Working day
Working days are all days except Sundays and statutory public holidays, so Monday to Saturday. The Working Hours Act and the Federal Leave Act count in working days, not in workdays.
As of:September 2026
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.
MetronHR works these figures out itself: time accounts, premiums, overtime and the limits of the German Working Hours Act, with every booking.
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.
Further reading
- 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.“
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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Related terms
Balancing period
The balancing period is the span over which the average of eight hours of daily working time has to be observed. It is six calendar months or 24 weeks.
Leave entitlement
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.
Target hours
Target hours are the hours a person has to work contractually in a period. They are the comparison figure for the hours actually worked and therefore the basis of every time account.