Almost every employee in Germany has heard of vacation days. Almost nobody uses Bildungsurlaub — even though in 14 of the 16 federal states you are entitled to around five additional paid working days per year for recognized education courses, on top of your normal vacation, and the recognized catalogue includes exactly what most expats need: German language courses. Your employer continues paying your full salary for the week; you only pay the course fee. Utilization rates hover in the low single digits — this is the most under-used employee right in Germany, and for internationals it is often the cheapest route to serious German lessons on work time.
A right created by the Länder, not the Bund
There is no federal Bildungsurlaub statute. Education leave (called Bildungsurlaub, Bildungszeit or Bildungsfreistellung depending on the state) is regulated by state law — for example the Arbeitnehmerweiterbildungsgesetz (AWbG) in North Rhine-Westphalia or the Bildungszeitgesetz in Berlin and Baden-Württemberg. Every state has such a law except Bavaria and Saxony. If you work in Munich or Dresden, you have no statutory claim (only whatever your contract or collective agreement grants); if you work anywhere else, you do.
What counts is the state where you work, not where you live or where the course takes place. A Cologne-based employee can attend a course recognized in NRW even if it runs on the Baltic coast — many recognized courses are deliberately located in attractive places, which is part of Bildungsurlaub’s quiet charm.
How much leave, and for what
The standard entitlement is 5 working days per calendar year at a 5-day week (pro-rated for part-time). Several states allow pooling two years into a 10-day block — in NRW carry-over into the following year is possible, in Hessen two consecutive years can be combined, and Berlin grants 10 days per two-calendar-year period outright (employees under 25 get 10 days per year there). During the leave, the employer must continue your normal remuneration, just as with vacation; the course fee, travel and accommodation are yours to pay.
Eligible courses must be recognized by the respective state. Two families dominate:
- Vocational training (berufliche Weiterbildung): anything that plausibly benefits your working life — project management, IT and data courses, leadership seminars, presentation skills, and crucially, language courses, including German as a foreign language. The course does not have to match your current job description narrowly; general usefulness for your occupation suffices in most states.
- Political education (politische Bildung): courses on democracy, European institutions, history, sustainability and social policy. No connection to your job is required at all — the legislative purpose is an informed citizenry.
Some states additionally recognize training for volunteer roles (Ehrenamt), and a few accept health-prevention formats. Course providers advertise the states in which each course is recognized — always verify the recognition for your state of work before applying.
The application — deadlines matter
You must apply to your employer in advance, in writing (email suffices in practice; keep proof), stating the course, dates and the recognition. The standard lead time is 6 weeks before the course starts — that is the rule in NRW and Berlin; some states require more, so check your state law and file two months ahead to be safe. Attach the provider’s recognition confirmation. The employer must respond; in several states, a refusal must be in writing and reasoned, and some state laws treat silence past the deadline as approval — but never simply stay away from work on an unanswered application.
When the employer may refuse — and when not
Refusal grounds are narrow. The employer may refuse only where pressing operational concerns or the vacation wishes of other employees stand in the way — the same restrictive standard as for vacation scheduling. „We’re busy” is not enough; a genuine staffing collision in your team during exactly those days can be.
Two structural limits exist in most states:
- Small-business threshold: in NRW, the right applies only in businesses with more than 10 employees; other states have comparable thresholds or relaxed refusal rights for small employers.
- Aggregate cap (Überlastungsschutz): in NRW, once the total education-leave days taken company-wide in the calendar year reach the number of employees, further requests can be refused. Practically relevant only where colleagues actually use the right — which, given single-digit utilization, is rare.
- Waiting period: most states require the employment to have existed for 6 months before the first claim.
If the employer refuses lawfully for operational reasons, the entitlement typically does not evaporate: in NRW, blocked days carry into the following calendar year on request. If the employer refuses unlawfully, do not simply travel to the course — unauthorized absence risks a warning or dismissal. Enforce instead: insist in writing, involve the works council where one exists, and if necessary seek an interim injunction at the labor court for time-critical courses, or claim replacement leave/damages afterwards. Employers confronted with a written, legally grounded insistence usually fold — refusals thrive on employees not knowing the law.
All 14 states at a glance
The table shows the headline values as commonly applied. The state laws differ in many details and are amended from time to time — treat the figures as orientation and verify the current text of your state’s law (or ask us) before relying on a specific deadline or threshold. „Threshold” refers to minimum employer size or relaxed refusal rights for small businesses; „—” means no general size threshold applies.
| State of work | Days | Small-employer threshold | Application lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 5 per year (carry-over possible) | More than 10 employees | 6 weeks |
| Berlin | 10 per 2 years (under-25s: 10 per year) | — (easier refusal for very small businesses) | 6 weeks |
| Hessen | 5 per year (2 years poolable) | — | 6 weeks |
| Baden-Württemberg | 5 per year | Relaxed refusal below ~10 employees | ~9 weeks |
| Hamburg | 5 per year (poolable to 10) | — | 6 weeks |
| Niedersachsen | 5 per year | — | 4 weeks |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | 10 per 2 years | More than 5 employees | 6 weeks |
| Bremen | 10 per 2 years | — | ~4 weeks |
| Saarland | 6 per year (part may have to come from your own free time) | — | 6 weeks |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 5 per year | — | 6 weeks |
| Brandenburg | 10 per 2 years | Relaxed rules for small businesses | 6 weeks |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 5 per year | Relaxed rules for small businesses | 8 weeks |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | 5 per year | More than 5 employees | 6 weeks |
| Thüringen | 5 per year | More than 5 employees | 8 weeks |
Bavaria and Saxony have no education-leave statute — employees working there have no statutory claim, whatever the table says for the rest of the country.
Language courses abroad — French in France, Spanish in Spain?
Immersion courses at the language’s home — a French intensive in Montpellier, a Spanish course in Seville — are the most attractive Bildungsurlaub format, and they can qualify, but the venue rules differ by state. Some states recognize courses held abroad, often limited to venues within the EU or within a certain distance of the German border; others expect the course to take place in Germany or apply stricter scrutiny to foreign venues. Berlin and Hamburg have traditionally been liberal — providers run whole catalogues of recognized abroad-intensives aimed at exactly this market — while other states examine foreign venues case by case.
Three practical rules keep you safe. First, the recognition must exist for your state of work and attaches to the specific course run, not the school generally — ask the provider for the recognition notice (Anerkennungsbescheid) for your state and the exact dates before booking. Second, the course must meet your state’s intensity requirements (typically around six teaching hours per day); a holiday with a sprinkle of lessons qualifies nowhere. Third, travel and accommodation are always your own cost — the employer owes continued salary, nothing more. If recognition for your state does not exist, a German-based course on the same dates is usually the pragmatic fallback rather than a fight over venue rules.
State snapshots
North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)
5 working days per year under the AWbG for vocational and political education; businesses with more than 10 employees; application at least 6 weeks ahead; carry-over of refused or unused days into the next year on timely request, allowing a 10-day block. Bonn and Cologne have a dense supply of recognized German intensives.
Berlin
Bildungszeit of 10 days per two consecutive calendar years (under-25s: 10 days per year); vocational, political and volunteer-related courses; 6 weeks’ notice. Berlin’s recognition practice is notably liberal — a magnet for expat-oriented course formats.
Hessen
5 days per year for political and vocational education and training for honorary offices; two years can be combined into 10 days with the employer’s agreement; the employment must have existed for 6 months.
Baden-Württemberg
5 days per year under the Bildungszeitgesetz for vocational, political and volunteer-qualification training; apply well in advance — BW expects early applications, so file around two months ahead.
Worked example
Product manager from Ireland, employed in Cologne, gross salary €66,000 (€5,500/month, ~€254 per working day). She books a recognized 5-day German B2 intensive in Cologne, course fee €345, and applies 8 weeks ahead with the NRW recognition certificate attached.
Economics of the week: the employer continues her salary — 5 × €254 = €1,270 gross — while she attends 30 lessons of German. Her only outlay is the €345 fee. Compare the alternative of taking the same course during vacation: she would burn 5 of her 28 vacation days (implicit value €1,270) and pay the fee. Over four years of consistently used Bildungsurlaub (20 days), the salary continued during education leave totals roughly €5,100 gross — paid education her colleagues simply never claim. Her employer initially responded that „we don’t offer Bildungsurlaub”; a short written reply citing the AWbG and the 6-week application resolved the matter without conflict.
Frequently asked questions
Does Bildungsurlaub reduce my normal vacation days?
No. It is an additional entitlement on top of your statutory and contractual vacation. An employer cannot offset it against vacation, and a contract clause purporting to do so is invalid as far as the statutory education-leave claim reaches.
I work in Bavaria. Any options?
No statutory claim — Bavaria and Saxony have no education-leave law. Check your collective agreement and works agreements for contractual training leave, and consider Sonderurlaub or negotiated unpaid leave. If you work remotely for a Bavarian company but your contractual place of work is in another state, the other state’s law may apply — worth a legal look.
Can my employer demand that the course relate to my current job?
For vocational courses, most state laws require only that the training is useful for your occupational activity in a broad sense — German language skills clear that bar easily for anyone working in Germany. Political education requires no job connection at all. The employer does not get to second-guess a course the state has formally recognized.
What happens to unused days at year-end?
Rules differ by state. In NRW you can carry days into the following year by requesting it in time; in Berlin the entitlement is defined per two-year period anyway; elsewhere unused days often lapse. Unlike vacation, courts have not extended the duty-to-warn case law to education leave — so use it or plan the carry-over actively.
Do I get the days paid out if I leave the company?
No. Unlike vacation, Bildungsurlaub has no payout mechanism at termination — there is no equivalent to Urlaubsabgeltung. It is strictly use-it-in-kind. If your employment is ending, prioritize taking approved education leave before the exit date where feasible.
I am sick during my Bildungsurlaub week — are the days lost?
With a medical certificate, days of proven incapacity are generally not counted against the entitlement — the same protective logic as being sick during vacation. Your salary continues under the ordinary rules of Entgeltfortzahlung. Notify the employer and the course provider immediately and secure the certificate from day one.
I work part-time or fully remote — how does the entitlement apply to me?
Part-time employees have the claim pro-rated: at a 3-day week, 5 days become 3 in most states. For remote workers the decisive question is which state your employment is attributable to — usually the establishment you belong to, not your sofa. A fully remote employee living in Leipzig but attached to a Cologne establishment will typically look to NRW law (favourable — Saxony has none); the reverse constellation is the unlucky one. The attribution can be genuinely contested in remote setups, so check the contract wording before assuming either way — the same logic that matters when working for a foreign employer under a German contract.
Does my employer get proof that I actually attended?
Yes — you must attend the course properly, and the provider issues an attendance certificate (Teilnahmebescheinigung) that the employer may request. What the employer does not get: course results, test scores or any say over the content beyond the state recognition. Skipping the course while drawing paid leave, however, is treated like any other work-time fraud — a genuine dismissal risk, not a grey area. Attend, collect the certificate, file it.