Many wonder what happens to their unused vacation days: When does the remaining vacation expire?
Can I cash it out?
What happens in the event of termination?
Although everyone is looking forward to their vacation *, not all of them manage to use up the vacation days.
But what happens to the remaining vacation, i.e. the vacation days not taken?
Remaining vacation: What does the Federal Vacation Act say?
The Federal Vacation Act (BUrlG) stipulates that employers must enable their employees to take their vacation in the current calendar year.
But employees also have an obligation to absolutely take it.
In the legal text of Section 7, Paragraph 3 (time, transferability and compensation for vacation) it says:
"Vacation must be granted and taken in the current calendar year. The vacation may only be carried over to the next calendar year if this is justified by urgent operational reasons or reasons relating to the employee."
Will my remaining vacation days expire?
Legally speaking
, your unused vacation days expire on December 31.
of the respective year, unless there are urgent operational or personal reasons that justify a transfer of vacation.
For example, if you were
sick
or on
maternity leave
and were therefore unable to take your vacation, you can take the remaining vacation from the previous year with you into the coming year.
Often less drastic cases are enough, for example because the partner only has time for a trip in the coming year.
However, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has now passed a landmark judgment.
According to a case law from November 2018 (Ref .: C-619/16, C-684/16)
, the remaining vacation may no longer expire so easily
.
Rather, employers are obliged to make their employees aware of their remaining leave and to expressly point out the impending expiry.
Although this decision has not yet been transferred into German law, this will probably only be a matter of time.
"Even before the Federal Labor Court is likely to change its case law on the subject of vacation in line with EU law, the German labor courts will very likely orient themselves towards the ECJ decision," said Hamburg labor lawyer Henning Müller from the Vangard law firm to impulse magazine.
But apart from the legal situation, there is still a back door that probably applies to most employees: If there is an
express regulation on remaining vacation
, which is recorded in the employment contract, the collective agreement or in a company agreement, you can take your remaining vacation with you into the following year according to the agreement.
Also interesting:
who actually gets a 13th month salary?
Until when do I have to take my remaining vacation?
In Section 7, Paragraph 3 of the Federal Holiday Act it says:
"In the case of a transfer, the vacation must be granted and taken in the first three months of the following calendar year."
If, as an employee, you are allowed to take your remaining vacation days with you into the New Year, you must use them up by March 31st at the latest - otherwise the remaining vacation days will be forfeited permanently.
The exception here is once again a serious illness: if it prevents you from using up your remaining leave, you can still submit it for the entire following year and, if necessary, even take it with you into the first quarter of the following year.
If your employee causes problems and does not let you take your remaining vacation in the following year, you are
entitled to compensation for the expired vacation entitlement
.
In order to enforce this compensation, it is sufficient if your employer simply lets you take the rest of the vacation later.
So the vacation days do not expire.
What happens to my remaining leave in the event of illness?
As anchored in the above legal text,
vacation days do not expire if you cannot take them due to illness
.
The remaining vacation days are then automatically carried over to the first quarter of the following year.
Long-term sick people in particular have the right to make up for their missed
vacation days at a later date
.
According to a ruling by the Federal Labor Court in 2012 (9 AZR 353/10), long-term sick people may postpone their vacation
until March 31 of the year
after
next
.
After that, this also expires.
However, the judgment refers to the statutory minimum vacation (20 vacation days for a five-day week).
All vacation days that go beyond this expire at the end of the working year.
Also read
what you have to consider when reporting sick leave and what you can do despite being sick.
What happens to my remaining vacation if I cancel?
You are also entitled to remaining leave if you resign from your employer or if they dismiss you.
So your boss has to grant you the remaining vacation days that you are entitled to.
He can only refuse the remaining leave if you have to train a new employee.
In this case he has to
pay out
the
remaining vacation
.
The same applies to termination without notice if the remaining time is no longer sufficient to take all the vacation days.
In both cases, Section 7, Paragraph 4 BUrlG applies:
"If the vacation can no longer be granted in whole or in part due to the termination of the employment relationship, it must be paid for."
Paying out remaining vacation time - how do I calculate it?
Die Urlaubsabgeltung besagt, dass Ihnen von Ihrem Arbeitgeber die noch offenen Resturlaubstage ausbezahlt werden. Diese ist nach einem Urteil des Bundesarbeitsgerichtes
sofort fällig
. Sie müssen Sie jedoch bei Ihrem Chef unbedingt einfordern.
Für die Berechnung der Auszahlungshöhe wird nach § 11 BUrlG der Verdienst der letzten 13 Wochen herangezogen. Folgende Formel hilft Ihnen dabei, das Urlaubsentgeld in etwa zu berechnen (überschlagen):
Bruttolohn der letzten 13 Wochen * Resturlaub (Tage) / Anzahl der Arbeitstage der letzten 13 Wochen
Resturlaub berechnen bei Kündigung: Wie geht das?
Wie viel Resturlaub Ihnen bei einer Kündigung noch zusteht, hängt vom Zeitpunkt der Kündigung ab. Erfolgt die
Kündigung vor dem 30.6.
, steht Arbeitnehmern ein Zwölftel des Jahresurlaubs für jeden vollen Monat zu, den sie in diesem Kalenderjahr noch beschäftigt waren.
Wird das Arbeitsverhältnis erst nach dem 30.6. beendet, steht ihnen (mindestens) der gesetzliche Mindesturlaub zu.
Eine ausführliche Erklärung erfahren Sie hier:
Welchen Urlaubsanspruch habe ich bei Kündigung?
(as) *Merkur.de ist Teil des bundesweiten Ippen-Zentral-Redaktionsnetzwerks.
Ranking: In diesen Berufen gibt es die meisten Urlaubstage