Wondering about your german labor law notice period or how many vacation days in germany you have left? Calculate your exact rights instantly.
Instantly calculate your statutory notice period and accrued vacation days.
Legal minimum is 20 days (for a 5-day week). 25-30 is standard.
Statutory Notice Period
During the standard 6-month probation period (Probezeit), either party can terminate the contract with exactly 2 weeks notice, on any day of the month.
Accrued Vacation Days
You accrue 1/12th of your annual allowance per full month worked. For leaving in month 6, you get 15 days.
Disclaimer: This tool calculates statutory minimums based on the German Civil Code (BGB). Individual employment contracts or collective agreements (Tarifverträge) often contain clauses that override these rules (e.g., a 3-month notice period). Always check your contract.
German labor law is heavily skewed toward protecting the employee. However, this protection also means you are bound by strict rules when you decide to resign. The two most common areas of confusion for expats are german probation period rules and vacation accrual.
By default, the German Civil Code (BGB § 622) states that the basic notice period is 4 weeks to the 15th or the end of a calendar month. But there is a catch: employment contracts can override this if they offer a longer notice period. In the tech industry, a 3-month notice period is the standard.
If your employer fires you, their required notice period increases based on your tenure. However, if you quit, your notice period remains whatever is in your contract (usually the base 4 weeks or 3 months), regardless of how long you have worked there.
A little-known but highly beneficial rule in German labor law states that if you have passed your 6-month probation and leave your company after June 30th, you are legally entitled to your entire annual vacation allowance.
For example, if you have 30 days of vacation and you quit on August 31st, you get all 30 days (minus what you already took). You do not just get a pro-rated 8/12ths. However, if you start a new job immediately in Germany, your previous employer will issue a certificate (Urlaubsbescheinigung) detailing the days you took, so you cannot double-dip vacation days with the new employer.
If your employer pays out your unused vacation days, this lump sum is taxed heavily. You can check how this affects your final net payout using our Germany Salary Calculator or see if changing your tax class via the Tax Class Advisor would help optimize it for the year.
The English Jobs in Germany Employment Rights Calculator bases its logic on the statutory regulations defined in the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch - BGB) § 622 for notice periods, and the Federal Leave Act (Bundesurlaubsgesetz - BUrlG) for vacation entitlements as of 2026. We uphold E-E-A-T standards by ensuring calculations reflect actual German labor court interpretations for statutory minimums.
By law, a probation period (Probezeit) can be a maximum of 6 months. During this time, the statutory notice period is exactly 2 weeks for both the employee and the employer. This means you can be let go, or you can quit, with only 14 days notice.
The statutory minimum notice period after probation is 4 weeks, terminating on the 15th or the end of a calendar month (BGB § 622). However, many companies write a 3-month notice period into the contract. If your contract states 3 months, that overrides the 4-week statutory minimum.
If you have passed your 6-month probation and leave your job in the second half of the year (after June 30th), German law entitles you to your full annual vacation allowance. If you leave in the first half of the year, or during probation, your vacation is pro-rated (1/12th per month).
Yes. If you cannot take your accrued vacation days before your contract ends (e.g., because your employer needs you to finish a project, or due to illness), they must pay out the value of those unused days with your final salary. Note that this payout will be heavily taxed.
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