35 days of leave
of which statutory: 25 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 |
| Entitlement for the year | the higher of statutory and contractual | 30 |
| Additional leave, § 208 SGB IX | 5 × 5 ÷ 5 | 5 |
How much additional leave do severely disabled people get?
You count as severely disabled if your degree of disability (GdB) is at least 50 and you lawfully live, usually stay or work in Germany (§ 2(2) of Social Code Book IX, SGB IX). Under § 208(1) SGB IX, severely disabled people are entitled to five additional paid working days of leave a year.
The five days are for a five-day week. If you work more or fewer days, the additional leave changes accordingly (5 × working days per week ÷ 5): three days on a three-day week, six on a six-day week. It is always one working week.
| Working days per week | Additional leave | Statutory with additional leave | 30-day contract with additional leave |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 2 | 2 | 10 | 14 |
| 3 | 3 | 15 | 21 |
| 4 | 4 | 20 | 28 |
| 5 | 5 | 25 | 35 |
| 6 | 6 | 30 | 42 |
Is the additional leave added to the leave in your contract?
Yes. The additional leave is added to your annual leave (§ 208(1) sentence 1 and § 208(2) sentence 3 SGB IX), meaning the leave you actually have, not just the statutory 20 days. With 30 days in the contract, you get 35.
That is why the calculator shows both your whole entitlement and the statutory part. The statutory part is the minimum leave under § 3(1) of the Federal Leave Act (BUrlG) plus the additional leave: 25 days on a five-day week.
Collective agreements, works agreements or employment contracts can give more additional leave, and those rules are not affected (§ 208(1) sentence 2 SGB IX). The calculator uses the statutory five days. If your collective agreement gives more, add the difference yourself.
Do people with equal status and a GdB of 30 or 40 get additional leave?
No. People with a GdB of 30 or 40 should be given equal status (as gleichgestellte Menschen) with severely disabled people if, because of their disability, they cannot otherwise get or keep a suitable job (§ 2(3) SGB IX). The Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) grants equal status on application (§ 151(2) SGB IX).
The special rules for severely disabled people apply to people with equal status, with two exceptions: the additional leave under § 208 and free travel on public transport (§ 151(3) SGB IX). So do not tick "Severely disabled (GdB 50 or more)" in the calculator.
A collective agreement or works agreement can still give people with equal status extra days.
How much additional leave do you get if the severe disability starts during the year?
If the severe disability does not last the whole calendar year, you get one twelfth of the additional leave for each full month in which it existed during your employment (§ 208(2) sentence 1 SGB IX). Under "Severely disabled since", enter the date from which the official decision (Bescheid) recognises the severe disability.
Fractions of half a day or more are rounded up to a full day (§ 208(2) sentence 2 SGB IX). The calculator shows smaller fractions as they are instead of rounding them down. For statutory leave, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) has ruled that such fractions must be granted in proportion to their size (26 January 1989, 8 AZR 730/87).
If your employment also starts during the year, this additional leave is not reduced a second time (§ 208(2) sentence 3 SGB IX). Start date 1 September, severely disabled since 1 October, five-day week, 30 days in the contract: the waiting period only ends in 2027, so for 2026 you get four twelfths of the leave, 10 days (§ 5(1)(a) BUrlG). The additional leave depends only on the three full months of severe disability, 5 × 3 ÷ 12 = 1.25 days, and is not reduced again to four twelfths. Together that makes 11.25 days.
| Severely disabled since | Full months | 5-day week | 4-day week | 3-day week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 February | 11 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 1 March | 10 | 4.17 | 3.33 | 3 |
| 1 April | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2.25 |
| 1 May | 8 | 3.33 | 3 | 2 |
| 1 June | 7 | 3 | 2.33 | 2 |
| 1 July | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 1 August | 5 | 2.08 | 2 | 1.25 |
| 1 September | 4 | 2 | 1.33 | 1 |
| 1 October | 3 | 1.25 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 November | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 December | 1 | 0.42 | 0.33 | 0.25 |
What if the severe disability is recognised with retroactive effect?
The responsible authority determines the GdB as of the date of your application and, on application, also for an earlier date if you credibly show a special interest in it (§ 152(1) SGB IX). If the decision arrives months later, you have the additional leave retroactively from the date it sets.
In one BAG case, recognition came in December 2010, backdated to 18 August 2010. For 2010, two days were due pro rata (22 January 2019, 9 AZR 45/16). The calculator gets the same result: four full months, 5 × 4 ÷ 12 = 1.67, rounded up to 2 days.
For additional leave from earlier years, the carry-over rules of your employment apply (§ 208(3) SGB IX); if there is no other rule, that means § 7(3) BUrlG. According to the courts, statutory leave only lapses if your employer first asked you to take it and warned you clearly and in good time that it would lapse (BAG, 19 February 2019, 9 AZR 423/16). That ruling did not decide whether this also applies while the employer does not know about the severe disability. If you have applied, you can tell your employer before the decision arrives and claim the additional leave as a precaution. The calculator does not work out whether additional leave from earlier years still exists.
Examples
Five cases for 2026, checked with the calculator. In each, the leave in the contract is for a five-day week.
Five-day week, 30 days in the contract, severely disabled all year
Contract 30 days, statutory 20. Add 5 days of additional leave (§ 208(1) SGB IX).
Result: 35 days, of which 25 statutory
Four-day week, 30 days in the contract, severely disabled since 1 May
Contract: 30 × 4 ÷ 5 = 24 days, statutory 16. The full additional leave would be 4 days. May to December is 8 full months: 4 × 8 ÷ 12 = 2.67, rounded up to 3 (§ 208(2) SGB IX).
Result: 27 days, of which 19 statutory
Three-day week, 30 days in the contract, severely disabled all year
Contract: 30 × 3 ÷ 5 = 18 days, statutory 12. Additional leave: 5 × 3 ÷ 5 = 3 days. That is seven weeks off, the same as 35 days on a full-time five-day week.
Result: 21 days, of which 15 statutory
Five-day week, 30 days in the contract, severely disabled since 1 October
October to December is 3 full months: 5 × 3 ÷ 12 = 1.25 days. The 0.25 left over is less than half a day, so it is neither rounded up nor dropped.
Result: 31.25 days, of which 21.25 statutory
Equal status with a GdB of 40, five-day week, 30 days in the contract
People with equal status get no additional leave (§ 151(3) SGB IX), so the "Severely disabled (GdB 50 or more)" box stays unticked.
Result: 30 days, of which 20 statutory
Legal basis
- § 208 SGB IX
(1) Severely disabled people are entitled to paid additional leave of five working days in the leave year; if their regular working time is spread over more or fewer than five working days in the calendar week, the additional leave rises or falls accordingly. Collective, company or other leave rules that give severely disabled people longer additional leave are not affected. (2) If the severe disability status does not exist for the whole calendar year, the severely disabled person is entitled to one twelfth of the additional leave under subsection 1 sentence 1 for each full month of the status during the employment. Fractions of leave days that come to at least half a day are rounded up to full leave days. The additional leave worked out this way is added to the annual leave and, where the employment does not last the whole calendar year, cannot be reduced again. (3) If severe disability status is recognised retroactively under § 152(1) and (2), the leave rules that govern the employment also apply to carrying the additional leave over into the next calendar year.
- § 2 SGB IX
(2) People are severely disabled if they have a degree of disability of at least 50 and lawfully have their residence, their habitual abode or their employment in Germany. (3) People with a degree of disability of less than 50 but at least 30 should be given equal status if, because of their disability, they cannot get or keep a suitable job without it.
- § 151 SGB IX
(2) Equal status is granted on application by the Federal Employment Agency. It takes effect on the day the application is received. (3) The special rules for severely disabled people apply to disabled people with equal status, except § 208 and Chapter 13. Chapter 13 covers free travel on public transport.
- § 152 SGB IX
(1) On application, the competent authorities determine whether a disability exists and the degree of disability as of the date of the application. On application, an earlier date can be determined if a special interest in it is credibly shown. (5) The severely disabled person's card serves as proof when claiming benefits and other help that severely disabled people are entitled to under this Part or under other provisions.
- § 199 SGB IX
(1) If the degree of disability falls below 50, the special rules for severely disabled people no longer apply, but only from the end of the third calendar month after the decision finding the reduction has become final.
- § 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 BUrlG
The full leave entitlement is acquired for the first time once the employment has lasted six months.
- § 5 BUrlG
(1) 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 (a), if the employee leaves before completing the waiting period (b), or if the employee leaves in the first half of the calendar year after completing it (c). (2) Fractions of leave days that come to at least half a day are rounded up to full leave days.
- § 7 BUrlG
(3) Leave must be granted and taken in the current calendar year. Carrying it over is only allowed for urgent operational or personal reasons; the leave must then be granted and taken in the first three months of the following year. (4) If leave can no longer be granted, in whole or in part, because the employment has ended, it must be paid in lieu.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 23 March 2010, 9 AZR 128/09: Additional leave follows the rules of the statutory minimum leave: someone who is ill until the end of the carry-over period does not lose it on 31 March, and it must be paid in lieu when the employment ends.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 13 December 2011, 9 AZR 399/10: The rules on how statutory minimum leave arises, is carried over, reduced and paid in lieu apply to the additional leave; time limits for claims in collective agreements apply to the claim for payment in lieu.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 22 January 2019, 9 AZR 45/16: If the employment ends because the employee dies, the heirs' claim to payment in lieu also covers the additional leave; in the case, the severe disability was recognised retroactively from 18 August 2010, and two days were due pro rata for 2010.
- 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 lapse, but must be granted or paid in lieu in proportion to their size.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 7 August 2012, 9 AZR 353/10: If an employee cannot work for health reasons, their statutory leave lapses 15 months after the end of the leave year at the earliest.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 20 December 2022, 9 AZR 245/19: Without a reminder from the employer, statutory leave lapses after 15 months only if the employee was unfit for work without a break from the start of the leave year until 31 March of the year after next; if they worked during the leave year, it generally lapses only if the employer enabled them in good time to take the leave.
- Federal Labour Court (BAG), 19 February 2019, 9 AZR 423/16: Statutory minimum leave only lapses at the end of the calendar year or the carry-over period if the employer first put the employee in a position to take it and the employee still chose not to.
As of 14 October 2026
Frequently asked questions
No. § 208 SGB IX requires a GdB of 50 or more and has no further steps. You only get more than five days on a five-day week if a collective agreement, a works agreement or your employment contract provides for it.
§ 208 SGB IX does not require a separate application. But your employer can only grant the additional leave if they know about the severe disability. Your severely disabled person's card (Schwerbehindertenausweis, § 152(5) SGB IX) or the official decision serves as proof.
The rules of the statutory minimum leave apply to the additional leave (BAG, 13 December 2011, 9 AZR 399/10). What counts is the six-month waiting period, not probation: you first get the full entitlement after six months of employment (§ 4 BUrlG). If you do not complete it in the year you start, you get one twelfth for each full month (§ 5(1) BUrlG).
The rules for statutory leave apply: carry-over only for urgent reasons and only until the end of March (§ 7(3) BUrlG), and it only lapses if your employer first asked you to take it and told you it would lapse (BAG, 19 February 2019, 9 AZR 423/16). If you are ill throughout, you do not lose it on 31 March (BAG, 23 March 2010, 9 AZR 128/09): it lapses 15 months after the end of the leave year at the earliest (BAG, 7 August 2012, 9 AZR 353/10). If you still worked during the leave year, you generally lose it even then only if your employer first asked you to take it and told you it would lapse (BAG, 20 December 2022, 9 AZR 245/19). There is more on lapsing leave on the main annual leave calculator page.
Yes, to the extent that you can no longer take it before the employment ends (§ 7(4) BUrlG), and after a death it goes to the heirs (BAG, 22 January 2019, 9 AZR 45/16). Time limits for claims in collective agreements also apply to this claim (BAG, 13 December 2011, 9 AZR 399/10). The calculator on the page about leaving a job works out your entitlement for the year you leave.
The rules for severely disabled people still apply until the end of the third calendar month after the new decision has become final (§ 199(1) SGB IX). For that year, you get the additional leave pro rata, one twelfth for each full month (§ 208(2) SGB IX). You cannot enter the end of the severe disability in the calculator. The calculation works the same way as for a start during the year: additional leave × full months up to the end of that third calendar month ÷ 12, with fractions of half a day or more rounded up. The table under "Mid-year start" shows the figures for each number of full months.
How Worklayer calculates it
In Worklayer, leave policies calculate leave entitlement automatically: pro rata from the start and leaving dates, pro rata for part-time work, with carry-over into the next year and leave that accrues over the year. Everyone can see their leave balance at any time, and there are 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.