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Zinnowitz beach (archive photo): Among other things, vacation money is spent there again
Photo: Jens Büttner / dpa
Vacation fun in euros and cents: only just under half of the collective bargaining workers in Germany (47 percent) can count on vacation pay during these weeks.
According to an evaluation by the Federal Statistical Office, an average of 1525 euros flow into the holiday fund.
That is 0.6 percent or 9 euros more than in the previous year.
At 1570 euros, the average payment in the west is much higher than in the east, where only 1104 euros are paid.
The collective bargaining agreements in the various sectors provide for very different amounts, between 219 euros for temporary work and 3486 euros for information service providers.
In the public sector in particular, there are very seldom collectively agreed vacation payments that are also very low.
Most likely, employees in manufacturing and construction can expect additional payments up to a full monthly salary.
Often the following applies: no collective agreement, no vacation pay
The proportion of 47 percent of employees with vacation pay is well below the 73 percent that the union-related Hans Böckler Foundation calculated on the basis of information provided by the portal "Lohnspiegel.de".
According to this analysis, only 35 percent of employees without a collective agreement received a special payment.
In Germany there is no statutory entitlement to vacation pay, but it is nevertheless provided for in many employment contracts and is part of numerous collective bargaining agreements.
Sometimes, however, there is a claim from operational practice, as is the legal term.
This is the case when the company has paid vacation pay for three years in a row without being contractually obliged to do so.
The amount of vacation pay is also a question of negotiating skills or collective agreements.
Often regulations are based on the amount of the salary.
A distinction must be made between vacation pay and vacation pay: This means that employees continue to receive their salary during their vacation.
Both payments are part of the salary and must therefore be fully taxed.
mamk / dpa