold (§ 158 SGB III). Both can be managed through how the agreement is worded. Tax also belongs in the calculation: for larger packages, the one-fifth rule (Fünftelregelung) and the timing of payment can make a difference of four to five figures.
The initial consultation comes at no upfront cost. If you engage us, we work on a success basis via litigation funding, you bear no upfront cost risk.
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