18 days of leave
of which statutory: 12 days · for guidance only
How it was calculated
| Statutory annual leave | 24 days (6-day week) × 3 ÷ 6 | 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Contractual annual leave | 30 × 3 ÷ 5 | 18 |
| Entitlement for the year | the higher of statutory and contractual | 18 |
How to calculate part-time leave
Leave is counted in days you would otherwise work. German law starts from a six-day week: leave is at least 24 Werktage a year (§ 3(1) BUrlG), and Werktage are all calendar days except Sundays and public holidays (§ 3(2) BUrlG), so Monday to Saturday. The 24 days are days on a six-day week. For your own week, calculate: 24 × working days per week ÷ 6.
Employment contracts usually state leave for a five-day week, for example 30 days. The formula is then: leave in the contract × working days per week ÷ 5. If your contract states the leave in Werktage, divide by 6 instead. The higher of the two results applies, because § 3(1) BUrlG only sets the minimum.
This gives part-time staff fewer days but the same number of weeks off: 4 weeks by law, 6 weeks with 30 days in the contract. This is in line with the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act: part-time staff receive divisible benefits with a monetary value, such as leave, at least in proportion to their working time (§ 4(1) TzBfG; Federal Labour Court (BAG), 10 February 2015, 9 AZR 53/14 (F)).
The hours you work each day do not matter. The BAG looks only at the number of working days, not at your weekly hours (BAG, 19 March 2019, 9 AZR 406/17). If you work four hours on each of five days, you get as many days of leave as a full-time colleague.
| Working days per week | Statutory (24 × days ÷ 6) | With 28 days in the contract | With 30 days in the contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 days | 5.6 days | 6 days |
| 2 | 8 days | 11.2 days | 12 days |
| 3 | 12 days | 16.8 days | 18 days |
| 4 | 16 days | 22.4 days | 24 days |
| 5 | 20 days | 28 days | 30 days |
| 6 | 24 days | 33.6 days | 36 days |
Leave entitlement on a four-day week
On four working days a week, the statutory minimum is 16 days (24 × 4 ÷ 6). With 30 days in the contract on a five-day basis, it is 24 days (30 × 4 ÷ 5).
This applies whether you work fewer hours on four days or spread your full weekly hours over four longer days. One day of leave then covers one longer working day. You still get 4 weeks off by law, or 6 weeks with 30 days in the contract.
If the four-day week starts during the year, calculate the time before and after the change separately. The next section shows how.
Switching from full-time to part-time work during the year
If the number of days you work changes during the year, leave is calculated for each period with its own working days, then added up (BAG, 19 March 2019, 9 AZR 406/17).
Leave you earned while working full time may not be scaled down to your new part-time week when you switch. The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) decided this for leave that employees could not take before the switch (22 April 2010, C-486/08, Zentralbetriebsrat der Landeskrankenhäuser Tirols; 13 June 2013, C-415/12, Brandes). It rejected the argument that the number of weeks of leave stays the same: if you now work only three days a week, a week of leave releases you from only three days of work.
The BAG followed the CJEU (10 February 2015, 9 AZR 53/14 (F)). In that case, an employee had 30 days of leave under the TVöD, the collective agreement for the federal and local public sector, and from 16 July worked four days a week instead of five. The employer granted 24 days. The BAG held that he was entitled to 27: 15 for the first half of the year and 12 for the second. The fact that he had not requested any leave before the switch did not justify the cut.
If your working time goes up, leave you have already earned does not have to be recalculated retroactively. The period after the increase, however, is calculated afresh (CJEU, 11 November 2015, C-219/14, Greenfield).
In the calculator, enter the change under "Special cases", in "Working days change from" and "New working days per week". The calculator applies it only from the first of a month, and only if you are employed for the whole year. It works in twelfths rather than single working days, so the result may differ slightly.
Working days that vary from week to week: use the whole year
If you do not work the same number of days every week, for example alternating between two and three days, work it out over the whole year. The BAG sets your working days in the year against 312 Werktage, six days in each of 52 weeks: 24 × working days in the year ÷ 312 (BAG, 19 March 2019, 9 AZR 406/17). Public holidays are counted as working days here.
For a five-day week, the BAG assumes 260 possible working days a year. For leave in the contract on a five-day basis, calculate: leave in the contract × working days in the year ÷ 260.
In the calculator, enter the weekly average: your working days in 52 weeks divided by 52. With two and three days alternating, that is 2.5 days. The result is the same as with the yearly formula.
| Working pattern | Working days in 52 weeks | Statutory (× 24 ÷ 312) | With 30 days in the contract (× 30 ÷ 260) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alternating 2 and 3 days | 130 | 10 | 15 |
| Alternating 3 and 4 days | 182 | 14 | 21 |
| Alternating 4 and 5 days | 234 | 18 | 27 |
Worked examples
Five typical part-time cases, each for the whole of 2026. Every figure is calculated with the calculator above.
3 days a week, 30 days in the contract
Statutory: 24 × 3 ÷ 6 = 12 days. Contract: 30 × 3 ÷ 5 = 18 days. The higher figure applies, so you get 18 days of leave.
Result: 18 days, of which 12 statutory
Four-day week, 30 days in the contract
Statutory: 24 × 4 ÷ 6 = 16 days. Contract: 30 × 4 ÷ 5 = 24 days. Whether you spread 32 or 40 hours over the four days makes no difference.
Result: 24 days, of which 16 statutory
Alternating 2 and 3 days a week, 30 days in the contract
Over the year that is 26 × 2 + 26 × 3 = 130 working days, 2.5 a week on average. Statutory: 24 × 130 ÷ 312 = 10 days. Contract: 30 × 130 ÷ 260 = 15 days. In the calculator, enter 2.5 days.
Result: 15 days, of which 10 statutory
3 days instead of 5 from July, 30 days in the contract
January to June on 5 days: 30 × 6/12 = 15 days. July to December on 3 days: 18 × 6/12 = 9 days. That makes 24 days in total, of which 10 + 6 = 16 are statutory. If you took no leave before July, the 15 days from your full-time months stay full days of leave: on 3 working days a week, that is 5 weeks off.
Result: 24 days, of which 16 statutory
3 days a week, 28 days in the contract
Contract: 28 × 3 ÷ 5 = 16.8 days; statutory: 12 days. The calculator shows the fraction as it is, because the law does not round here. The questions below explain why.
Result: 16.8 days, of which 12 statutory
Legal basis
- § 3 BUrlG
(1) Leave amounts to at least 24 Werktage a year. (2) Werktage are all calendar days that are not Sundays or public holidays.
- § 4 TzBfG
(1) A part-time employee may not be treated less favourably than a comparable full-time employee because of working part time, unless objective reasons justify it. A part-time employee must receive pay or any other divisible benefit with a monetary value at least in the proportion that their working time bears to the working time of a comparable full-time employee.
- § 2 TzBfG
(1) A part-time employee is an employee whose regular weekly working time is shorter than that of a comparable full-time employee. (2) An employee in marginal employment under § 8(1) no. 1 of Social Code Book IV (SGB IV) is also a part-time employee.
- § 5 BUrlG
(1) An employee is entitled to one twelfth of the annual leave for each full month of employment if the six-month waiting period is not completed in the calendar year, if the employment ends before it is completed, or if the employment ends in the first half of the year after it is completed. (2) Fractions of leave days that come to at least half a day are rounded up to full days. According to the BAG, subsection 2 governs only the rounding of partial leave under subsection 1 (BAG, 23 January 2018, 9 AZR 200/17).
- § 13 BUrlG
(1) Collective agreements may depart from the provisions above, except §§ 1, 2 and 3(1). [...] Otherwise, apart from § 7(2) sentence 2, the provisions of this Act may not be changed to the employee's disadvantage.
- Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), 22 April 2010, C-486/08 (Zentralbetriebsrat der Landeskrankenhäuser Tirols): Leave earned while working full time that could not be taken during that time may be neither reduced nor paid at a lower rate when the employee moves to part-time work.
- Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), 13 June 2013, C-415/12 (Brandes), order: Days of leave that could not be taken while working full time may not be cut in proportion to the working days when the employee moves to fewer working days a week; that the number of weeks of leave would stay the same makes no difference.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 10 February 2015, 9 AZR 53/14 (F): A collective agreement rule that reduces days of leave earned while working full time when the employee moves to fewer working days a week is invalid to that extent under § 4(1) TzBfG; after moving from five days to four, the employee was entitled to 27 days instead of 24.
- Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), 11 November 2015, C-219/14 (Greenfield): If working time goes up, leave already earned does not have to be recalculated retroactively; the period after the increase is calculated afresh.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 23 January 2018, 9 AZR 200/17: Without a rule in law, a collective agreement or the contract, a leave entitlement of less than half a day is neither rounded up nor down; § 5(2) BUrlG governs only the rounding of partial leave under § 5(1) BUrlG, and there is no legal basis for rounding other fractions.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 20 March 2018, 9 AZR 486/17: Leave earned before working time was reduced and taken afterwards may not be paid at a reduced rate.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 19 March 2019, 9 AZR 406/17: Leave depends on the number of working days, not the hours; if the days change during the year, each period is calculated separately, and with an uneven pattern the formula is 24 × working days in the year ÷ 312.
As of 14 October 2026
Frequently asked questions
At least 12 days by law, because 24 Werktage × 3 ÷ 6 = 12. With 30 days in your contract on a five-day basis, it is 30 × 3 ÷ 5 = 18 days. Counted in weeks, you get as much time off as a full-time colleague.
No. What counts is the number of working days, not the hours (BAG, 19 March 2019, 9 AZR 406/17). On five days a week you get 20 days by law and the full leave in your contract, even if you work only a few hours a day.
Not by law. § 5(2) BUrlG rounds up only partial leave under § 5(1) BUrlG, for example when you leave in the first half of the year. A fraction such as 16.8 days therefore stays as it is (BAG, 23 January 2018, 9 AZR 200/17). An employment contract or a collective agreement can provide for rounding, but it cannot round the statutory minimum down (§ 13(1) BUrlG).
No. Leave you earned before your working time went down may not be paid at a lower rate just because you take it afterwards (BAG, 20 March 2018, 9 AZR 486/17). This also applies if you still work five days a week, but fewer hours.
Yes. A Minijob (often called a mini-job in English) within the earnings limit for marginal employment is part-time work (§ 2(2) TzBfG), so leave follows the same formula. On two fixed working days a week, that is 8 days by law. The page on annual leave in a Minijob explains what applies if you work irregular shifts.
How Worklayer calculates it
In Worklayer, leave policies calculate leave entitlement automatically: pro rata for part-time staff and by start and leaving date, with carry-over into the next year and with leave that accrues 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.