Skip to content

Sending the German employment certificate electronically (BEA)

The employment certificate (Arbeitsbescheinigung) is NOT due every time someone leaves: the employer must issue it at the request of the employee or of the Federal Employment Agency (§ 312(1) sentence 1 SGB III). Once requested, it must be sent to the Agency ELECTRONICALLY (§ 313a(1) SGB III) — from certified payroll software or a machine-generated filling aid such as the SV-Meldeportal (§ 108(1) SGB IV), through the BEA procedure. Paper is now reserved for employment that ended by 31 December 2022. Certificates nobody asked for should not be sent.

Up to date for 2026 — verified on September 23, 2026Official procedure, no printed formGuide: about 20 min

This content is part of the path: Ending an employment relationship· Step 8 of 8· Last step of the path

Deadlines

Trigger: the request of the employee or of the Federal Employment Agency
§ 312(1) sentence 1 SGB III — no request, no duty; the statute sets no period in days, but § 404(2) no. 19 SGB III also penalises certification that is not timely
Transmission: electronically to the Federal Employment Agency
§ 313a(1) sentence 1 SGB III with § 108(1) sentence 1 SGB IV — mandatory for all employment ended on or after 1 January 2023
Record to the employee: by the Agency, without delay
§ 313a(1) sentence 1, second half-sentence SGB III — it is the Agency, not the employer, that sends the person a record of the data transmitted

Documents to prepare

  • The former employee's request or the employment agency's request
  • Type of work, start, end and interruptions of the employment
  • Reason for termination (dismissal, termination agreement, fixed term)
  • Pay settled and other cash benefits
  • BEA-certified payroll software or access to the SV-Meldeportal
See the procedure on the official site

No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.

What this page gives you

The guide above and the link to the official site. ActioFin does not produce any document for this page: whatever you fill in or file is done on the official medium.

Who this applies to

  • Every employer, whatever its size or sector, once a former employee or the Federal Employment Agency asks for the certificate (§ 312(1) sentence 1 SGB III)
  • Even where the employment was wholly or partly exempt from unemployment insurance: according to the Agency, the certificate must still be issued on request
  • Intermediaries and other principals of homeworkers: the duty applies to them correspondingly (§ 312(1) sentence 3 SGB III)
  • The same duty and channel apply to the certificate of secondary income (Nebeneinkommensbescheinigung, § 313 SGB III) and to the EU employment certificate (§ 312a SGB III), which the Agency requests in writing
  • NOT automatically on every termination: without a request there is no duty, and the Agency expressly asks employers not to send certificates that were not requested
  • NOT electronically to the job centres (Jobcenter): BEA serves only the employment agency's purposes; for citizen's income (Bürgergeld) the paper template is used
  • NOT electronically where the employment ended before 1 January 2023: BEA is optional there and the PDF template is allowed

Worked example

Jonas Brandt leaves Café Lindner OHG

Café Lindner OHG dismisses its waiter Jonas Brandt for operational reasons with effect from 30 April; he last earned 2,800 euros gross a month. The end of the employment alone obliges the partnership to nothing towards the employment agency. On 6 May Jonas, who has claimed unemployment benefit (Arbeitslosengeld), asks for the employment certificate. Now § 312(1) sentence 1 SGB III applies: the partnership must certify all facts that may be relevant to the decision on unemployment benefit, in particular the type of work, start, end, interruptions and reason for termination, and the pay and other cash benefits. Because the employment ended after 1 January 2023, the certificate goes electronically to the Agency (§ 313a(1) SGB III): the partnership's payroll software is BEA-certified, so it sends it from there. The Agency sends Jonas a record of the data transmitted without delay — the partnership does not have to send him a copy. Two weeks later someone notices that a one-off payment of 400 euros is missing. The partnership fills in the certificate again and resubmits it; Jonas receives a notice of change. His unemployment benefit is worked out by the unemployment benefit calculator, not by the certificate.

How to fill it in, step by step

  1. Check whether there is a request — from the former employee or from the employment agency (§ 312(1) sentence 1 SGB III). Without one, send nothing.
  2. Establish when the employment ended: from 1 January 2023 electronic transmission is mandatory, before that it is optional.
  3. Gather the data: type of work, start, end, interruptions and reason for termination, pay and other cash benefits (§ 312(1) sentence 1 nos. 1 to 3 SGB III).
  4. Choose the channel: your BEA-certified payroll software or, if it does not offer BEA, the SV-Meldeportal filling aid (§ 108(1) sentence 1 SGB IV).
  5. Follow the BA-BEA principles (Grundsätze BA-BEA) and the BA-BEA procedure description published by the Agency.
  6. If you assert that unemployment results from industrial action, substantiate it and attach the works council's opinion (§ 312(2) SGB III).
  7. Send the certificate to the Agency (§ 313a(1) sentence 1 SGB III).
  8. Correct an error by filling in the certificate again and resubmitting it — the employee receives a notice of change.
  9. Where a very short employment leaves no fully settled payroll period yet, issue the certificate on paper, as the Agency allows for that special case.

Good to know

  • The duty depends on the request, not on the end of the contract: according to the Agency, not every termination of employment calls for a certificate.
  • The record of the data transmitted is sent to the employee by the Agency itself, without delay (§ 313a(1) sentence 1 SGB III).
  • § 313a SGB III, in the version read, provides no right for the employee to object to electronic transmission. The Agency states the opposite: employees are obliged to request electronic transmission.
  • Breaches are administrative offences: failing to certify or transmit a fact, or doing so incorrectly, incompletely, not in the prescribed manner or late, is an offence (§ 404(2) no. 19(a) SGB III); the fine can reach two thousand euros (§ 404(3) SGB III, other cases).
  • One-off payments on which no unemployment insurance contributions are due — the Agency names the inflation compensation bonus, the coronavirus bonus and the energy price allowance — are not certified.
  • As a rule no pay is certified for months without pay subject to unemployment insurance; the Agency describes an exception where no such pay at all was earned in the 24 months before the employment ended.
  • The same rules apply to certificates for voluntary insurance on application and for partial unemployment benefit (§ 312(1) sentence 2 SGB III).
  • The Agency's filling instructions are PDFs and were not read here; the data fields are therefore not described one by one.

Common mistakes

  • Sending a certificate on every departure. The duty arises only on request (§ 312(1) sentence 1 SGB III), and unrequested certificates should not be sent.
  • Filling in the PDF form for employment that ended in 2024. It is meant only for employment ended by 31 December 2022; afterwards § 313a(1) SGB III applies.
  • Treating a paper copy for the employee as mandatory. The Agency sends the record (§ 313a(1) sentence 1 SGB III).
  • Refusing the certificate because the employment was exempt from insurance. According to the Agency, it must still be issued on request.
  • Omitting or softening the reason for termination. It is expressly among the facts to certify (§ 312(1) sentence 1 no. 2 SGB III), and an incorrect certificate is an offence (§ 404(2) no. 19 SGB III).
  • Sending a certificate for the job centre electronically. BEA serves only the employment agency's purposes.
  • Correcting an error with a covering letter. The certificate is filled in again and resubmitted.

Frequently asked questions

Must I issue an employment certificate for every dismissal?

No. The duty arises at the request of the employee or of the Federal Employment Agency (§ 312(1) sentence 1 SGB III). The Agency stresses that not every termination calls for a certificate.

May I still issue the certificate on paper?

Only for employment ended by 31 December 2022, and in the special case of a short employment with no fully settled payroll period. Otherwise it must be sent electronically (§ 313a(1) SGB III).

What do I use to send it electronically?

A system-tested program or machine-generated filling aids (§ 108(1) sentence 1 SGB IV): in practice your BEA-certified payroll software or the SV-Meldeportal.

Can the employee object to electronic transmission?

§ 313a SGB III, in the version read on 23 September 2026, provides for no objection. The Agency writes that employees are obliged to request electronic transmission.

What do I risk with a wrong or late certificate?

An administrative offence under § 404(2) no. 19(a) SGB III, with a fine of up to two thousand euros (§ 404(3) SGB III).

Go further

Compute the related amounts

Understand this form: the related course

Related forms

Official sources

Read in German

Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.