Special leave
Special leave is release from work for a personal occasion, for instance moving house, a wedding, a birth or a death. Whether it is paid depends on section 616 BGB and on the employment contract.
As of:September 2026
The statutory basis
Under section 616 BGB, anyone prevented from performing their work for a comparatively insignificant period by a reason relating to their person and through no fault of their own keeps their entitlement to pay.
The provision names neither occasions nor days. Both follow from case law and from what is customary: one day for moving house for operational reasons, one or two days for the birth of one's own child, one to three days on the death of a close relative.
Exclusion is permitted
Section 616 BGB is default law and can therefore be excluded or restricted by the employment contract, a collective agreement or a works agreement. In practice exclusion in employment contracts is widespread.
Where the provision is excluded, what falls away is not the right to stay away but only the entitlement to pay. The release from work is then unpaid, or leave is taken.
MetronHR works these figures out itself: time accounts, premiums, overtime and the limits of the German Working Hours Act, with every booking.
Why a rule of your own is better
Without a rule, every occasion is discussed afresh, and the outcomes differ. A list of occasions with days in the employment contract or in a works agreement creates clarity and prevents individual cases turning into established company practice.
Anyone writing one should make it complete: what is not in it is in case of doubt not meant, where section 616 BGB is excluded at the same time.
Common mistake
The contract excludes section 616 BGB, and in practice paid release is granted anyway. After repeated uniform handling, established company practice arises, by which the business is then bound.
Further reading
- Section 616 sentence 1 BGB
- „A person obliged to perform services does not lose the entitlement to pay by being prevented from performing them for a comparatively insignificant period by a reason relating to their person and through no fault of their own.“
- Section 275(3) BGB, section 45 SGB V
This is not legal advice; for a specific case at your workplace you are better off asking someone qualified to give it.
Published by: AMNAU GmbH
Editorial responsibility: Ugur Aydogan, Product development.
Last reviewed: September 2026
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The leave entitlement is the number of paid free days in the calendar year. By law it is at least 24 working days, calculated on a six-day week.
Continued pay
Continued pay is the continued payment of remuneration during illness-related incapacity for work and on statutory public holidays, without work being done.