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The rule in the act
Leave has to be granted and taken in the current calendar year. A carry-over is only permissible where urgent operational reasons or reasons relating to the person justify it; the leave then has to be granted and taken in the first three months of the following year.
On the bare wording of the act, leave would therefore expire on 31 March at the latest. That reading has not applied without qualification since 2019.
The employer's duty to give notice
On 19/02/2019 (9 AZR 541/15), implementing the case law of the European Court of Justice, the Federal Labour Court held that leave only expires where the employer has first specifically asked the person to take their leave and has clearly and in good time pointed out that it will otherwise expire.
If that notice is not given, the leave does not expire. It becomes remaining leave of the following year and continues to accumulate. The Federal Labour Court has also held that in that case the standard limitation period of three years does not begin to run either (judgment of 20/12/2022, 9 AZR 266/20).
What an effective notice achieves
It has to be individual, not a notice on a board. It has to name the specific number of open days, ask for leave to be requested and name the point of expiry. And it has to come early enough for the leave still to be taken.
A standard paragraph on the payslip as a rule does not satisfy the case law, because it neither specifically asks nor is demonstrably received.
Example: no notice over three years
- 2024: 8 days not taken, no notice given.
- 2025: 6 days not taken, no notice given.
- 2026: 30 days' entitlement plus 14 days of remaining leave from previous years.
- Total entitlement 44 days. No expiry has occurred, and limitation has not begun.
Common mistake
Expiry on 31 March gets treated as a matter of course. Without documented individual notice and instruction it does not occur, and the entitlements add up over years.
This is not legal advice; for a specific case at your workplace you are better off asking someone qualified to give it.
- Section 7(3) BUrlG
- „Leave must be granted and taken in the current calendar year. A carry-over of leave into the next calendar year is only permissible where urgent operational reasons or reasons relating to the employee justify it.“
Published by: AMNAU GmbH
Editorial responsibility: Ugur Aydogan, Product development.
Last reviewed: 2 September 2026