When do you get vacation pay? And if so, for whom?
Vacation money from the employer covers travel time. But who actually has a claim to the special payment? Here are the facts.
There is no general claim to vacation money in Germany, as Volker Görzel from the German Labor Lawyers Association (VDAA) points out. Vacation money is a voluntary employer contribution that he pays in addition to the regular salary to enable a vacation.
Contractual agreements and company practice
The payment usually lands on the account of employees in June or July. Employees only have a claim to payment if there are corresponding agreements in the employment contract, in a company agreement, or in a collective bargaining agreement. In addition, there is the special case of company practice. For this, the vacation money must have been paid at least three years in a row and without reservation, according to Görzel.
Does every employee of a company receive vacation money? According to labor law, the employer may not, without a valid reason, deny individual employees or groups of employees the vacation money and thus disadvantage them, as Görzel explains.
A valid reason could be, for example, that the employment relationship - such as during parental leave - is suspended. However, it always depends on the specific agreements in each case whether a claim to vacation money exists or not.
Variability of vacation money
The height of the vacation money can vary depending on the agreement, according to the labor lawyer. "Concretely, vacation money must be calculated based on the underlying agreement." For example, a collective bargaining agreement provides that employees receive additional vacation money for each tariff vacation day. Employees who work in part-time, for example, have a claim to reduced vacation money - in accordance with the ratio of their working time to the tariff working time.
"Vacation money can also be reduced in certain circumstances under certain agreements, such as during termination or illness," as Görzel explains.
Important: Vacation money is something different than vacation pay. Vacation pay means that employees continue to receive their salary during their vacation, which is regulated in the Federal Vacation Act.
The company's advisor may play a role in determining the variability of vacation money based on collective bargaining agreements or individual employment contracts. The wages of employees can potentially increase due to the receipt of vacation money, as it serves as a voluntary employer contribution to facilitate vacation time.
