As of: February 12, 2024, 8:00 a.m
By: Anne Hund
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If you want to enjoy Carnival in a relaxed manner, you should plan well in advance and apply for vacation if necessary.
(Symbolic image) © Oleksandr Latkun/imageBROKER/Imago
Some people might want to have some time off on Shrove Monday or Shrove Tuesday.
What does labor law say?
Mardi Gras, Fastnacht or Carnival: Celebrations vary depending on the region between Women's Carnival and Ash Wednesday.
From a labor law perspective, it is clear: the carnival days such as Rose Monday are not public holidays.
For many employees, this means that if you want to celebrate in a relaxed manner on one of the crazy days, you usually have to take a vacation - just like on other working days.
What applies on Rose Monday or Shrove Tuesday?
Some companies are accommodating and allow their employees to only work half a day on certain days (such as New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve).
However, there is no general right to time off work, for example based on regional customary law - not even in the carnival or carnival "strongholds", as the DGB Legal Protection informed on its website.
However, a claim could arise, for example, from the collective agreement, a works agreement or the employment contract.
If in doubt, you can check here to see whether there is a corresponding regulation.
In exceptional cases, such as the
Haufe.de
portal , the legal situation may also change
informed, there is also a right to exemption based on the principles of “company practice”.
This could exist “if, for example, Rose Monday is regularly free in the company for years, but the employer has never made it clear that it does so with reservations, so that employees could assume that it always wants to provide this benefit,” as it is said in the post.
Carnival celebrations do not take place during working hours
Especially if you are new to the company or are unsure, it is better to find out from the company in good time how vacation days are regulated in order to avoid any legal hassle.
In principle, as the consumer advice center emphasizes on its website: If the employer has not expressly approved it, you cannot simply interrupt your work to celebrate carnival or carnival - otherwise you could face a warning.
“The same also applies if you show up at work drunk the next day after an extensive carnival party,” said consumer advocates.
What employees also have to take into account in the event of a sick report.
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Carnival: Don't risk a warning or even termination
If companies give their employees half a day (or a full day) of paid time off on Shrove Tuesday or Shrove Monday, for example, this is a voluntary service on the part of the employer.
Employees can be happy about this.
It is clear, as the DGB Legal Protection also emphasized in the article: “Taking leave of absence is just as inadvisable during carnival time as it is otherwise and can lead to a warning or dismissal.”