Holiday Entitlement Calculator

How this is worked out

German holiday law has one rule that saves people a lot of money and almost nobody knows it.

The basic pro-rata rule. One twelfth of your annual entitlement for each complete month you were employed in the calendar year. Join in June, work seven complete months, and you get seven twelfths.

The rule people miss: leaving after 30 June gives you the whole year. Under §5 BUrlG, the twelfths calculation only applies if you leave in the first half of the year, or before you have completed six months of service. Leave on 31 July having been there since before the year began, and you are entitled to the full annual allowance — not seven twelfths of it. If you cannot take it, it must be paid out.

On 30 days a year, that is the difference between 17.5 days and 30. At a 4,500 monthly salary, roughly 1,700 in pay.

Rounding only ever goes up. §5(2) says a part-day of half or more counts as a full day. There is no rule allowing rounding down, and the Federal Labour Court has confirmed employers cannot invent one.

The statutory minimum is 24 working days on a six-day week, which is 20 days on a five-day week. Most German contracts give 25 to 30. Your contract can be more generous than the law but never less.

A worked example

You joined on 1 June with a 30-day contract, five-day week, and have taken 5 days.

• Full months this year: 7 (June to December)
• Exact: 30 × 7 ÷ 12 = 17.5 days
• The half rounds up: 18 days
• Still owed: 13 days

Now the situation worth knowing about. You have worked there two years and hand in your notice with a last day of 31 July.

• Not 30 × 7 ÷ 12 = 17.5
• The full 30 days, because you left in the second half of the year

If you have taken five, twenty-five days must be given as leave during your notice period or paid out. Employers do sometimes calculate this wrongly — it is worth checking your final payslip against this.

What this doesn't cover

• Only complete months count. Joining on 15 June means June is not a complete month, so count from July.
• If you have not yet completed six months with the employer, the twelfths rule applies whenever you leave — the second-half rule needs the Wartezeit to be done.
• Public holidays are separate and are not part of this entitlement.
• Sick days during leave do not count against it, if you have a certificate.
• Leave not taken normally expires on 31 December, but carries to 31 March where the contract or a genuine reason allows. Since 2019, it only expires at all if the employer actively told you to take it — otherwise it keeps accumulating.
• Contracts and collective agreements can be more generous. This gives the statutory position.

Common questions