In Germany, there are numerous statutory public holidays which are automatically recorded as non-working days in standard calendar and time-recording systems.
These include, amongst others, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Labour Day, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, German Unity Day and the two Christmas holidays on 25 and 26 December. Depending on the federal state, there may also be other public holidays, such as Reformation Day (31 October), All Saints’ Day (1 November) or Epiphany on 6 January.
These public holidays are protected by law and must be taken into account by employers accordingly.
The situation is different, however, for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. These are not classified as public holidays in Germany. For this reason, they are not automatically recorded as days off in time-tracking or holiday systems. Nevertheless, a variety of arrangements have become established in workplace practice that treat these two days differently.
Many companies choose to grant their employees full or partial time off on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. However, this time off is a voluntary benefit provided by the employer and is not based on statutory requirements, but on individual company policies, collective agreements or company traditions. The specific arrangements can vary – ranging from half a day off from midday, through a full day off, to being incorporated into a longer company holiday period between Christmas and New Year. Depending on the model, the time off may either be granted as a gift or made possible through the use of holiday entitlement or overtime.
As Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not automatically recognised as public holidays, they must be manually entered into digital systems if they are to be treated as (partially) non-working days. Failure to make this adjustment can lead to incorrect entries – such as unnecessary holiday deductions or incorrect working time calculations.
It is therefore advisable to make these settings during the initial setup. This ensures clarity and certainty regarding this annual issue.
It is equally important to communicate the company’s internal policies regarding Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve clearly and in good time. Whether a day is a full or partial day off, whether holiday entitlement must be used for these days, and whether the policies apply to all sites and departments should be communicated transparently and in writing. Why not make the policy available to your staff digitally – so they can refer to it at any time?
This clarity not only gives employees the certainty they need to plan ahead, but also prevents misunderstandings in day-to-day operations.