Statutory minimum vacation: How much are you entitled to?
The legal minimum vacation is 24 working days with a 6-day week. If you work five days a week, your vacation entitlement is reduced proportionally to 20 days. The calculation is simple: 24 vacation days divided by 6 working days multiplied by your 5 actual working days. There are exceptions for severely disabled employees who receive an additional leave of 5 days for a 5-day week, meaning that their minimum vacation is 25 days in total.
Comparing different working time models and their vacation entitlement
How does vacation entitlement differ for different working time models? In the following, we explain how the claim is adjusted depending on the number of working days per week:
When does the entitlement to vacation start?
According to the Federal Leave Act, full vacation entitlement comes after six months of employment. However, employees can already collect pro rata vacation during the probationary period, earning one twelfth of their annual leave per month. They can apply for this leave, even if the employer does not necessarily have to grant it.
Inter-year employment: How is vacation calculated?
In the case of a sub-year employment relationship, vacation entitlement only begins after six months of employment, with the probationary period being part of this waiting period. Vacation entitlement is calculated on the basis of full months of employment from the date of employment: For each full month, you purchase one twelfth of the annual vacation. If the employment relationship ends before July 1, you are only entitled to the pro rata annual vacation. Full vacation entitlement only exists from July 1 or after the six-month waiting period has elapsed.
How can switching from full time to part time influence vacation entitlement?
When switching from full to part-time employment, the vacation entitlement worked out up to the change is retained in full. However, the vacation entitlement is recalculated from the date of the change. For example, if an employee switches from a 5-day week to a 3-day week on November 1 and has an annual vacation entitlement of 30 days, the calculation is carried out as follows:
For the period from January to October, when the employee was still working full time, he is entitled to 25 days vacation (30 days annual claim multiplied by 10/12 months). Starting in November, with part-time employment, the vacation for the remaining two months will be calculated in accordance with the new working hours. Here, the vacation entitlement for November and December is a total of 3 days (30-day annual claim multiplied by 2/12 months and reduced to 3 working days per week). Overall, the employee would therefore have one for the year Vacation entitlement of 28 days.
Remaining vacation: Definition, calculation & legal situation
What is remaining vacation? It's simple: This term describes unused vacation days of the contractually regulated or legally prescribed right to leave vacation within a calendar year.
Employees generally have a statutory right to paid vacation. According to the Federal Leave Act (BURLG), this must include at least 24 working days per year if there is a six-day week and 20 days if there is a five-day week. Working days are all calendar days that are not Sundays or holidays. Important: Other agreements can also be made in the employment contract or collective agreements, which are then binding. § 3 BURLG only represents the minimum requirements that must be met by employers.
When can you transfer remaining vacation?
Basically, the term “remaining vacation” refers to the vacation days not yet taken at the end of a year. It is required by law that vacation must be granted in the respective calendar year. According to Section 7 (3) BURLG, a transfer is only permitted in exceptional cases, namely if:
“... urgent operational or personal reasons relating to the employee justify this.”
One of these exceptional cases is, for example, if you as an employee fall ill during the planned vacation and the sick days should not be counted against the annual vacation claim in accordance with Section 9 BURLG. This happens when you present a medical certificate of your illness during the vacation period.
It is also possible to transfer remaining vacation if you had intended to take vacation at the end of the year, but this cannot be granted for operational reasons, for example due to too many cases of illness in the team. Increased work requirements in retail in the run-up to Christmas can also lead to remaining vacation. The same applies if other employees received preferential leave in accordance with Section 7 (1) BURLG due to social aspects and therefore you had no opportunity to take your vacation. If you have accumulated remaining vacation days at the end of the year for the above reasons, it is necessary to take them within the first three months of the new calendar year. This regulation prevents employees from accumulating unused vacation days.
❗ Attention ❗
Remaining vacation is not only regulated in the Federal Vacation Act. Operational agreements and, in particular, tariff regulations are also decisive. If there is a special collective agreement in your sector or in your company, it is advisable to review it with regard to the remaining vacation.
Remaining vacation: Expiry date March 31?
If employees have not taken their remaining vacation days by the end of the year and none of the reasons above apply, they will not automatically expire. This rule is based on a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dated November 29, 2017 (Case C-214/16) and a decision of the Federal Labour Court (BAG) dated February 19, 2019 (Reference 9 AZR 541/15), which determine in a Europe-compliant interpretation: The remaining vacation no longer expires automatically!
Employers are therefore required to comply with their reporting and cooperation obligations. In Concrete Terms, this means that you must explicitly inform your employees about open vacation days and specify the expiry periods set by law or special regulations. This information should be provided in writing and it is recommended that you archive an acknowledgement of receipt in order to have proof of the imminent expiry of the remaining vacation in the event of a dispute.
At the same time, as an employer, you must ensure that it is also possible to take the vacation until it expires. Failure to comply with this obligation does not automatically result in the expiry of vacation claims; rather, the claims accumulate for each year in which you do not comply with this obligation. Please note that (former) employees also have up to three years after the respective year Entitlement to remaining vacation (or financial compensation)
❗Important Information for Employers ❗
You must inform your employees in writing that the vacation must be taken in full by 31 December or 31 March of the following year, otherwise it expires after this period. As an employer, you bear the burden of proof!
View your employees' remaining vacation at a glance with ZEP!
To prevent the accumulation of many remaining vacation days in the first place, you can make detailed vacation planning together with your team at the end of each year. With the ZEP module Overtime, absenteeism & vacation It's very easy and clear to do digitally. Thanks to the graphical display, every team member has an immediate overview of who is absent at what time.
Remaining vacation upon termination
In the event of dismissal, the employee is entitled to his remaining vacation, regardless of who gives the notice. The date of termination determines the entitlement to the remaining vacation days:
When the Employment Contract Is Terminated Before June 30 The employee receives one twelfth of the annual vacation for each full month worked in the current year. This is regulated in Section 5 Paragraph 1 BURLG.
In Case of Termination After June 30 The employee is entitled to full statutory vacation entitlement for the entire calendar year. Any additional contractually agreed vacation days may only be reduced proportionally by twelfting the vacation claim. However, this must not fall short of the employee's statutory vacation entitlement.
Example: Anna, a lawyer in a renowned law firm, works 40 hours a week from Monday to Friday in accordance with an employment contract. Your employment contract provides for an annual vacation entitlement of a total of 28 days, of which 20 days are defined by law. Following her resignation on August 31, Anna would like to take her remaining vacation during the notice period of 4 weeks. But how many vacation days is she entitled to? According to legal regulations, Anna receives the full statutory vacation entitlement of 20 days, as she ended the employment relationship after June 30. The employer may not reduce their vacation entitlement proportionally, as this would be below the statutory minimum vacation entitlement.
❗Attention ❗
Employees have in accordance with Section 4 BURLG Full vacation entitlement only if they have worked for the company for at least six months! The remaining vacation should therefore be taken in the event of dismissal during employment. If this cannot be the case for operational reasons, it is also possible to pay out the remaining vacation claim.
Conclusion
Precisely calculating and managing your vacation entitlement is crucial to ensure smooth vacation planning and meet legal requirements. In particular, the question of how to calculate the remaining vacation is important to ensure that no claims are lost. Things can also be complicated when working during the year and switching from full to part time. A precise calculation of vacation entitlement and remaining vacation days is therefore essential.
With ZEP vacation planning, you have the perfect solution for calculating the remaining vacation while keeping track of things. Our comprehensive vacation module provides you with a digital and transparent presentation of all vacation claims and remaining vacation days of your employees. In this way, you can ensure that all legal and contractual requirements are met and that you manage your vacation time efficiently. Take advantage of the benefits of ZEP to optimize vacation planning and easily meet all requirements. When it comes to well-earned vacation, it is important to keep track of your own vacation entitlement. In this article, we explain how you can easily calculate your remaining vacation. We take a look at the legal basis, explain the most important formulas and give tips on how to deal with remaining vacation and special cases. This means you are well informed to optimally plan your vacation time.
