Finally vacation!

Employees are entitled to this much holiday - tips and tricks for the application to the boss

Created: 08/03/2022, 06:06

By: Andreas Thieme

The holidays have begun in Bavaria.

But they do not apply to most employees: they have to apply for leave from their boss.

A Munich specialist lawyer explains which rules apply, what rights you have and what tricks there are.

Munich - "The statutory minimum vacation is 24 days a year, whereby the law assumes a 6-day working week," explains Albert Cermak, specialist lawyer for labor law in Munich.

In today's 5-day week, it is accordingly 20 days.

In employment or collective agreements, however, a holiday entitlement that goes beyond this is often agreed.

By law, severely disabled people have five additional days of vacation (for a five-day week).

In the case of part-time work, also known as a “mini job”, there is a mathematically corresponding holiday entitlement.

For a carefree holiday, especially in Corona times, the right travel health insurance should not be missing.

© Benjamin Nolte/dpa-tmn

"The full holiday entitlement is first acquired after six months of employment," says Cermak.

Statutory vacation entitlements cannot be deviated from to the detriment of the employee.

During parental leave, the holiday entitlement should be reduced by 1/12 of the holiday entitlement per month of parental leave.

Holiday entitlement may also be reduced during a sabbatical, but this must be explicitly mentioned in the sabbatical agreement.

Even during short-time work, the holiday entitlement is not “automatically” reduced (by law), but the reduction can be agreed.

In principle, holiday entitlements expire on December 31st if they are not taken in the respective calendar year.

But: "In exceptional cases, if vacation cannot be taken in full due to urgent operational reasons or illness, a transfer is possible until March 31 of the following year," says Cermak.

In the case of a long illness, the holiday entitlement only expires 15 months after the end of the holiday year - according to the rulings of the European Court of Justice in 2011 and the Federal Labor Court in 2012. According to decisions of the ECJ from 2017 and the BAG from 2019, however, the employer must inform the employee clearly and in good time that leave expires if he does not take it.

Munich: Once granted, the employer can only revoke leave in an emergency

Contrary to common usage, the employee cannot simply “take” vacation at a certain point in time, but only apply for it.

The employer grants the vacation.

However, the employer can refuse the holiday for the requested period if operational concerns conflict with this or if the holiday wishes of others have priority due to certain criteria (e.g. school-age children).

Under strict conditions, the employer can also order company holidays with a longer lead time.

However, the employee must have at least three-fifths of his vacation time outside of company vacation days.

"If the employer also unilaterally orders vacation, the employee has the right to object," says Cermak.

Once granted, the employer can only revoke leave in an emergency.