Status: 03.10.2023, 08:05 a.m.
By: Carina Blumenroth
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When an employment relationship ends, the question of vacation entitlement arises. Do the remaining days expire or can you still take them?
According to the Federal Leave Act, there is an entitlement to 24 days of vacation per year for a six-day week, and 20 days for a five-day week. A higher holiday entitlement can be agreed in the employment or collective agreement. Even if there is a notice of termination, you are entitled to it – how many days you are entitled to depends on the time.
Annual leave in the event of dismissal – the timing is decisive
What actually happens to my vacation when my employment ends? © Steinach/Imago
If you leave the company in the first half of the year up to and including 30 June, then you are entitled to one-twelfth of the annual leave for each full month you have worked, informs the Darmstadt Chamber of Industry and Commerce. So if you have worked for six months in a five-day week, you will be entitled to leave as follows:
6 months / 12 months x 20 vacation days = 10 vacation days
However, if the employment relationship ends in the second half of the year, you are entitled to the full statutory minimum leave. For a five-day week, this is 20 days.
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Termination: More vacation than legally agreed – it depends on the employment contract
Do you have more vacation according to your employment or collective agreement? Then it depends on whether you have a "pro rata temporis" clause in your contract. If this is the case, in addition to the statutory holiday entitlement, you will also receive one twelfth of the contractually agreed holiday for each month you have worked in that year, informs the Handelsblatt. If the clause does not exist, the employee is entitled to all remaining days of annual leave.
Do you have to sign a new employment contract? Then you should pay attention to the job description, among other things.
Vacation entitlement in the event of termination without notice
If there is a termination without notice or extraordinary termination, then there was a certain misconduct. In this context, the notice period is reduced to two weeks, informs the portal Workwise. As a result, the vacation days can usually no longer be taken, instead they are paid out.
In all other cases of termination, you will generally receive days off as compensation for your holiday entitlement. This can only be done differently if the sickness rate in the company is high, if you have to train a successor or if the work to be done in the company does not allow it, informs the Handelsblatt. Likewise, a leave of absence does not ensure that the entitlement to remaining leave is forfeited. In the case of a leave of absence, the remaining leave could only be offset if the employer assured in writing that the employee would be released from work and at the same time promised him financial compensation for the remaining leave, the portal reports.
