Germany has one of the most generous statutory vacation regimes in the OECD — and the contractual norm is even more generous. Here is what you can rely on.
The statutory minimum
Under the Federal Vacation Act (Bundesurlaubsgesetz, BUrlG), every employee is entitled to a minimum of 24 working days of paid leave per calendar year, calculated on the basis of a six-day working week. For the standard five-day week (Monday to Friday), this translates into 20 working days, i.e. four full weeks of paid leave.
How most contracts treat it
The statutory minimum is a floor. Most full-time German employment contracts grant 25–30 days. Senior or in-demand professionals (particularly in tech and consulting) often negotiate higher. Whatever your contract grants above the statutory minimum is contractual vacation, which can theoretically be subject to slightly different rules — for example, contracts can validly say that contractual vacation expires earlier than statutory vacation or is forfeited on long-term illness sooner. In practice, most contracts treat both pools identically.
Part-time and irregular schedules
Vacation entitlement is calculated by the number of working days, not hours. An employee working four days a week is entitled to 4/5 of the full-time entitlement; an employee working three days a week to 3/5, and so on. The entitlement is converted to the days the employee actually works, so a four-day-a-week employee with a 20-day full-time entitlement gets 16 days of leave — four “weeks” of their working schedule.
The six-month waiting period
The full annual entitlement vests for the first time after six months of employment (§ 4 BUrlG). Before that, you build up 1/12 of the annual entitlement per completed month worked. After the six-month mark, the full entitlement vests retroactively for the entire current year.
Mid-year start or exit
If you join or leave in the middle of a year, you typically receive 1/12 per completed month worked in that year. There is one well-known exception: if you have already been at the company for more than six months when you leave, and you leave in the second half of the year, you are entitled to the full annual vacation, not the pro-rated amount (§ 5(1)(c) BUrlG). Many employees lose vacation by not knowing this rule and accepting a pro-rated payout.
Special leave
Some contracts grant additional special leave (Sonderurlaub) for events like your own wedding, the birth of a child, or the death of a close relative. These days are on top of the regular vacation entitlement and are not counted against your annual balance.
How to handle the mid-year exit case
The most common misunderstanding: if you have been at the company more than six months and leave in the second half of the year, you are entitled to the full annual vacation balance, not the pro-rated amount (§ 5(1)(c) BUrlG). If you leave in the first half of the year, you get a pro-rated balance based on completed months. Many employers default to pro-rating in both cases — that is wrong for the second-half scenario and worth correcting.
Examples
- 5-day week, 30 contractual days, joined 1 January 2024, leaving 31 August 2026: full 30 days for 2024, full 30 days for 2025, full 30 days for 2026 = 90 days total (minus any taken).
- Same contract, leaving 31 May 2026 (first half): full 30 days for 2024, full 30 days for 2025, 5/12 of 30 = 12.5 days for 2026.
Sonderurlaub (special leave)
Many contracts grant additional special leave for life events. Typical amounts:
- Own wedding: 1–2 days.
- Birth of a child: 1–2 days (for fathers; mothers have separate maternity protection).
- Death of a parent, spouse, or child: 2–3 days.
- Severe illness in the immediate family: 1–10 days, depending on circumstances.
These days are usually on top of the regular vacation balance and do not need to be made up. They are not statutory — they live in your contract or a Betriebsvereinbarung.