Holiday requirements: Relax - it's your right!

As an employee for a German company, you are entitled to a minimum amount of holidays each year through the Bundesurlaubsgesetz, otherwise known as the Federal Holidays Act. This applies to workers, employees and trainees.

With this, employees do not need to forego their salary or wages during the period of due vacation days. Additionally, if an employee is interested in taking off time for a longer period, they can request to go on sabbatical and willfully forgo their own salary to do it. If this is done, an agreement between the employer and employee should be written and signed.

How many holidays am I entitled?

The amount of statutory holidays required is in direct relation to the amount of working days per week for an employee. For a five-day work week, the entitlement is a minimum of 20 days, however the company has the right grant more than the minimum and generally does; this not only provides a more balanced work/life, it also ensures the company remains competitive with other employers. It’s very common for companies in Germany to have 30 days of vacation offered.

Even if you are a part-time employee, you still have the same entitlement as a full time employee because the days allotted are based on the days worked, not hours worked.

working days per week

holidays

six days

24

Five days

20

Four days

16

Three days

12

Two days

8th

A day

4

Waiting Period- Vacation:

Once starting at your company, there is a so-called waiting period of six months to which you cannot take your holiday. However, employers are generally not so fixed to this time frame and employers can allow for days of before then.

Special Types of Leave:

Other types of leave include bereavement leave for the death of family or leave for marriage/other life events. The employer has the right to decide upon these and it is based on agreement of both parties. To understand what your employer's policies on these are, it is best to speak to them directly on what’s allowed.

There is also an option of education leave, which is entitled based on the state you are based in. An employee can for example receive additional vacation days if that time is used for learning.

Disabled employees and minors are entitled to additional vacation days as well - for a five day work week, they can have five more days, making their full statutory minimum 25 days instead of 20. The employer can also allow for older employees to have additional days at their discretion. Again - beyond the minimum offered, the employer has the right to decide how many days they allot.

Unlimited Vacation:

One trend that has been catching on - particularly in the start-up world - has been the concept of unlimited vacation, which is to say that employees have an “untracked” amount of paid vacation. While this is a great offering, it has been seen from several studies that this initiative actually tends to lead to people taking less vacation.

In this case, your employer should still be ensuring you are taking your minimum days.