Annual leave request (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
A request to a German employer for annual leave (Erholungsurlaub) over set dates, with the number of working days and who covers the work, citing § 7(1) of the Federal Leave Act (BUrlG): the employee's wishes must be followed unless urgent operational needs, or colleagues with a socially stronger claim, stand in the way. It says the leave starts only once approved, and leaves room below for the employer's decision. No form is prescribed: e-mail it or hand it in. In German.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (department if any, street, postcode and town)
- City
- Date
- Period from
- Period to
- Number of leave days requested (working days)
- Colleague covering the duties
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- May my employer in Germany refuse the leave I have requested?
- Only for weighty reasons. Under § 7(1) of the Federal Leave Act (BUrlG) the employer must follow your wishes unless urgent operational needs stand in the way, or the wishes of colleagues who deserve priority on social grounds, such as parents of school-age children during the holidays. That your absence is inconvenient is not enough. You still may not simply go on leave: being absent without approval risks a formal warning or dismissal.
- How many days of annual leave am I entitled to at least in Germany?
- The Federal Leave Act guarantees at least 24 working days a year, counted on a six-day week, which is 20 days of leave on a five-day week (§ 3 BUrlG). The full entitlement is first earned after six months of employment (§ 4 BUrlG); before that, one twelfth accrues for each full month (§ 5 BUrlG). Severely disabled employees get five extra working days (§ 208 of the Social Code, Book IX, SGB IX). Contracts and collective agreements often give more.
- Does annual leave not taken by the end of the year lapse in Germany?
- Not automatically. Leave is to be taken in the current year and may be carried over to 31 March of the next year for urgent operational or personal reasons (§ 7(3) BUrlG). But it lapses only if the employer asked you in good time to take it and warned you that it would otherwise lapse (Federal Labour Court, 19 February 2019, 9 AZR 541/15). Without that warning the entitlement remains. A request made early helps to show this.
- Does a leave request in Germany have to be in writing?
- No, the law prescribes no form. An e-mail with this letter as a PDF is enough, as is handing it in on paper. If your workplace has a set procedure — a leave portal, a leave slip, a works agreement — use it as well. Keep the request and the approval: they show when you asked and that leave was granted. Leave is to be granted in one block; if it is split, one part must cover at least twelve consecutive working days where more than twelve are due (§ 7(2) BUrlG).
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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