Germany: vacation days (Urlaubsanspruch) calculator
How many vacation days you are entitled to this year in Germany: with part-time work, joining or leaving during the year and the statutory minimum leave.
Your leave 2026
30 days
statutory minimum leave: 20 days
- 5-day week
- Minimum leave 20 days
- Whole year
With 30 vacation days in your contract (5-day week) and 5 working days a week, you are entitled to 30 days of leave in 2026. Of these, 20 days are the statutory minimum leave.
The employment lasts the whole year: the full annual leave applies.
I’m not an accountant or a financial advisor. This is an estimate, for information only. Check with a professional before you decide.
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| Vacation days per contractfor the 5-day week | 30 | |
|---|---|---|
| = | Your leave 2026 | 30 |
| Statutory minimum leave24 Werktage ÷ 6 × 5 working days | 20 |
How it works
- The Federal Leave Act (BUrlG § 3) guarantees at least 24 Werktage of leave a year. Werktage are all calendar days except Sundays and public holidays: the count uses the six-day week from Monday to Saturday, so 24 Werktage are four weeks.
- With fewer working days a week, the leave is converted: 24 ÷ 6 × your working days per week, so 20 days for five days and 12 for three. What counts is the days per week, not the hours (Federal Labor Court, judgment of 30 November 2021).
- The calculator converts the leave in your employment contract in the same way: vacation days in the contract × your working days per week ÷ days per week the contract refers to. If the result is below the statutory minimum leave, the minimum leave applies (BUrlG § 13).
- In the year you start, you acquire the full leave only after six months of employment (waiting period, BUrlG § 4). If you start on 1 July or earlier, you complete the waiting period in the same year and get the full annual leave; if you start later, you get one twelfth for each full month with the company (§ 5 para. 1 letter a).
- On leaving, before the end of the waiting period or in the first half of the year (up to 30 June), you are entitled to one twelfth for each full month (§ 5 para. 1 letters b and c), from 1 July to the full annual leave. Fractions of half a day or more are rounded up for partial leave (§ 5 para. 2), smaller fractions remain (Federal Labor Court, judgment of 23 January 2018).
Worked example
Contract: 30 vacation days on a 5-day week. You work 3 days a week: 30 × 3 ÷ 5 = 18 days, the statutory minimum leave is 24 ÷ 6 × 3 = 12 days. Start on 1 August with 5 days a week: the waiting period ends on 31 January of the next year, so in the year you start there is one twelfth per full month: August to December are 5 months, 30 × 5 ÷ 12 = 12.5 days, rounded up 13. If the employment ends on 31 March, that is 3 months: 30 × 3 ÷ 12 = 7.5, rounded up 8 days; if it ends on 31 July, all 30 remain.
Sources
- BUrlG § 3: duration of leave: at least 24 Werktage; what Werktage are — gesetze-im-internet.de (in German)
- BUrlG § 4: waiting period: the full leave entitlement after six months (in German)
- BUrlG § 5: partial leave: one twelfth per full month, rounding up from half a day (in German)
- BUrlG § 6: exclusion of double claims and leave certificate (in German)
- BUrlG § 7: timing, carry-over and payment in lieu of leave (in German)
- BUrlG § 13: mandatory nature: no deviation to the employee’s disadvantage (in German)
- JArbSchG § 19: leave for young people: 30, 27 or 25 Werktage (in German)
- SGB IX § 208: extra leave for severely disabled people (in German)
- BGB § 187: start of a period (in German)
- BGB § 188: end of a period (in German)
- Federal Labor Court: 9 AZR 225/21 (30 November 2021): conversion of leave by working days per week (in German)
- Federal Labor Court: 9 AZR 200/17 (23 January 2018): fractions of leave days below half a day (in German)
- Federal Labor Court: expiry of leave entitlements: duties of the employer (press release of 19 February 2019) (in German)
Text checked on October 5, 2026
Good to know
- This is the entitlement under the law and your contract. An employment contract, collective agreement or works agreement can provide more leave, never less (BUrlG § 13). How leave above the statutory minimum is cut, for example when you leave during the year, is set by the contract: the calculator applies the rules of the law to all vacation days.
- If the number of your working days per week changes during the year, for example from 5 to 3, the leave must be calculated separately for each period. The calculator cannot do that: it assumes an unchanged week.
- Not included are the extra leave for severe disability (five working days on a 5-day week, SGB IX § 208), leave you already took this year with a previous employer (BUrlG § 6), and special leave and educational leave.
- Leave must be taken in the current calendar year. A carry-over to the next year is allowed only for urgent operational or personal reasons, then until 31 March (BUrlG § 7 para. 3). According to the Federal Labor Court, leave can normally expire only if the employer has asked you specifically to take it beforehand and clearly warned you that it will lapse.
- This is not legal advice. In a dispute about leave, the works council, a trade union or a specialist employment lawyer can help.
Frequently asked questions
How many vacation days am I entitled to by law in Germany?
At least 24 Werktage a year (BUrlG § 3). Werktage are all days except Sundays and public holidays, so Monday to Saturday: that is four weeks. On a 5-day week that equals 20 working days, on 3 days a week 12. Young people get more (JArbSchG § 19): 30, 27 or 25 Werktage, depending on the age on 1 January. Many employment and collective agreements grant more than the law.
How do I convert my leave for part-time work?
By the working days per week, not the hours: vacation days at full time × your working days per week ÷ working days per week at full time. Someone with 30 days on a 5-day week who works 3 days gets 18 days. Someone who works four hours on each of 5 days has the same leave in days as a full-time employee (Federal Labor Court, 30 November 2021).
Do I get full leave in the first year?
You acquire the full leave only after six months of employment (waiting period, BUrlG § 4). If you start on 1 July or earlier, you complete the waiting period in the same calendar year and get the full annual leave. If you start on 2 July or later, you get one twelfth for each full month in the first year (§ 5 para. 1 letter a). If someone starts in the middle of a month, that month does not count in full.
What happens to my leave if I resign?
It depends on the date the employment ends. If it ends in the first half of the year, up to 30 June, you are entitled to one twelfth for each full month; from 1 July you keep the full statutory annual leave if the waiting period is met (BUrlG § 5). What you can no longer take, the employer must pay out (payment in lieu, § 7 para. 4). If you already took leave this year with a previous employer, it is offset (§ 6 para. 1); the previous employer must issue a certificate of the leave granted or paid out (§ 6 para. 2).
Does my leave expire on 31 December?
Not automatically. Leave must be taken in the current calendar year; a carry-over is possible only for urgent operational or personal reasons, then until 31 March of the following year (BUrlG § 7 para. 3). According to the Federal Labor Court (press release of 19 February 2019), leave normally expires only if the employer has beforehand asked the employee specifically to take it and has clearly and in time warned that it will otherwise lapse.
Do public holidays and weekends count as vacation days?
Sundays and public holidays do not count as vacation days (BUrlG § 3 para. 2: Werktage are all other calendar days). On a 5-day week, Saturdays do not count either, because you do not work on them; on a 6-day week, Saturday counts.