Holidays are intended for employees to relax
According to the Federal Holidays Act, every employee with a 5-day week in Germany is entitled to a minimum holiday entitlement of 20 days per year. In many cases, the contractually agreed leave entitlement exceeds the legal minimum requirements. Holidays are intended to allow employees to relax, as stated in the first paragraph of the Federal Holidays Act. A relaxing holiday makes it possible to prevent overwork and promotes the health and ability to work of employees in the long term.
If you become ill, your holiday entitlement does not expire
In the event of illness during the holiday period, it is hardly possible to recover from everyday work. As a result, Paragraph 9 of the Federal Holidays Act clearly states that sick days for which there is a medical certificate of incapacity to work do not count as holiday days. In this case, the holiday entitlement does not expire and can be claimed by the employee at a later date.
There is no entitlement to a credit for holiday entitlement if one’s own children are ill
The situation is different if your own child falls ill during the holiday period. Although this state of affairs is not conducive to the recovery of the employee either, Section 9 of the Federal Holidays Act does not apply in this case, since expressly only the employee’s inability to work is decisive. Alexander Bredereck, specialist lawyer for labor law, also confirms this to the Frankfurter Rundschau. It is irrelevant whether there is a medical certificate for the sick child. According to Bredereck, however, additional agreements can be made with the employer, which provide for different regulations in the specific case.
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