§ 113 InsO (special termination right)

§ 113 InsO gives the insolvency administrator an independent, statutory special right to terminate the debtor's employment relationships: regardless of the notice period actually provided for by the employment contract, a collective agreement or statute, termination can be given with a maximum notice period of three months to the end of a month. This also applies to employment relationships that are otherwise excluded from ordinary termination, or fixed-term contracts whose agreed term exceeds that period.

If the administrator uses the shortened notice period, the affected employee can file the resulting damage — the difference to the notice period that would otherwise have applied — as an ordinary insolvency claim in the table (§ 113 sentence 3 InsO). The claim is therefore not privileged and is only paid out at the insolvency quota, not in full.

For buyers, § 113 InsO matters mainly when the deal requires adjusting headcount and the buyer doesn't want to take over the entire workforce under § 613a BGB: the administrator can reduce staff with long notice periods before signing without those periods blocking the transaction timeline. A social selection (Sozialauswahl) for operationally driven dismissals is still required despite the shortened notice period.