employment germany fraud
Is it fraud to backdate a signature?
<p>I started a new company and signed a contract in Germany. Due to changes in german law $ 2 para 1. of the Evidence Act (German abb: Nachwg) my company sent me a change in the contract to sign.</p>
<p>I'm okay with signing it though they ask me to put my start date and not the day I sign. I started on 1 September but to due a letter getting lost in the post I only managed to receive it delayed by 21 days.</p>
<p>The last page of the document has</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Today I received an original signed copy of this proof. (Although it was not signed) with city/date/signature fields.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is it fraud if I put my start date instead of the current date?</p>
<p>Or am I wasting my time and I should just put the date I started.</p>

<p>While I cannot assess whether that could be an Ordnungswidrigkeit as Phillipp pointed out in the comments (though, that doesn't seem entirely implausible), I can tell you that it is most likely not a fraud in the legal sense, since <a href="https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#p2372" rel="nofollow noreferrer">§ 263 StGB</a> reads as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) Whoever, with the intention of obtaining an unlawful pecuniary benefit for themselves or a third party, damages the assets of another by causing or maintaining an error under false pretences or distorting or suppressing true facts incurs a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine. [...]</p>
<p>(translation by the Federal Ministry of Justice)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, if no one damages the assets of someone else to obtain an “unlawful pecuniary benefit” (which doesn't seem to be the case here), it can't be actual fraud.</p>
<p>Though, if the contract was signed before the modification to the NachwG law came into effect, why would said modification apply to that contract in the first place?</p>
<p>Anyway, I'd be very careful about requests to backdate a letter/signature/whatever due to unforeseen legal issues.</p>
