BAG ruling on vacation reduction during short-time work

Since the coronavirus pandemic, short-time working has been an integral part of working life. This will continue to be the case until at least March 31, 2022, until which time the German government has extended easier access due to the ongoing crisis.

Naturally, this situation also raised all kinds of legal questions. The Federal Labor Court recently ruled on a case concerning the reduction of leave during short-time work.

The background: Short-time work „zero“ and vacation reduction

An employer had introduced „zero“ short-time working for several months, which means that employees were completely off work for this period. At the same time, the employer reduced annual leave.

A part-time employee did not want to put up with this and took her case to the labor court. The plaintiff's vacation was reduced from 14 to 11.5 vacation days due to short-time work.

Dismissed claims and a judgment to the disadvantage of the employee

The lower courts had already dismissed the claim. The appeal to the Ninth Senate of the Federal Labor Court was also unsuccessful (judgment of 30.11.2021 / Ref.: 9 AZR 225/21).

The verdict is short and sweet, if individual working days are completely lost due to short-time working, this must also be taken into account when calculating annual leave.

Previous coronavirus rulings in employment law have mostly gone in favor of the employee. It was only in October that the Federal Labor Court (BAG) dismissed a lawsuit in which a mini-jobber sued for wage entitlement during the corona lockdown. Details of this ruling can be found here: No wage entitlement for mini-jobber.