The Urlaubsanspruch (annual leave entitlement) in Germany is governed by the Bundesurlaubsgesetz (BUrlG, Federal Holiday Act). The statutory minimum is 24 working days per calendar year based on a six-day working week, which translates to 20 days on a standard five-day week. The entitlement accrues in full after six months of continuous employment with the same employer; before that threshold, employees accrue one twelfth of the annual entitlement for each full calendar month of service.
Leave must be taken within the calendar year in which it accrues. Carry-over to the following year is permitted only where operational requirements or the employee's personal circumstances (such as illness) prevented the leave from being taken; even then, the carry-over entitlement expires on 31 March of the following year unless the employee was unable to take leave due to long-term incapacity, in which case a three-year statutory limitation period applies following European Court of Justice and Bundesarbeitsgericht case law from 2022.
Employers may not unilaterally determine the timing of leave without regard to the employee's wishes; equally, employees must give reasonable notice and obtain approval. Payment during leave must reflect the employee's regular remuneration excluding extraordinary, one-off bonuses. On termination, any accrued but untaken leave must be compensated in cash at the daily wage rate. Most Tarifverträge and individual contracts provide contractual leave above the BUrlG minimum, with 25 to 30 days being customary in the German market.