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The consequence in the Working Hours Act
Under section 3 ArbZG, daily working time must not exceed eight hours. At six working days that is 48 hours a week, not 40. The five-day week is a contractual arrangement, not a statutory limit.
For the extension to ten hours the same arithmetic applies: the balancing period of 24 weeks comprises 1,152 hours on paper, that is 48 × 24, not 960.
The consequence in the Federal Leave Act
The statutory minimum leave is 24 working days a year (section 3(1) BUrlG). On a six-day week that corresponds to four weeks. Anyone working five days has the same entitlement converted into workdays: 24 ÷ 6 × 5 = 20 workdays, likewise four weeks.
That is why the conversion for part-time work is not a reduction but a conversion. Four weeks off remain four weeks off, regardless of how many days somebody works.
Example: leave at three working days a week
- Statutory minimum leave: 24 working days.
- Conversion: 24 ÷ 6 × 3 = 12 workdays.
- That is four weeks again, counted in your own week.
- At 30 contractual days of leave on a five-day week: 30 ÷ 5 × 3 = 18 days.
Common mistake
The weekly limit gets assumed to be 40 hours. That makes you think you are closer to the limit than you are, and you plan a budget in the balancing period that is a fifth too small.
This is not legal advice; for a specific case at your workplace you are better off asking someone qualified to give it.
- Section 3 ArbZG
- „Employees' daily working time must not exceed eight hours. It can be extended to up to ten hours only if, within six calendar months or within 24 weeks, eight hours a working day are not exceeded on average.“
- Section 3(1) and (2) BUrlG
- „Leave amounts to at least 24 working days a year. Working days are all calendar days that are not Sundays or statutory public holidays.“
Published by: AMNAU GmbH
Editorial responsibility: Ugur Aydogan, Product development.
Last reviewed: 2 September 2026