Vacation is more than just a break from work. It serves to protect health and is guaranteed by law. According to the Federal Holiday Act (BUrlG), employees are entitled to at least four weeks of paid vacation per year. This means 20 working days for a five-day week and 24 working days for a six-day week. This legal minimum regulation can be expanded, but not reduced, for the benefit of employees through employment or collective agreements.

In principle, vacation should be taken in the current calendar year. But many employees still have open vacation days at the end of the year. These do not have to expire automatically. Remaining vacation can be carried over to the following year if urgent personal or operational reasons prevented the vacation. However, the following applies: Transferred vacation must generally be taken by March 31 of the new year at the latest.

Obligation of the employer to cooperate and expiry periods

An employer must also inform its employees about the number of vacation days still outstanding and possible expiry dates. According to the European Court of Justice and the Federal Labor Court, he has a so-called duty to cooperate. If he doesn’t do this, the entitlement to vacation can continue to exist for years. Only when the employer has given sufficient information and given the opportunity to take the vacation can remaining vacation days actually expire.

In principle, employees are allowed to decide for themselves when they would like to take vacation, as long as this does not conflict with urgent operational matters or the interests of other employees. Employers may only refuse vacation if there is a conflict with important operational needs or social criteria. Factors such as age, length of service, school-age children, single parents or relatives in need of care must be particularly taken into account.

Formal requirements, public holidays and bridge days

For legal protection, I recommend always submitting vacation requests in writing and obtaining approval from the employer. Oral promises or conditional consents are difficult to prove and offer little security in the event of a dispute. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not public holidays. Whether employees have days off on these days depends on the employer. Public holidays such as December 25th and 26th or May 1st, on the other hand, are generally non-working days, although exceptions may apply for certain professional groups such as security personnel or in the healthcare sector.

Even popular bridge days are not guaranteed by law. Those who apply for leave first often have good chances, but social aspects must also be taken into account here. Some companies regulate the use of particularly popular days on a rotating basis or according to social criteria.

Special leave, training time and half days

Half days of vacation are not a legal entitlement as part of the minimum vacation. The following applies to vacations agreed beyond this: Half days of vacation can only become binding if there is a contractual entitlement or if a so-called company exercise has occurred over a long period of time and has been tacitly accepted by the employer.

Special leave can be claimed in special life situations such as a wedding, the birth of your own child or a death in the family. In many cases, specific regulations on this are set out in employment or collective agreements. Educational leave is anchored in law in some federal states with different regulations. However, employers can refuse the exemption if urgent operational reasons speak against it. In this case, they should offer alternatives. In most federal states, the application must be submitted six weeks before the measure, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania even eight weeks.

Overtime and financial compensation

As a rule, overtime must be paid or compensated through compensatory time off. The limitation period is three years, but can be shortened by employment or collective agreements. There is generally no provision for payment of vacation days not taken during the employment relationship in order to avoid financial incentives for foregoing rest. Remaining vacation can only be compensated when you leave the company.