Vacation Days in Germany: How Many You Get and How to Use Them
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Paid vacation in Germany is called Urlaub, and the legal entitlement to it is Urlaubsanspruch. Under the Federal Vacation Act (Bundesurlaubsgesetz, BUrlG), the minimum is 24 working days for a 6-day workweek, which usually translates into 20 days for a 5-day workweek. Your employment contract, collective agreement (Tarifvertrag), or company policy may grant more, for example 25-30 days.
In short: what matters most
- Full-time employees, part-time employees, and people with a mini-job (Minijob) are all entitled to vacation.
- The number of days depends not on how many hours you work per day, but on how many days per week you usually work.
- During vacation, you receive your normal salary; separate vacation pay (Urlaubsgeld) exists only if it is provided for by a contract, collective agreement, or employer practice.
- Remaining vacation days (Resturlaub) usually have to be used in the current calendar year; carryover is possible only for valid reasons and, as a rule, only until March 31 of the following year.
- If you get sick during your vacation and obtain a sick note, those days should not be deducted from your vacation balance.
The statutory minimum vacation
BUrlG defines the minimum based on a 6-day workweek: 24 Werktage per year. Since Saturday counts as a working day in this calculation, the minimum for a standard 5-day workweek is 20 working days.
| Regular working days per week | Statutory minimum vacation |
|---|---|
| 1 day | 4 days |
| 2 days | 8 days |
| 3 days | 12 days |
| 4 days | 16 days |
| 5 days | 20 days |
| 6 days | 24 days |
If a company’s full-time schedule grants more vacation, a part-time employee usually receives a proportional share. The basic formula looks like this:
Example: the company’s full-time schedule is 5 days per week and 30 vacation days per year. You work 3 days per week. Then the calculation is as follows:
The result is 18 paid vacation days per year.
Vacation for Minijob and part-time work
Mini-job workers have the same basic labor rights as other employees, including paid vacation. In 2026, the income limit for a standard Minijob mit Verdienstgrenze is 603 euros per month on average, but vacation is calculated based on working days, not on the amount of pay.
If a mini-job worker works 5 days a week for one hour a day, the minimum is the same as for any other employee with a 5-day workweek: 20 days. If they work 2 days a week, the statutory minimum is 8 days.
A practically useful formula is:
employee’s working days per week x vacation for the full-time schedule / working days of the full-time schedule
Calculators from Minijob-Zentrale and HR services can help with the arithmetic, but you should always compare the result with the contract and the actual work schedule.
How to request vacation
In Germany, vacation has to be agreed with the employer. There is no universal rule such as “apply at least 14 days in advance” for all cases: deadlines are often set in the employment contract, collective agreement, company policies, or the leave management system.
A practical approach is:
- Check your remaining vacation balance and the internal application deadline.
- Discuss long vacations in advance, especially in summer, at Christmas, and during school holidays.
- Submit the request through the HR system, by email, or through another official company channel.
- Wait for confirmation. Until you receive it, it is safer not to treat the vacation as approved.
- Keep the confirmation in case there is ever a dispute about your absence.
The employer must take the employee’s wishes into account, but may refuse if there are urgent operational reasons or a conflict with socially more prioritized requests from colleagues, for example parents asking for time off during school holidays.
Carrying over Resturlaub
As a general rule, vacation must be used in the year for which it accrues. Carryover into the next year is allowed if the vacation could not be taken because of urgent work-related reasons or reasons connected with the employee, for example illness.
If vacation is carried over, the standard benchmark is to use it within the first three months of the following year, that is, by March 31. At the same time, under modern case law the employer must clearly inform the employee about the remaining balance and the risk of losing it. If the employer did not do this, the question of whether the vacation expired may be disputed.
Parental leave in Germany
Vacation when leaving a job or changing employers
When changing jobs, the key factors are the termination date, the length of time you worked for the company, and the wording of the contract.
- If the full annual vacation entitlement has not yet arisen or the job ends in the first half of the year, vacation is usually calculated proportionally: 1/12 for each full month worked.
- If the employee has worked for more than 6 months and leaves after June 30, a full entitlement to at least the statutory annual minimum vacation may arise.
- Additional days beyond the statutory minimum may be regulated separately, especially if the contract contains a proportionality clause.
- The new employer may ask for a certificate showing how many vacation days have already been used with the previous employer.
If vacation cannot be taken before the employment relationship ends, the unused days must be compensated in money.
How to resign in Germany
Illness during vacation
If you get sick while on vacation, your vacation days can only be restored if you have official proof of incapacity for work. To do this, you should see a doctor as quickly as possible and inform your employer about the sick leave. The German certificate is called Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung or, colloquially, Krankschreibung.
Important limits:
- you cannot extend your vacation on your own because of the days you were ill;
- the restored days have to be approved again as vacation;
- if this was not vacation but compensatory time off for overtime (Freizeitausgleich), different rules may apply;
- your child’s illness during your vacation does not by itself turn your vacation days back into a remaining balance.
Sick leave in Germany
Long-term illness
With long-term illness, vacation does not disappear immediately. For the statutory minimum vacation, a benchmark of 15 months after the end of the relevant calendar year is often used. But the details depend on whether the issue concerns the statutory minimum or additional contractual days, so in the case of long-term sick leave it is better to check the HR documents separately or seek advice.
Pregnancy, Mutterschutz, and Elternzeit
Pregnancy and maternity protection leave (Mutterschutz) do not reduce the normal vacation entitlement. Unused days can be taken after the Mutterschutz period ends.
With parental leave (Elternzeit), the situation is more nuanced: the employer may reduce vacation by 1/12 for each full calendar month of Elternzeit if they make that reduction correctly and explicitly. If the reduction has not been declared, it should not be treated as automatic.
Maternity leave in Germany
Brückentage: how to extend your time off with public holidays
A Brückentag is a working day between a public holiday and the weekend. If a holiday falls on a Thursday, taking one vacation day on Friday turns an ordinary weekend into four days off.
In Germany, public holidays depend on the federal state and the place of work, not only on where you live. So before making plans, check the calendar for your specific state and your company rules.
For the remainder of 2026, the most noticeable options are limited: many of the strongest combinations fell in spring. A general example worth checking in your own calendar is:
| Period | How to use vacation | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas 2026 | take December 28-31 | with December 25 and January 1, 2027, this can create a long break into early January |
| Regional holidays | if a holiday in your federal state falls on a Thursday or Tuesday | 1 vacation day can create 4 days off |
Summary
Vacation in Germany is not a bonus but a protected labor right. Check your contract, the number of working days per week, the carryover rules, and the internal approval process. If there are disputed issues in your case, such as resignation, long-term illness, Elternzeit, an employer refusal, or the expiration of Resturlaub, it is better not to rely on verbal agreements and to document decisions in writing.
