Irtsgbr

• contact your manager/boss by email/text. Tell him that there is a personal situation which requires your presence with your bride




• call him/her in the morning

Don't be too specific on the details. If you don't ask for such things very often, then I would hope for the best.

The answers so far address the personal angle. Definitely call and explain (leaving out whatever personal details you wish).

From a legal perspective, google "Abwesenheit aus wichtigem persönlichen Grund" or similar phrases. Sadly, I'm in Austria right now and Google forces links related to Austrian law on me, but I remember from my time in Germany that this exists in German employee law as well.

IANAL but I have legal training and from my experience you should be legally in the clear. Another common use for this rule is people staying at home if their child is sick and the other parent can't take care of it (e.g. both parents are working).

Definitely do not falsely claim that you are sick. That would be grounds for an immediate termination if your lie is uncovered.

I live and work in Germany, and have been both boss and employee.

I would say that the best way to proceed depends on your boss. Every country is like this, but there is certainly still some xenophobia in Germany.

If your boss is friendly towards foreigners, then I would give him full disclosure. Tell him exactly what is going on.

If your boss is generally somebody that looks down on foreigners, then I would give him/her as little information as possible. Giving him information, such as the fact that you have a bride in another country will just fuel his/her fire, and give him more reason to dislike the situation. In this case, just say that you have an extremely important life or death family matter that must be dealt with immediately. In this case, we mean life or death of the baby, but do not tell the boss that. If he presses for details, I would just say that, "I would prefer not to discuss it." No respectable person would press you for more details. If he forces you to give a valid excuse, then I would tell him that you would be glad to talk to HR about the situation. I can't see how a boss needs to know about your personal situation.

Putting some existing answers together in a more verbatim manner.

"Dear [Bossname],

Due to an unfortunate family event, involving my pregnant fiancée
living in [Neverneverland], I will be unable to be at [Workplace City]
in person this [Monday].

Currently, I am on my way to [Neverneverland]. I will be able to work
remotely for [Doomsday] and [Damsday]. As for the time since
[Thenday], I am not sure if I will be able to work. I will keep you
informed. Please count these days as my paid leave, if it will not
work out. I plan to be back by [Monday next week], but cannot say for
sure at the moment.

I apologise deeply for this sudden and unexpected leave, but the
situation is urgent. I will be available by phone and email today and
on [Doomsday]. From [Damsday] onward I am in [Neverneverland] and
would be available per email and [Telegraph] chat only. I apologise
again for the inconvenience.

Best regards,

John Doe"

On a separate notice I wish OP good luck and an understanding from his employer.

Already a bit late, but at the companies where I have worked this would be handled by calling the immediate superior and asking for a day off or two (Gleitzeit/Urlaub) because of a family emergency. HR and higher management would not even know that something unusual happened. However, if your company is very small, things might work differently.

Many German employees can also take sick leave for up to three days without seeing the doctor. But I would not recommend that in this case, as employers take that very seriously and some coworkers do not really like that either.

Even if your employer thinks that "troublesome girlfriend" is not a valid excuse for missing work, you might still just get a Abmahnung (kind of a last warning) instead of firing you. But that obviously depends a lot on your boss.

P.S. a short google search suggests that an Abmahnung is indeed mandatory before firing someone for missing work. I any case, I would still strongly suggest to try to solve this without getting an Abmahnung.