Which benefits am I entitled to as a part-time employee in Germany?
Almost two out of five employees in Germany work part-time, according to figures from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) for the first quarter of 2025.
All regularly employed workers in Germany are entitled to certain benefits, but the amount of paid time off or other benefits you are entitled to does depend on how many hours you work in some cases.
So what entitlements do part-time employees have in Germany regarding holidays, special payments, bonuses and the like? Here's what you need to know:
Vacation days
Full-time employees at many German companies receive up to 30 days of vacation a year. However, the minimum requirement according to German labour law is at least 20 days per year for workers on a five-day work week.
"Part-time employees have the same entitlement, provided they work every day of the week,"
Daniel Stach, an employment lawyer at the Verdi federal board, told the German Press Agency.
But if part-time work is spread across fewer weekly working days, then your vacation entitlement is adjusted accordingly.
So if a company offers 30 vacation days for employees who work five days per week, then employees who work four days per week would be entitled to 80 percent of the benefit. Their vacation entitlement would therefore be 24 days (calculated as follows: 30 x 4 / 5 = 24).
In effect, part-time workers are entitled to the same number of weeks of vacation as full-time employees - but they get fewer paid days off because they work fewer days per week.
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When part-time work is irregular, it's calculated based on the total number of working days over a longer period. If an employee works 150 days per year, for example, their benefit would be calculated like this: 30 (vacation days for full-time employees) divided by 260 (annual working days of the company) multiplied by 150 (working days of the part-time employee per year) resulting in 17.30 vacation days per year.
Special payments & bonuses
Employees may be entitled to special payments, like Christmas or holiday bonuses, if these are stipulated in their employment contract.
If so, part-time employees are entitled to at least a portion of the bonus payments, usually calculated pro rata depending on their working days.
Regarding anniversary bonuses or loyalty bonuses for long-term employees, part-time employees are typically entitled to the same amount as full-time employees.
If there's any doubt about bonus entitlements, employees are advised to check their employment contracts and / or ask their works council, trade union or a specialist employment lawyer.
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Overtime pay
According to German labour law - specifically the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act - part-time employees must be granted "every divisible benefit...that corresponds to the proportion of the working time...comparable to a full-time employee."
This also extends to overtime pay.
So part-time workers should also be paid more for hours worked overtime, which typically starts after eight hours of work in a single day or after 48 hours of work in a working week.
Exceptions to this are permissible if an employer can present objective reasons to justify different treatment based on the nature of the work.
Care-taker's leave
Employees can take up to six months of care leave to care for a close relative who requires care level 1 at home.
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Can I get time off for moving house in Germany?
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According to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, this applies to both full-time and part-time employees, who have the option of being released from work completely or partially.
In order to better secure their livelihood during this time, they can also apply for an interest-free loan from the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks (BAFzA).
With reporting by DPA.
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