Compensation clause
A compensation clause is part of a termination agreement . With this clause , the contracting parties agree that all claims arising from their relationship with the newly concluded termination agreement are to be regulated. Wording example of a so-called compensation receipt that is widespread in labor law :
- "With the payment of this claim, all mutual claims of the contracting parties from or in connection with the employment relationship (including the pension commitment and the non-competition clause) and the termination of the employment relationship, regardless of the legal reason and whether known or unknown, are finally settled. The same applies to all mutual claims of the contracting parties arising from or in connection with an employment relationship that may have come about (...) and its termination. "
Such a clause can either be a waiver contract or a constitutive and declaratory positive and negative acknowledgment of guilt . By interpretation according to §§ 133, 157 BGB, it must be determined what will the parties wanted to express in their declaration. An example of a compensation clause that needs interpretation is the general receipt .
A waiver contract is given if both contracting parties assume that a certain debt exists, but this should no longer be fulfilled. A constitutive negative acknowledgment of guilt is assumed if both parties want to delete a group of known or unknown claims. A declaratory positive or negative acknowledgment of guilt exists if the contractual partners simply want to clearly document and fix the legal situation they have assumed.
source
- Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, works advisor 1997, 2237-2239
