Vacation entitlement in Germany: rules and examples

How much vacation you get depends on law, contract and your working days. The statutory minimum is the floor; contracts and collective agreements often give more.

Statutory minimum vacation

24 working days based on a 6-day week, which is 4 weeks. In short: working days per week times 4. At 5 days that is 20, at 4 days 16 and at 3 days 12 vacation days per year.

Partial vacation when joining or leaving

You get one twelfth of the annual vacation per full month of employment. Example: 30 days in the contract, start on 1 October, so 3 full months: 30 times 3 divided by 12 gives 7.5 days. Because the fraction is 0.5, it is rounded up to 8 days.

Waiting period

You earn the full vacation entitlement for the first time after 6 months of employment. Before that, partial vacation applies.

Good to know

Fractions below half a day are not rounded up.
A contract may give more, but not less, than the statutory minimum.
Severely disabled people get extra vacation and young employees more vacation. The calculator does not include this.

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