Annual Leave Laws in Germany, France, and the Netherlands: What You Need to Know

If your organisation hires across Europe, you already know that leave laws are anything but uniform. Germany, France, and the Netherlands are the three largest EU economies — and the three most common destinations for UK and global companies expanding into continental Europe. Each has its own statutory framework, cultural expectations, and quirks that catch foreign employers off guard.

This guide breaks down the annual leave rules in all three countries so you can build compliant policies, set accurate expectations with your teams, and avoid costly mistakes.

Germany: Generous in Practice, Strict on Carry-Over

The Legal Framework: BUrlG

German annual leave is governed by the Bundesurlaubsgesetz (BUrlG) — the Federal Holiday Act. It sets the floor, but collective bargaining agreements and individual contracts almost always go further.

Minimum Entitlement

The statutory minimum is 20 days per year for a five-day working week (or 24 days for a six-day week). However, the statutory minimum is rarely what employees actually receive.

In practice, most German employees get 25 to 30 days of annual leave. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the average across all industries is around 28 days. Collective bargaining agreements (Tarifverträge), which cover roughly half the German workforce, typically mandate 25–30 days.

Key Rules Employers Must Know

Pro-rata entitlement in the first year: Employees earn 1/12th of their annual entitlement for each full month of employment. After six months of continuous employment, they gain the right to their full annual leave.

No forced scheduling (mostly): Employers must take employee preferences into account when scheduling leave. You can refuse a request only if there are urgent operational reasons or if other employees with stronger social claims (e.g., school-age children during school holidays) need the same period off.

Minimum block leave: The BUrlG requires that at least one leave period consists of 12 consecutive working days (effectively a two-week holiday). This reflects the German belief that proper rest requires an extended break.

Sick Leave During Holiday

This is the rule that surprises most non-German employers: if an employee falls ill during their annual leave, the sick days do not count as holiday.

Under Section 9 of the BUrlG, an employee who provides a medical certificate for days they were sick during holiday gets those leave days credited back. The employee must obtain the certificate from a doctor — even if they are abroad — and notify the employer immediately.

This means an employee who books two weeks off but falls ill for five days effectively only uses five days of annual leave. The remaining five sick days are treated as sick leave, and the employee can take five additional holiday days later.

Carry-Over Rules

The default rule under the BUrlG is strict: unused annual leave expires on 31 March of the following year. Employees must use their leave within the calendar year, with a three-month grace period.

However, recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) and German Federal Labour Court (BAG) rulings have significantly changed the practical picture:

• Employers have an active obligation to inform employees about their remaining leave and warn them that it will expire. If you fail to do this, the leave does not lapse.
• Leave related to long-term illness can be carried over for up to 15 months after the end of the year in which it was earned.

Practical takeaway: Send written reminders to your German employees about unused leave — ideally in Q3 and again in Q4 — and document that you did so. Without proof of notification, you risk leave accumulating indefinitely.

Public Holidays

Germany has 9 national public holidays, plus additional regional holidays that vary by state (Bundesland). Bavaria is the most generous with up to 13 public holidays, while Berlin has the fewest. You must apply the holidays for the state where the employee works, not where your company is registered.

France: 25 Days, RTT, and the Sacred Summer Holiday

The Legal Framework: Code du Travail

French annual leave is governed by the Code du Travail (Labour Code). France is famous for its worker protections, and leave entitlements are no exception.

Minimum Entitlement

Employees accrue 2.5 working days of leave per month worked, totalling 25 working days (five weeks) per year for a five-day working week. This is calculated over a reference period that traditionally runs from 1 June to 31 May, though some companies use the calendar year instead.

Part-time employees receive the same number of days — 25 — but each “day” corresponds to their contracted hours, not a full-time day.

RTT Days: The Extra Leave Most Employers Overlook

On top of the 25 statutory days, many French employees are entitled to RTT days (Réduction du Temps de Travail). These originate from the 35-hour working week law introduced in 2000.

Here is how RTT works: the legal working week in France is 35 hours. If an employee’s contract specifies a longer working week (commonly 37, 38, or 39 hours), the excess hours are compensated with additional days off — RTT days.

The number of RTT days depends on the contracted hours:

• 37 hours/week: Approximately 10–12 RTT days per year
• 38 hours/week: Approximately 16–18 RTT days per year
• 39 hours/week: Approximately 20–23 RTT days per year

This means a French employee working 39 hours per week might have 25 days of annual leave plus 20+ RTT days, totalling 45+ days off per year. Understanding RTT is essential for workforce planning.

The Main Holiday Period (May–October)

French law designates 1 May to 31 October as the main holiday period (période de prise du congé principal). Employees are entitled to take at least 12 consecutive working days during this window, and employers must facilitate it.

In practice, August remains the traditional month when much of France goes on holiday. Many smaller businesses close entirely during the first two or three weeks of August. Larger organisations maintain skeleton staffing. If you are managing a French team, plan for significantly reduced capacity in summer.

Fractional Days and the Boniface Rule

France has a quirk called jours de fractionnement (fractional days). If an employee takes fewer than their full 12 days of continuous leave during the main holiday period, they earn bonus leave:

• 1 extra day if they take 3–5 days of their main leave outside the May–October window
• 2 extra days if they take 6 or more days outside the window

Some employers negotiate the waiver of fractional days in employment contracts or collective agreements, but if you do not, the entitlement applies automatically.

Carry-Over in France

Unused leave generally does not carry over beyond the reference period unless:

• It was impossible to take leave due to illness, maternity, or workplace accident
• A collective agreement or company policy allows carry-over
• The employer prevented the employee from taking their leave

French courts tend to side with employees on carry-over disputes, especially following ECJ rulings on the interaction between sick leave and annual leave.

Public Holidays

France has 11 public holidays. Only 1 May (Labour Day) is a mandatory paid day off by law. For the other 10, whether they are paid days off depends on collective agreements and company policy — though in practice, nearly all employers grant them as paid holidays.

Sick Leave During Holiday in France

Following a 2024 ruling by the French Constitutional Council aligning French law with EU Directive 2003/88, employees in France who fall ill during annual leave now have the right to reclaim those days, similar to the German rule. The employee must provide a medical certificate, and the reclaimed days can be taken within 15 months.

The Netherlands: Statutory Days, Holiday Allowance, and Flexibility

The Legal Framework

Dutch annual leave is governed by the Burgerlijk Wetboek (Civil Code), Book 7, Title 10. The Netherlands takes a distinctive approach that blends statutory minimums with generous market practice and a unique financial bonus.

Minimum Entitlement

The statutory minimum is four times the weekly working hours. For a full-time employee working five days per week, this equals 20 days per year.

However, most Dutch employers offer 25 days or more. According to CBS (Statistics Netherlands), the average entitlement across all sectors is around 25.5 days. Collective labour agreements (CAOs) frequently mandate 25–27 days.

Vakantietoeslag: The 8% Holiday Allowance

This is the most distinctive feature of Dutch employment law. Every employer must pay a holiday allowance (vakantietoeslag or vakantiegeld) of at least 8% of the employee’s gross annual salary.

This is typically paid as a lump sum in May or June each year — just in time for summer holidays. For an employee earning €50,000 gross per year, that is a €4,000 bonus.

Key details:

• The 8% is a legal minimum — some employers pay more
• It applies to the gross salary including regular allowances but excluding overtime and one-off bonuses
• It must be paid at least once per year (usually May/June, but monthly payment can be agreed)
• It applies to all employees, including part-time and temporary staff
• Employees on lower salaries (near minimum wage) may negotiate to include the allowance in their monthly salary, but this must be explicitly agreed

For UK companies hiring Dutch employees for the first time, the holiday allowance often comes as a surprise — budget for it from day one.

Buying and Selling Holiday Days

A common feature in Dutch employment is the ability for employees to buy or sell leave days. This is typically governed by the employment contract or CAO:

• Buying days: Employees can purchase additional leave days by accepting a salary reduction. For example, buying five extra days might cost 5/260ths of the annual salary.
• Selling days: Employees can sell back unused days above the statutory minimum (20 days) for extra pay. Only the bovenwettelijke (above-statutory) days can be sold — the 20 statutory days cannot be monetised while the employment relationship continues.

This flexibility is popular with Dutch employees and can be a useful tool for workforce planning.

Carry-Over Rules

The Netherlands distinguishes between two types of leave:

Statutory days (wettelijke vakantiedagen): The 20 minimum days expire on 1 July of the following year — just six months after the end of the calendar year. This is a deliberately short window designed to encourage employees to actually take their leave.

Above-statutory days (bovenwettelijke vakantiedagen): Any days above the 20-day minimum have a five-year expiry period, giving employees much more flexibility.

As in Germany, the employer must actively inform employees about expiring leave. Dutch courts have adopted the ECJ principle that leave does not lapse if the employer failed to give adequate warning.

Sick Leave During Holiday

If a Dutch employee falls ill during annual leave, the sick days are not deducted from their holiday entitlement, provided they report the illness promptly and provide a medical certificate. The employee retains those leave days for later use.

Public Holidays

The Netherlands does not have legally mandated public holidays in the private sector. However, most CAOs and employment contracts recognise the following days as paid time off: New Year’s Day, King’s Day (27 April), Liberation Day (5 May, often every five years), Ascension Day, Whit Monday, and Christmas (25 and 26 December). This typically works out to 7–8 days depending on the employer.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Here is a summary to help you compare the three countries at a glance:

Feature	Germany	France	Netherlands
Statutory minimum	20 days	25 days	20 days
Typical actual entitlement	25–30 days	25 days + RTT	25+ days
Carry-over deadline	31 March (next year)	End of reference period	1 July (statutory), 5 years (above-statutory)
Sick during holiday	Days returned	Days returned	Days returned
Holiday allowance	No	No	8% of gross salary
Public holidays	9–13 (varies by state)	11	7–8 (by contract)
Minimum block leave	12 consecutive working days	12 consecutive working days	No legal minimum

Practical Tips for Multi-Country Employers

Managing leave across Germany, France, and the Netherlands requires careful planning. Here are actionable steps:

1. Set Up Country-Specific Policies

Do not try to create a single leave policy for all of Europe. Each country has different statutory minimums, carry-over rules, and cultural expectations. Your leave management system must support per-country configurations.

2. Budget for the Dutch Holiday Allowance

The 8% vakantietoeslag is a significant cost. Include it in your compensation planning from the start, and make sure your payroll provider handles it correctly.

3. Plan for French Summer Capacity

If you have a French team, accept that August will be quiet. Plan project timelines and client commitments accordingly. Trying to fight the French summer holiday culture will only breed resentment.

4. Send Carry-Over Reminders in Germany

Document your reminders about expiring leave. A simple email in September and another in November, explicitly stating remaining days and the 31 March deadline, protects you legally.

5. Understand Sick-During-Holiday Rules

All three countries require you to return leave days when an employee falls ill during holiday. Train your managers on this process and make sure your leave tracking system can handle the adjustment.

6. Track RTT Days Separately in France

RTT days are not the same as annual leave. They have different accrual rules, and the split between employer-scheduled and employee-scheduled RTT days varies by company. Track them as a separate leave type.

How Leave Balance Makes Multi-Country Leave Simple

Managing leave across three different legal frameworks with a spreadsheet is a recipe for errors and compliance risks. Leave Balance was built for exactly this challenge.

• Unlimited custom leave policies — set up separate policies for Germany, France, and the Netherlands, each with the correct statutory entitlements, carry-over rules, and accrual methods
• Multi-country support — manage your entire European workforce from one dashboard, with each employee seeing only the policies that apply to them
• Slack and Microsoft Teams integration — employees request leave and managers approve it without leaving the tools they already use, regardless of which country they are in
• Unlimited employees for a flat $10/month (or $100/year) — no per-seat pricing that makes expansion into new countries painfully expensive
• 14-day free trial, no credit card required — set up your German, French, and Dutch policies in minutes and see how it works with your team

Stop juggling country-specific spreadsheets. Start managing European leave the right way.