When does unused leave expire? Deadlines and exceptions that determine your entitlement
Under German law, unused leave expires only under certain conditions: entitlement generally lapses on 31 December, or after the carryover period on 31 March, only if your employer has given you timely and specific notice of the impending expiry and you still do not take the leave. An exception applies in cases of continuous illness.
Does unused leave expire? The essentials at a glance
- Unused leave expires on 31 December or, after a permitted carryover, on 31 March of the following year, but only if the employer has first fulfilled its duty to give notice.
- Without timely and specific notice of the impending expiry, holiday entitlement generally remains in place. Germany's Federal Labour Court confirmed this on 19 February 2019 (case 9 AZR 541/15), following two CJEU judgments of 6 November 2018. If an employee has been continuously unable to work since the start of the leave year, the leave may, by exception, expire after 15 months even without this notice.
- In the event of continuous illness since the start of the leave year, statutory minimum leave does not expire until 15 months after the end of the leave year, regardless of notice from the employer.
- absentify shows each employee their own remaining leave balance in their personal dashboard and in the Microsoft Teams and Outlook app.
When does unused leave expire under current German law?
Under section 7 of Germany's Federal Leave Act, statutory minimum leave must generally be taken during the current calendar year. The Act permits carryover to the next year only for urgent operational or personal reasons, such as a heavy workload at the end of the year or a short-term illness.
Without a recognised reason for carryover, untaken leave expires at the end of 31 December if the employer has fulfilled its duty to give notice. This applies to the statutory minimum of 20 days for a five-day working week. Collective agreement or contractual leave above this minimum may be subject to different deadlines set out in the employment contract or collective agreement.
When does the carryover deadline of 31 March apply?
If the conditions in section 7(3) of Germany's Federal Leave Act are met, the Federal Labour Court's case law provides that the leave is automatically carried over to the following year without the employer having to confirm this separately.
It must then actually be taken within the first three months of the following year, by 31 March. The carried-over balance expires after that date if the duty to give notice was fulfilled.
Why does unused leave no longer expire automatically?
Under current case law, unused leave no longer expires simply with the passage of time. The employer must also fulfil an active duty to cooperate. Otherwise, the entitlement remains in place beyond 31 December or 31 March.
Federal Labour Court and CJEU case law on the expiry of unused leave
On 6 November 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union held in cases C-619/16 and C-684/16 that an employer can cause leave to expire only if it has first specifically asked the employee to take it. Germany's Federal Labour Court adopted this approach into German law on 19 February 2019 (case 9 AZR 541/15).
The employer's duty to provide notice and cooperate
The request must specify how many days of leave remain and the deadline by which they must be taken. A general reminder on the intranet or a blanket clause in the employment contract does not fulfil this duty. On 20 December 2022, the Federal Labour Court also clarified in case 9 AZR 266/20 that the three-year limitation period starts only after the employee has been properly informed.
Does unused leave expire during illness?
A different deadline applies to long-term illness than to the regular carryover period. The reason is that an employee who is unfit for work is often unable to act on the employer's notice during this time.
Unused leave during long-term illness
If an employee is continuously unable to work throughout the entire leave year, statutory minimum leave expires only 15 months after the end of that year, according to the CJEU judgment of 22 November 2011 in C-214/10 and the Federal Labour Court judgment of 7 August 2012 in case 9 AZR 353/10. Leave from the current year therefore expires only in the spring of the year after next.
Returning from illness: what happens to unused leave?
If the employee returns before the leave expires, the employer must enable them to take the leave that still exists and fulfil its duty to give notice. If an employee initially worked during the leave year and only later became continuously ill, the entitlement can generally expire after 15 months only if the employer had previously enabled the employee in good time to take the leave. The Federal Labour Court clarified this rule for illness beginning later in the leave year on 20 December 2022 in case 9 AZR 245/19. You can find more details about the calculation in our article on holiday entitlement during sick leave.
What other exceptions apply to the expiry of leave?
Alongside illness, parental leave, maternity protection and special rules in collective agreements also affect when unused leave expires under German law.
Unused leave after parental leave or maternity protection
Holiday entitlement continues to accrue during parental leave. The employer may reduce it by one twelfth for each full month of parental leave under section 17 BEEG, but must expressly declare the reduction. This does not apply if the employee works part-time for the same employer during parental leave. Without that declaration, the full entitlement remains.
The employer grants unused leave from before parental leave after the employee returns, in the current or following leave year, regardless of the usual deadlines. Entitlement continues unchanged during the maternity protection period and can be taken afterwards.
What applies to unused leave in Germany's public sector?
For additional contractual leave above the statutory 20 days, the German TVöD and TV-L collective agreements set a different deadline: carried-over leave must generally be commenced by 31 March. If it could not be commenced because of incapacity for work or operational or service reasons, it must be commenced by 31 May of the following year.
| Exception | Deadline | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous illness | 15 months after the end of the leave year | Continuous incapacity for work throughout the entire leave year |
| Parental leave | Current or next leave year after returning | Leave from before parental leave was not fully taken |
| Maternity protection | Continues as normal and is taken after the protection period | Employment prohibition during the protection period |
| TVöD/TV-L additional leave | Must be commenced by 31 May of the following year | Incapacity for work or operational or service reasons |
How can I check whether my unused leave will expire?
Whether your unused leave expires depends on your response and your employer's actions. Both sides have responsibilities.
- Check your current remaining leave balance with your employer or in a holiday calculator.
- If expiry is approaching, actively submit a leave request instead of waiting for a reminder.
- Keep written notices from your employer about deadlines, especially during an ongoing illness.
- If an oral assurance conflicts with the records, request written confirmation.
Action checklist for employers: document the duty to give notice
Employers must inform each employee personally and verifiably, generally in text form, of the specific number of days and the impending expiry. They must do so early enough for the leave still to be taken. In a dispute, the employer bears the burden of proving this, so complete documentation can determine the outcome of potential litigation.
A centralised leave management system in your company makes this evidence much easier to maintain.
Keep unused leave transparent
absentify displays remaining leave and expiry dates centrally and provides a complete history of carryover rule changes.
Keep the entire team's holiday entitlement and unused leave in view
Unused leave generally expires only if the employer fulfils its duty to cooperate with timely and specific notice and the employee freely chooses not to take the leave despite having the opportunity. The exceptions described above apply in cases such as continuous incapacity for work from the start of the leave year. With absentify, you can keep a close eye on your own leave days and those of your entire team.
Your benefits with absentify:
- See your remaining leave at any time in your personal dashboard or in the absentify app for Microsoft Teams and Outlook.
- Configure the carryover and expiry of remaining leave.
- As an HR manager, review changes to carryover rules in a complete history.
- Keep the whole team's remaining leave in view in a department overview.
Keep unused leave visible across the team
Manage allowances, carryover and expiry centrally with absentify.
Unused leave expiry – frequently asked questions
About the author
Anna Keller
Content manager at absentify
As a blog author at absentify, Anna Keller explains how companies can efficiently manage absences, vacations, and working hours. In her articles, she combines HR practice with Microsoft 365 tips for Outlook and Teams and provides templates, step-by-step instructions, and software comparisons for modern, digital processes.
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