Vacation claims when changing jobs: Employees need to know that!

With the change of workplace, many employees ask the question of how to proceed with their open vacation days. A change of job in the middle of the year usually means that unused vacation days cannot be taken to the new employer. Ulrike Kolb, a specialist lawyer for labor law, said that there is no right to take such vacation days. According to the Federal Vacation Act, these must be paid out when the employment relationship is terminated. Double claims are also excluded.

A change to the new employer, for example on May 1, has the consequence that a full statutory vacation entitlement for the year will be obtained, provided that the employment takes at least six months. Employees who have already taken vacation days with their previous employer must note that the entire number of vacation days may be higher. It is recommended to request a vacation certificate from the former employer to prove the vacation that has already been taken.

vacation entitlement when changing employers

The calculation of the vacation entitlement when changing employers often raises questions as well as in a report by Haufe. Basically, a change should not lead to an "vacation increasing". New employers should therefore request a vacation certificate from the previous employer, since the full annual vacation may already have been taken.

According to the Federal Vacation Act, the statutory annual vacation is at least 24 working days. If the previous employer has granted full annual vacation, he cannot reclaim money for it, unless there are deviating tariff regulations. When changing the job in the second half of the year, employees have a full vacation entitlement with the previous employer and a proportionate vacation entitlement with the new employer. It is important to ensure that vacation days already gained are counted and a double vacation entitlement is excluded.

noz reported that the previous employer is obliged, one To issue certificate of the granted or compensated vacation. Ideally, this should be requested directly for new settings or at the latest when the vacation application is requested. In the event of a dispute, employees must prove how much vacation they have received from the previous employer. In the event of an illegal termination, the vacation must be counted towards the old employer by the new employer, whereby the Federal Labor Court has decided that there is no double vacation entitlement.

Haufe stated that the regulations for the holiday question are complex and a careful Documentation and communication between employee and employer is essential.