What happens to holiday if employees have not taken it by the end of the year? Does it then expire?
It's not that simple. Therefore, HR managers or the HR department should now make sure to remind employees in good time to apply for their remaining leave.
A ruling by the Federal Labour Court (BAG) in 2022 stipulates that remaining leave does not simply expire without prior personal notification of the outstanding days and the limitation periods. With this decision, the BAG follows a judgement of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which obliges companies to expressly inform their employees of the possible expiry of remaining leave.
How should the HR department proceed? It is best to inform employees in writing. This does not have to be done by letter - emails, text messages or messenger messages are also acceptable (please save them as proof!).
It is important to formulate a clear request: The remaining leave should be taken by the end of the year or by 31 March 2025 at the latest.
If the transfer of leave to 2025 has already been authorised in advance, no further action is necessary. The same applies if the leave can no longer be taken by the end of the year for operational or personal reasons.
Important: Contact the employee individually and specify the exact number of remaining days of leave. A general reference in the employment contract to the expiry date of the Federal Leave Act (31 March of the following year) is no longer sufficient.
SaaS.de has already taken this topic into account in the profile settings and optional info mails. In the working time profiles, you can specify how the remaining leave is handled - whether it remains indefinitely, expires directly at the end of the year or after 3 months, for example. All these options can be flexibly configured in advance in SaaS.de .
There is also a reminder e-mail function that companies can trigger as required in a specific month.
If you have any questions or need help setting up these settings, our support team will be happy to help.