Is my domestic helper entitled to holiday?

With a cleaner who comes in for a few hours a week, hardly anyone thinks about vacation time. The entitlement exists all the same, because paid leave applies to every employment relationship. The good news: the calculation is easier than you think, because what counts are the working days, not the hours. How many days your helper is entitled to and what to keep in mind is set out here.

Is my domestic helper entitled to vacation?

Yes. The entitlement to paid annual leave is set out in the Federal Leave Act (Bundesurlaubsgesetz) and applies to every employee, whether full-time, part-time, or in a mini-job. Your domestic helper has the same basic entitlement as any other employee, just pro-rated to her workload.

The reference figure matters: the law counts in working days, not hours. Whether your helper works two hours or eight hours on a given day makes no difference to the number of vacation days.

How many vacation days is she entitled to?

The law specifies 24 working days a year as the minimum, based on a six-day week. For fewer working days, you convert pro-rata using this formula:

working days per week times 24 divided by 6.

For the typical workloads of a domestic helper, that results in:

• 1 day a week: 4 vacation days a year
• 2 days a week: 8 vacation days a year
• 3 days a week: 12 vacation days a year
• 5 days a week: 20 vacation days a year

So if your cleaner comes once a week, she is entitled to four paid days off a year. A vacation day is a day on which she would otherwise have worked.

What applies if working days vary?

Then you calculate based on the average. If your helper does not always work on the same days, you determine the average number of working days per week over a longer period. For highly variable schedules, looking at the last 13 weeks is advisable.

A properly kept timesheet helps with this estimate. How to keep one is explained in the post Timesheet.

When does the entitlement begin, and what happens when employment ends?

The full annual entitlement is only earned after six months of employment. During the first six months and when leaving mid-year, a pro-rata entitlement applies: one-twelfth of the annual holiday for each full month of employment.

If the employment ends and your helper has not yet taken their pro-rata holiday, you must pay it out. This is known as holiday compensation. Further details regarding dismissal can be found in the article Terminating a domestic helper.

Do I have to pay for the holiday?

Yes. During the holiday, wages continue to be paid as if your helper were working as usual. This is holiday pay, which is based on the average earnings from the 13 weeks prior to the holiday. If a fixed monthly wage is paid, nothing changes.

Unlike with illness or maternity leave, where you are reimbursed for most costs through U1 and U2 levies, you bear the cost of holiday pay yourself. It is a standard part of the wage. How wages are structured is explained in the post Net and gross for a domestic helper, and it is best to specify the holiday entitlement directly in the employment contract.

What does quitt handle for me?

quitt is an app-based service that manages the employment of your domestic helper for you. quitt automatically calculates holiday entitlement based on working days and correctly reflects holiday pay on the payslip. You don't have to apply the formula yourself and can easily keep track of remaining days.

You remain the employer at all times and decide who you hire and what you pay. quitt handles the administrative work behind the scenes. How to start the employment process is shown in the blog post Hiring a domestic helper.

Found a household helper? Start the registration and quitt will take over the payroll, including holiday management. You can see our service pricing on the pricing page.