15 days of leave
of which statutory: 10 days · for guidance only
How it was calculated
| Statutory annual leave | 24 days (6-day week) × 5 ÷ 6 | 20 |
|---|---|---|
| Contractual annual leave | 30 × 5 ÷ 5 | 30 |
| Pro rata (6 full months) | § 5(1)(c) BUrlG: leaving in the first half of the year. Statutory 20 × 6/12 = 10, contractual 30 × 6/12 = 15 | |
| Entitlement for the year | the higher of statutory and contractual | 15 |
Leaving by 30 June: one twelfth per month
If your employment ends in the first half of the year after you have completed the six-month waiting period, you are entitled to only part of the year's leave: one twelfth for each full month it lasted in that year (§ 5(1)(c) of the Federal Leave Act, BUrlG). According to the Federal Labour Court (BAG), this also applies if it ends at the close of 30 June (BAG, 17 November 2015, 9 AZR 179/15).
Only full months count. If you leave on 15 June, you have five full months, not six. A fraction of at least half a day is rounded up to a full day of leave (§ 5(2) BUrlG). Smaller fractions are not rounded down: they must be given as time off for that part of a day, or paid out after you leave (BAG, 26 January 1989, 8 AZR 730/87).
If, before you leave, you have already taken more leave than these twelfths give you, your employer cannot claim back the holiday pay for it (§ 5(3) BUrlG).
The twelfths are based on the full year's leave in your contract, and never on less than the statutory leave. German law sets 24 Werktage a year, counted on a six-day week from Monday to Saturday; on a five-day week that is 20 working days (§ 3(1) BUrlG). For how the full year's leave is calculated when you work part time, see the page on annual leave for part-time work.
| Leaving on | Full months | Statutory | Contract with 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 January 2026 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 28 February 2026 | 2 | 3.33 | 5 |
| 31 March 2026 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 30 April 2026 | 4 | 7 | 10 |
| 31 May 2026 | 5 | 8.33 | 13 |
| 30 June 2026 | 6 | 10 | 15 |
Leaving from 1 July: full statutory leave
If you leave in the second half of the year after the waiting period, you keep the full statutory leave for the year. In this case, § 5(1) BUrlG does not cut it to twelfths. On a five-day week that is 20 days, even if you leave on 31 July (§ 3(1) BUrlG).
The extra leave in your contract is only cut if your employment contract or collective agreement says so, for example with a pro rata clause that gives one twelfth per full month. Such a clause may not go below the statutory minimum leave, either in an employment contract (§ 13(1) sentence 3 BUrlG) or in a collective agreement (§ 13(1) sentence 1 BUrlG; BAG, 9 August 2016, 9 AZR 51/16).
In the calculator, open "Special cases" and tick "Pro rata clause". It then calculates in twelfths and never goes below the statutory leave. Fractions are rounded up only if your employment contract or collective agreement provides for it: § 5(2) BUrlG applies only to partial leave under § 5(1) (BAG, 23 January 2018, 9 AZR 200/17). What counts is the wording of your contract.
| Leaving on | Statutory | Contract, no clause | Contract with pro rata clause |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 July 2026 | 20 | 30 | 20 |
| 31 August 2026 | 20 | 30 | 20 |
| 30 September 2026 | 20 | 30 | 22.5 |
| 31 October 2026 | 20 | 30 | 25 |
| 30 November 2026 | 20 | 30 | 27.5 |
| 31 December 2026 | 20 | 30 | 30 |
Leaving in the first six months
You only earn the full year's leave once your employment has lasted six months (§ 4 BUrlG). If it ends before then, you get one twelfth per full month, whichever half of the year you leave in (§ 5(1)(b) BUrlG). What counts is the day your employment ends, not the day notice is given: if you start on 1 March and leave on 13 September, you earn the full entitlement, even if you received notice back in August. Whether your contract has a probationary period makes no difference.
The months count from your first day. If you start on 1 March, the waiting period ends at the close of 31 August (§ 187(2) and § 188(2) of the German Civil Code, BGB).
The full entitlement only arises after the waiting period has ended, not on its last day (BAG, 17 November 2015, 9 AZR 179/15). Following that reasoning, if your employment ends exactly on the last day of the waiting period, you get only partial leave.
Untaken leave in your notice period: time off before payment
Leave you have not taken yet is, as a rule, taken as time off, including during your notice period. Your employer sets the dates. It must take your wishes into account, unless urgent operational needs, or other employees' leave wishes that take priority for social reasons, stand in the way (§ 7(1) BUrlG).
Leave is only paid out to the extent that you can no longer take it because your employment ends: this is payment in lieu of untaken leave (Urlaubsabgeltung, § 7(4) BUrlG). The law does not let you choose between time off and money. This calculator does not work out the amount of the payment.
If your employer releases you from work (garden leave) and counts the release against your leave, the release must be final. A release that can be revoked does not count as leave granted (BAG, 10 February 2015, 9 AZR 455/13).
Leave carried over from the previous year comes on top, unless it has lapsed. Carried-over leave must generally be taken by 31 March (§ 7(3) BUrlG). Statutory leave usually only lapses, though, if your employer asked you in good time to take it and clearly warned you that it would lapse (BAG, 19 February 2019, 9 AZR 423/16). The calculator shows the entitlement for the year you choose, not your remaining leave: subtract the days you have already taken for that year. It does not include leave from the previous year.
New employer: no double leave
If you change employers within the same year, you do not get the full year's leave twice (BAG, 17 November 2015, 9 AZR 179/15). Leave your previous employer has already granted you for that year is therefore offset against your entitlement with your new employer (§ 6(1) BUrlG), but only to the extent that you would otherwise get more than the full year's leave in total. Partial leave with your new employer that, together with the leave from your old one, stays within the full year's leave is not cut: if you received 10 days of leave from your old employer up to 30 June on a five-day week and start a new job on 1 July, you get the full 10 days of partial leave there. In the calculator, enter the days from the certificate under "Special cases", in "Leave from previous employer".
When you leave, your current employer must therefore give you a leave certificate (Urlaubsbescheinigung). It shows how much leave was granted or paid out in the current year (§ 6(2) BUrlG). Give it to your new employer. According to the Federal Labour Court, employees must show that their previous employer has not already granted them the leave for that year. The leave certificate is the main way to prove it (BAG, 16 December 2014, 9 AZR 295/13).
Examples
Four cases on a five-day week with 30 days of leave in the contract. You can recreate each one in the calculator above.
Leaving on 30 June
The employee has worked there since 2020, and the employment ends at the close of 30 June 2026. That is still the first half of the year, so six full months count (§ 5(1)(c) BUrlG). Statutory: 20 × 6 ÷ 12 = 10 days. Contractual: 30 × 6 ÷ 12 = 15 days.
Result: 15 days, of which 10 statutory
Leaving on 31 July, no clause
One month later, the leaving date falls in the second half of the year. The statutory leave stays at the full 20 days. The contract has no pro rata clause, so the 30 contractual days also apply in full.
Result: 30 days, of which 20 statutory
Leaving on 31 July, with a pro rata clause
The contract pro-rates leave even when the employee leaves in the second half of the year: 30 × 7 ÷ 12 = 17.5 days. That is below the statutory minimum leave. It stays at 20 days, because the clause may not go below the statutory leave (§ 13(1) sentence 3 BUrlG; BAG, 9 August 2016, 9 AZR 51/16).
Result: 20 days, of which 20 statutory
Leaving before the waiting period ends
The employee joins on 1 March 2026 and leaves on 15 August. The waiting period would have ended at the close of 31 August. So there is partial leave under § 5(1)(b) BUrlG, even though the leaving date is in the second half of the year. With five full months, that is 20 × 5 ÷ 12 = 8.33 statutory days and 30 × 5 ÷ 12 = 12.5, rounded up to 13 contractual days.
Result: 13 days, of which 8.33 statutory
Legal basis
- § 3 BUrlG
Subsection 1: Leave is at least 24 Werktage a year. On a five-day week that equals 20 working days.
- § 4 BUrlG
The full leave entitlement is earned for the first time once the employment has lasted six months.
- § 5 BUrlG
Subsection 1: The employee is entitled to one twelfth of the annual leave for each full month of employment (a) for periods of a calendar year in which they do not earn a full entitlement because the waiting period is not completed in that year; (b) if they leave before completing the waiting period; (c) if they leave after completing the waiting period in the first half of a calendar year. Subsection 2: Fractions of leave days that come to at least half a day are rounded up to full leave days. Subsection 3: If, in case (c), the employee has already received more leave, the holiday pay for it cannot be claimed back.
- § 6 BUrlG
Subsection 1: There is no entitlement to leave to the extent that a previous employer has already granted the employee leave for the current calendar year. Subsection 2: When the employment ends, the employer must hand over a certificate of the leave granted or paid out in the current calendar year.
- § 7 BUrlG
Subsection 1: When the dates of leave are set, the employee's wishes must be taken into account, unless urgent operational needs or other employees' wishes that take priority for social reasons stand in the way. Subsection 3: Leave must be taken in the current calendar year; leave carried over must be taken in the first three months of the following year. Subsection 4: If leave can no longer be granted, in whole or in part, because the employment has ended, it must be paid out.
- § 9 BUrlG
If an employee falls ill during their leave, the days of incapacity for work shown by a doctor's certificate are not counted against the annual leave.
- § 13 BUrlG
Subsection 1: Collective agreements may depart from every provision except §§ 1, 2 and 3(1). Otherwise, apart from § 7(2) sentence 2, the provisions of the Act may not be departed from to the employee's disadvantage.
- § 187 BGB
Subsection 2: If the start of a day is the relevant point for the beginning of a period, that day is counted. So your first day of employment counts towards the waiting period.
- § 188 BGB
Subsection 2: A period set in months ends, in the case of § 187(2), at the close of the day before the day of the month that corresponds to the first day. If you start on 1 March, the waiting period ends at the close of 31 August.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 17 November 2015, 9 AZR 179/15: The end of the waiting period and the start of the full entitlement do not coincide: if you join on 1 July, you do not earn full leave that year. Leaving at the close of 30 June counts as leaving in the first half of the year.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 26 January 1989, 8 AZR 730/87: Fractions of leave days that are not rounded up under § 5(2) BUrlG do not disappear: they must be granted as time off or paid out after the employee leaves.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 9 August 2016, 9 AZR 51/16: Pro-rating under § 26(2)(b) TV-L also applies when an employee leaves in the second half of the year after completing the waiting period, but may not go below the statutory minimum leave: 30 × 7 ÷ 12 = 17.5 days, rounded up to 18 under § 26(1) TV-L, topped up to 20.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 23 January 2018, 9 AZR 200/17: § 5(2) BUrlG governs only the rounding of partial leave under § 5(1) BUrlG. Other fractions are rounded only if the law, a collective agreement or the employment contract provides for it.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 10 February 2015, 9 AZR 455/13: Releasing an employee from work only counts as granting leave if the release is final. After a dismissal without notice, leave only counts as granted through a release if the holiday pay is paid before the leave starts or promised without reservation.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 19 February 2019, 9 AZR 423/16: Statutory minimum leave lapses at the end of the calendar year or the carry-over period only if the employer has first asked the employee to take it and clearly warned that it would lapse.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 16 December 2014, 9 AZR 295/13: § 6(1) BUrlG sets a negative condition for the claim. Employees must show, and if necessary prove, that their previous employer has not already granted them the leave for the current year; a graduated burden of pleading and proof applies. The main evidence is the leave certificate under § 6(2) BUrlG.
As of 14 October 2026
Frequently asked questions
Only to the extent that you can no longer take it before your employment ends. Your employer must then pay you for it instead (payment in lieu, § 7(4) BUrlG). As long as the employment continues, leave is given as time off.
Not the statutory leave. It makes no difference whether you resign, your employer gives you notice or you sign a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag). What counts is when the employment ends and whether the waiting period is completed (§§ 4 and 5 BUrlG). For the extra leave, it depends on your employment contract or collective agreement.
If you leave in the first half of the year after the waiting period, your employer cannot claim back the holiday pay for the extra days you took (§ 5(3) BUrlG). A collective agreement can say otherwise (§ 13(1) sentence 1 BUrlG). The Act has no express rule for leaving before the waiting period is completed.
Days on which you are unfit for work during your leave do not count against your leave if you prove them with a doctor's certificate (§ 9 BUrlG). If you can no longer take the leave before your employment ends, it is paid out (§ 7(4) BUrlG).
With a new employer, the six-month waiting period starts again (§ 4 BUrlG). If you join by 30 June, you earn the full year's leave in the same year, minus what your old employer has already granted you for that year (§ 6(1) BUrlG). If you join on 1 July or later, you get one twelfth of the annual leave for each full month in the year you join (§ 5(1)(a) BUrlG; BAG, 17 November 2015, 9 AZR 179/15). This partial leave is only cut to the extent that, together with the leave from your old employer, you would get more than the full year's leave. For this, give your new employer the leave certificate from your old one (§ 6(2) BUrlG).
How Worklayer calculates it
In Worklayer, leave policies calculate leave entitlement automatically: pro rata from the start date and up to the leaving date, pro rata for part-time work, with carry-over into the next year and accrual over the year. Everyone can see their leave balance at any time; there are leave policy templates for 13 countries and public holidays for 204 countries.
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Note: this calculator gives a non-binding, automated calculation based on the statutory minimum rules of German law (as of 14 October 2026). It is not legal advice and does not replace an individual review of your case. Collective agreements, works agreements and employment contracts may contain different or more favourable rules, which are only taken into account here as far as you enter them. For a binding answer, please contact a lawyer specialising in employment law, your works council, or your trade union or employers' association. To the extent permitted by law, we accept no liability for the accuracy, completeness or currency of the results. What you enter is processed only in your browser and is neither stored nor transmitted.