HR-Glossar
Urlaubsanspruch (holiday entitlement)
How much statutory leave German law grants, why it is counted in working days and why untaken leave does not expire without a reminder from the employer.
1. What is Urlaubsanspruch (holiday entitlement)?
The Urlaubsanspruch is the right to paid time off for recuperation. It arises by operation of law and belongs to every employee – regardless of contract type, working hours or establishment size.
The Bundesurlaubsgesetz (BUrlG) sets the statutory minimum at 24 Werktage per year. This is the first point international readers should note: *Werktage* are not working days in the usual sense. Section 3(2) BUrlG defines them as all calendar days that are not Sundays or public holidays – so the 24 days assume a six-day week. On a five-day week the equivalent is 20 working days. Collective and individual agreements frequently provide more; they may not provide less.
The full entitlement arises for the first time after a qualifying period of six months (Section 4 BUrlG). Before that, and where employment ends during the year, Section 5 BUrlG grants one twelfth per complete month of employment.
During leave, pay continues as Urlaubsentgelt, calculated on the average earnings of the thirteen weeks before the leave begins (Section 11 BUrlG). This is not the same as Urlaubsgeld, which is a voluntary or collectively agreed bonus – a distinction that is easily lost in translation, since English uses "holiday pay" for both.
2. Origin and development
Paid recuperative leave is an achievement of the twentieth century; the Federal Leave Act of 1963 unified it in Germany. Its underlying idea is unchanged – leave serves recuperation and must therefore be taken in kind, not paid out.
What has changed substantially is the law on expiry. It used to be almost without exception that leave lapsed at the end of the year, or after a short carry-over period. Following the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the German Federal Labour Court after it, leave today expires only if the employer has asked the employee in good time and specifically to take it, and has warned of the impending expiry. Without that cooperation the entitlement continues – for years.
For foreign-owned German entities this is the most expensive detail in the whole subject. Groups that assume a "use it or lose it" rule, as applies in many jurisdictions, find on a later audit or termination that entitlements from several years are still outstanding and payable in one sum.
A note on sources: there is no official English version of the BUrlG. The German entry quotes the statute verbatim; this version summarises it.
3. Core principles and how it works
An entitlement in kind, not in money
Leave means time off, not payment. Paying it out during an ongoing employment relationship is not permitted; only what remains outstanding on termination is compensated.
Qualifying period and twelfths
After six months' service the full annual entitlement arises. Before that, and where employment ends during the year, one twelfth accrues per complete month.
Expiry only after a reminder
Without a timely, specific request and a warning about expiry, the entitlement remains. This cooperation duty rests with the employer – and so does the cost of omitting it.
Counted in Werktage, not working days
The statutory minimum assumes a six-day week. Converting to a different distribution of working time is a calculation, not a reading – and getting it wrong understates the entitlement.
Leave and sickness do not cancel out
Days of certified incapacity during leave are not counted against the entitlement. Leave also continues to accrue during long-term illness, subject to a separate fifteen-month limit.
4. Who is Urlaubsanspruch (holiday entitlement) relevant for?
- Foreign parent companies with a German entity – "use it or lose it" does not apply here, and the difference accumulates. - HR and payroll functions – the reminder duty is theirs, and it is cheap to discharge. - Finance – untaken leave is a provision that grows silently where no reminder is sent. - Employees – the entitlement is higher than many assume, and it does not simply lapse. - Part-time employees – the conversion depends on days worked per week, not on hours.
5. How it differs from related terms
- Urlaubsentgelt and Urlaubsgeld – the first is continued pay during leave and is statutory; the second is a bonus and is voluntary or collectively agreed. English "holiday pay" covers both and obscures the difference. - Statutory and contractual leave – above the statutory minimum, different rules on expiry may be agreed, but only if the distinction is made clearly. Without it, the statutory regime applies to everything. - Leave and continued remuneration – holiday entitlement accrues independently of sickness and is not consumed by it. - Leave and special leave – time off for personal occasions rests on contract or collective agreement, not on the BUrlG.
6. Variants and adaptations
- Five-day week – the statutory minimum of 24 Werktage converts to 20 working days. - Part-time on fewer days – the entitlement converts by days worked per week, not by hours. Someone working five short days has the same entitlement in days as a full-time employee. - Entry or exit during the year – one twelfth per complete month, with statutory rounding rules. - Long-term illness – entitlement continues to accrue; it expires fifteen months after the end of the leave year, and here the reminder duty does not apply because a reminder could not have made the leave takeable. - Severely disabled employees – an additional statutory entitlement applies on top.
7. Advantages and challenges
Advantages
- A statutory minimum that applies regardless of contract type or establishment size
- Clear conversion rules for part-time and varying working patterns
- The reminder duty is discharged with a single annual letter
- Entitlement continues during illness, which protects long-term sick employees
Challenges
- Without a reminder, entitlements accumulate over years and fall due in one sum
- The Werktage basis is routinely misread as working days, understating the entitlement
- The provision for untaken leave grows silently where leave balances are not tracked
- Paying leave out during employment is void – the entitlement simply remains
- The distinction between statutory and contractual leave is rarely drawn cleanly
8. Best practices for implementation
Send one reminder a year, in writing
Stating the specific remaining balance and the expiry date, with provable delivery. That is the entire effort – and it decides whether leave expires or accumulates across years.
Convert by days per week, not by hours
Part-time on five days gives the same entitlement in days as full time. Reducing it in proportion to hours is the most common calculation error.
Track balances and reflect them in the provision
A rising balance is also an indicator of overload. What is not visible is not managed.
Separate statutory and contractual leave explicitly
Different expiry rules for the portion above the statutory minimum require a clear, recognisable distinction in the contract. Without it, the statutory regime applies to the whole entitlement.
9. Tips for employers and employees
For employers
- **Remind once a year in writing** – without it, nothing expires
- **Werktage, not working days** – the statutory minimum assumes a six-day week
- **Part-time converts by days, not hours** – the most common calculation error
- **Adjust the provision to the real balance** – it grows unnoticed
For employees
- **Your leave does not simply expire** – not without a reminder from your employer
- **Payment during employment is not permitted** – only on termination
- **Certified sickness during leave is credited back** – get a medical certificate
- **Check the conversion** – part-time on five days gives the full entitlement in days
10. Conclusion
Two points in German holiday law regularly surprise companies operating from abroad. The statutory minimum is counted in Werktage – calendar days other than Sundays and public holidays – which assumes a six-day week and converts to 20 working days on a five-day week. Reading it as working days understates the entitlement from the outset.
The second is more expensive. German law has no "use it or lose it" rule. Leave expires only where the employer has asked the employee specifically and in good time to take it and has warned of the expiry. Where that reminder is never sent, entitlements accumulate across years and become payable in one sum on termination – a liability that grows quietly in the provision and surprises the parent company rather than the German payroll team.
The effort required to avoid it is trivial: one written reminder a year stating the remaining balance and the expiry date. That is the whole of it.
A note on sources: there is no official English version of the BUrlG; the German text is cited below.
Sources
- Section 3 BUrlG – Duration of leave (German original; no official English version) (opens in a new tab)
- Section 7 BUrlG – Timing, carry-over and compensation of leave (German original) (opens in a new tab)
- Section 1 BUrlG – Entitlement to leave (German original) (opens in a new tab)
- Section 208 SGB IX – Additional leave for severely disabled employees (German original) (opens in a new tab)
Related terms
Our promise
Software supports. People take responsibility.
Let us talk about your payroll – no strings attached, specific, and with a dedicated contact from day one.