Rights and obligations for employers and employees

What does the Federal Holiday Act (BUrlG) regulate?

The Federal Holiday Act forms the legal basis for recreational leave in Germany. It applies to all employees, regardless of whether they are full-time, part-time or part-time.

The goal: ensure that employees have sufficient time to recover, to maintain its workforce. The right to paid holidays is therefore a fundamental right.

‍Important content of the law:

Minimum number of vacation days
Holiday times and transfers
Rules in case of illness, dismissal or special cases
Employer’s obligations to grant holidays

A central paragraph is Article 7 BUrlG, which regulates, among other things:

When to go on holiday
How to plan it in the calendar year
Under what conditions can it be transferred or compensated

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

According to Article 3 of the Federal Holiday Law, the minimum holiday required by law is 24 working days per year. Important: This is the legal lower limit. In practice, many employers grant many more days off, for example through collective agreements or voluntary additional benefits.

Please note: Even though 24 days of vacation are required by law, most employees in Germany are still entitled to 20 working days. By law, employees can work every working day. The 24 days of holiday provided for by law refer to a 6-day week. In Germany, however, most people only work 5 days a week.

What counts as a workday?

According to the law, all days except Sundays and public holidays are working days. This means that Saturdays are also working days.

Part-time holiday

Part-time employees are also entitled to holidays, calculated on a pro rata basis. For example, a part-time employee who works three days a week is entitled to 12 days of vacation per year.

working days per week	Right to holidays provided by law	Number of vacation days per year	Number of vacation days worked per month
6 working days	4 weeks	= 24 days of statutory holiday	2
5 working days	4 weeks	= 20 days of statutory holiday	1.7
4 working days	4 weeks	= 16 days of statutory holiday	1.3
3 working days	4 weeks	= 12 days of statutory holiday	1
2 working days	4 weeks	= 8 days of statutory holiday	0.7
1 working days	4 weeks	= 4 days of statutory holiday	0.3

Holiday planning according to the Federal Holiday Act

Holiday planning generally occurs by agreement between the employer and employee. There are two central principles:

Employees’ wishes take priorityunless there are urgent operational reasons.
Employers must do this when awarding leave take social aspects into account, such as school holidays, family situations or longer periods of service.

Am I entitled to three weeks of consecutive vacation?

A common misconception. Basically no – But: The law provides that holidays must be granted consecutively (§ 7 paragraph 2 BUrlG). It can only be divided if operational reasons are against it. Three consecutive weeks are possible, but you are not automatically entitled.

We cover the topic in detail here.

Tips for Employers:

Vacation planning is often a real waste of time, especially if it is done using Excel lists, emails or paper applications. It’s easier and much more efficient with registration:

Request and approve holidays digitally
Automatically keep an eye on remaining holidays and absences
Document all agreements clearly and legally

You no longer have to search for vacation requests in Excel or manually calculate the remaining vacation time: with registration the vacation planning works almost by itself. And above all: the recording of times, project times and absences also takes place at the same time.

Find out more now

Remaining holidays and expiry: when does my holiday entitlement expire?

According to Article 7 paragraph 3 BUrlG the holidays – the so-called remaining holidays – must be taken in the current calendar year, otherwise they expire. However, there are exceptions:

Extension until March 31st

Will the holidays end? urgent operational or personal reasons (e.g. illness) not taken, remains until March 31st of the following year.

Sick leave: when does it expire?

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

You can find out more about the remaining holidays here.

Special leave: when entitled to it

The term special leave is not directly defined in the federal vacation law. Refers to paid or unpaid absences for particular reasons.

Common cases of special leave:

Birth of your child (1-2 days)
Death of a close relative (1-2 days)
Own wedding (1-2 days)
Relocation for professional reasons (1 day)

Whether and to what extent special leave is granted is often regulated in collective agreements, company agreements or the employment contract.

You can find out more about special leave here.

Holidays at the end: what happens to the open days?

In the event of termination of the employment relationship, whether by the employer or the employee, the question arises: What happens to the remaining vacation days?

The most important regulations:

The holiday must taken if possible – before the end of the employment relationship
If this is not possible, for example due to holidays, the remaining holidays will be paid
Holiday entitlement is calculated proportionally: Each full month is entitled to one twelfth of the annual leave.

Example: An employee leaves the company on June 30th. If you have 24 days of vacation per year, you are entitled to 12 days of vacation.

Conclusion: Easily regulate your holiday entitlement – with digital help

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The federal law on holidays provides clear answers to many questions about holidays – from the minimum number to forfeiture in case of illness: In practice, however, the challenge remains to coordinate holiday times efficiently and transparently within the team, especially in growing companies or decentralized teams.

This is exactly where clockin comes in:

With the smart app you can Easily manage leave requests, absences and remaining holidays digitally – documented at any time and in a legally secure manner.

But clockin can do even more:

Digital time recording – simply via app or terminal
Record and evaluate project times – in real time
Mobile working documents even when you’re on the move
Easy salary preparation through clear activity sheets

Whether you are a craft business, an agency or a service provider: clockin helps simplify administrative processes and creates more time for essential things.