Problems in Germany

On 2015-03-12, Abhishek Narain Singh posted the following message to the 'contact@mariecuriealumni' address: "I just started Marie Curie Experienced Researcher position in Germany about 2.5 months ago. The position is for 1 year. I am working good and produced ideas and results on the data I was given to analyze, but there are politics in my lab which suggests that there could be possibility that I can get fired any time soon. In fact I have been already verbally communicated to look for another job. I have not been officially given a termination letter yet though. What options I have ?" On 2015-03-30 I replied to him: "From what you say, it seems that your host organisation might try to break off the contract they have with you. I am not an expert, but I would have thought that this could mean they would not be able to claim the full amount of Marie Curie funding from the EC? This is certainly something you should check with your local National Contact Point and/or with EURAXESS – they should have the necessary expertise to advise you on this. Within the MCAA we do not have a legal advice service (although this is something that might be developed in the future), so we are not in a position to offer you any formal assistance. However, I have heard of (anecdotally) other MCAA members who have experienced similar issues during their MCF experience; it might be worthwhile to post a message in one of the on-line groups (e.g. General) to see if any individual members can offer advice based on their own experience? You should however be careful to outline your situation in general terms, avoiding specifics such as names/organisations (this could have legal implications in a worse-case scenario)." On 2015-08-28 Abhishek replied: "Okay, I have to withdraw my lawsuit now. For those aspirants planning to work in Germany, be careful. There is a law in Germany that you can be fired 'without' any reason in the first 6 months here. Be informed before taking risk, and have a backup plan. Better countries to work would be Holland and Spain. I know a lot of people here who got fired in just 4 months and that too the employer said, 'we don't have to give you a reason', which they are correct as per the law here. Please generate this awareness." So best of luck to Abhishek (who remains an MCAA member) - and any comments or ideas are welcome.