

Quelle: Wayfair Media Assets
Wayfair plans to close its branch in Germany by the end of the year. Many employees have already received a termination notice effective March 31, 2025, and have been immediately released. As part of these terminations, affected employees were offered severance pay to avoid lawsuits. Other employees have been given termination notices for the end of the year. However, the repeatedly proposed winding-up agreements (“Aufhebungsverträge” and “Abwicklungsverträge”) can carry significant disadvantages. In some cases, employees are required to continue working until October 2025, without the ability to seek new opportunities during this period. The amount of severance offered by Wayfair also varies widely. Therefore, legal advice would be advisable for those affected.
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Wayfair – terminations and exit from German market
Wayfair, the well-known online furniture retailer, will be shutting down its operations in Germany and Austria after 15 years. No new orders are possible on the company’s website. Home24 will take over the business, at least in part. In a statement from management, it was mentioned that expanding into the German market had been challenging due to high costs and low brand recognition. More than 700 employees will be affected by the closure and will lose their jobs (or receive another offer, including in the USA). Naturally, Wayfair plans to compensate for the terminations with severance pay.
Legal Aspects of a Business Closure in Germany
In Germany, dismissal protection generally allows for terminations even in the case of a business closure – and in some cases, even without severance pay. Nevertheless, in many cases, as with Wayfair, severance is offered. However, caution is advised: Employees should not sign a Wayfair Winding-Up Agreement (Abwicklungsverträge) without carefully reviewing the terms.
What Employees Should Know about the Offer
Wayfair’s Winding-Up Agreements (Abwicklungsverträge) require many employees to continue working until October 2025. This – unusually long – work phase limits the flexibility of affected employees to prepare for new job opportunities. Given the current state of the job market in Germany, this is certainly a problem.
While the severance amounts offered to employees vary considerably (and the logic behind them is not always clear), the majority of the severance offers appear reasonable, based on the numerous drafts reviewed by our partner lawyers. However, there is a cap of six months’ severance, even for employees who have been with the company for over 10 years – and who should, therefore, be entitled to a higher severance. Additionally, the release phase does not do justice to long-term employees. Moreover, an employee who accepts a new job, for example, in July 2025, would lose a severance amount averaging between 50,000 and 70,000 EUR, as well as the months of salary they would receive until December 31, 2025 – effectively “throwing that money away.”
Wayfair is, of course, trying to lure employees into signing the Winding-Up Agreement by offering higher severance pay, aiming to avoid costly, time-consuming, and likely successful dismissal protection lawsuits.
Wayfair terminations – Our Recommendation
Affected employees must act quickly. If the Wayfair termination is not legally challenged within three weeks, it will be considered valid. Before signing a Wayfair Winding-Up Agreement, employees should definitely consult with a lawyer, especially to carefully examine the two critical points – the contract conditions and the severance amount.
Employees should not hastily agree to the offered Winding-Up Agreement (severance agreement) without thorough legal consultation. A detailed review of the agreement can help identify unfavorable clauses and potentially negotiate better terms.

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