How much vacation am I entitled to under the German Federal Leave Act?

The statutory minimum vacation is 24 working days a year – on a five-day week that comes to 20 working days. Depending on your employment contract or collective agreement, the entitlement can also be higher.

When does remaining vacation expire under the German Federal Leave Act?

As a rule, vacation that has not been taken expires on 31 March of the following year. In the case of long-term illness, however, it can be preserved for up to 15 months.

Does the German Federal Leave Act also apply on termination?

Yes, the vacation entitlement remains in place. Outstanding vacation days must either be taken or paid out by the employer.

German Federal Leave Act: vacation rules explained

What does the German Federal Leave Act (BUrlG) govern?

The German Federal Leave Act (Bundesurlaubsgesetz, BUrlG) is the legal basis for recreational leave in Germany. It applies to all employees, whether they work full time, part time or in marginal employment.

The aim: to make sure that staff have enough time to recover, so that they stay able to work. The entitlement to paid vacation is therefore a fundamental right.

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Key contents of the act:

Minimum number of vacation days
Timing and carry-over of vacation
Rules on illness, termination or special cases
The employer's obligations to grant vacation

One central provision is Section 7 BUrlG, which governs, among other things:

When vacation is to be taken
How it is to be planned within the calendar year
The conditions under which it can be carried over or paid out

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Minimum vacation: how many days am I legally entitled to?

Under Section 3 of the German Federal Leave Act, the statutory minimum vacation is 24 working days a year. Important: that is the legal floor. In practice many employers grant considerably more vacation days, for example through collective agreements or voluntary extra benefits.

Careful: even though the law sets out 24 vacation days, most employees in Germany still have an entitlement to 20 working days. That is because, legally, employees may work on every working day. The 24 statutory vacation days therefore relate to a 6-day week. In Germany, though, most people work only 5 days a week.

What counts as a working day?

Working days within the meaning of the act are all days except Sundays and public holidays. That means Saturdays count as working days too.

Vacation for part-time staff

Part-time staff are entitled to vacation as well - it is calculated pro rata. A part-time employee who works three days a week is entitled to 12 vacation days a year, for example.

Working days per week	Statutory vacation entitlement	Number of vacation days per year	Number of vacation days per month worked
6 working days	4 weeks	= 24 statutory vacation days	2
5 working days	4 weeks	= 20 statutory vacation days	1.7
4 working days	4 weeks	= 16 statutory vacation days	1.3
3 working days	4 weeks	= 12 statutory vacation days	1
2 working days	4 weeks	= 8 statutory vacation days	0.7
1 working day	4 weeks	= 4 statutory vacation days	0.3

Vacation planning under the German Federal Leave Act

Vacation planning is in principle agreed between employer and employee. There are two central principles here:

Employees' wishes take priority, unless there are urgent operational reasons against them.
When allocating vacation, employers have to take social factors into account, such as school holidays, family situations or long service with the company.

Do I have a right to three weeks' vacation in one block?

A common misconception. In principle no - but: the act provides that vacation should be granted as a continuous block (Section 7 (2) BUrlG). Only if operational reasons speak against it may it be split up. Three weeks in one block are certainly possible, but not an automatic entitlement.

We cover this topic in detail here.

Tips for employers:

Vacation planning is often a real time sink - especially when it still runs on Excel lists, emails or paper requests. It is simpler and considerably more efficient with clockin:

Request and approve vacation digitally
Keep an automatic eye on remaining vacation and absences
Document every arrangement clearly and in a legally compliant way

Never hunt for vacation requests in Excel or work out remaining vacation by hand again – with clockin, vacation planning almost runs itself. And the best part: time tracking, project hours and absences run alongside it.

Learn more now

Remaining vacation and expiry: when does my vacation entitlement lapse?

Under Section 7 (3) BUrlG, vacation - the so-called remaining vacation - has to be taken within the current calendar year, otherwise it expires. There are exceptions, however:

Extension to 31 March

If the vacation is not taken for urgent operational or personal reasons (illness, for example), it is preserved until 31 March of the following year.

Vacation during illness: when does it expire?

If an employee was ill all year and therefore could not take the vacation, the deadline is extended to 15 months after the end of the vacation year.

You can read more about remaining vacation here.

Special leave - when is there an entitlement

The term special leave is not defined directly in the German Federal Leave Act. It refers to paid or unpaid time off for a particular occasion.

Common cases for special leave:

Birth of your own child (1-2 days)
Death of a close relative (1-2 days)
Your own wedding (1-2 days)
Relocation for work reasons (1 day)

Whether special leave is granted, and how much, is often set out in collective agreements, works agreements or the employment contract.

You can read more about special leave here.

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Vacation on termination: what happens to the outstanding days?

When an employment relationship is terminated - whether by the employer or the employee - the question arises: what happens to the remaining vacation days?

The most important rules:

Vacation has to be taken where possible - before the employment ends
If that is not possible, for example because of garden leave, the remaining vacation is paid out
The vacation entitlement is calculated pro rata: for every full month, one twelfth of the annual vacation is due.

Example: an employee leaves the business on 30 June. With 24 vacation days a year, they are entitled to 12 vacation days.

Conclusion: sort out vacation entitlement easily - with digital help

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The German Federal Leave Act gives clear answers to many questions about vacation - from the minimum number of days to expiry in the case of illness. In practice, though, the challenge remains of coordinating vacation periods efficiently and transparently across the team - especially in growing companies or with teams working in different places.

That is exactly where clockin comes in:

With the smart app, vacation requests, absences and remaining vacation can be managed digitally with ease - visible at any time and documented in a legally compliant way.

But clockin can do more than that: