Even if there is usually no entitlement to a severance payment (see above), in practice it very often happens that the employer and the employee agree on such a payment. If, for example, the employer terminates the employee and the employee defends himself against this with an action for protection against dismissal, a corresponding payment can be interesting for both sides: The employer saves costs and time for legal proceedings (or what can also sometimes be important, that he thereby keeps the "social peace" in his company among the other employees); the employee may also no longer have much "desire" for the previous job and would like to try something new professionally. In this case, for example, an appropriate payment can make sense for both sides.