Educational leave

In 2020, in 14 out of 16 German Federal States (Länder), employees have a right vis-ą-vis their employers to a short paid educational leave (no regulation on leaves are established in Bavaria and Saxony). Typically, employees have the right to 5 days of paid educational leave per year, which could be blocked to 10 days in 2 years. Some States allow leaves for up to 20 days. Berlin gives a right for 10 days for workers up to 25 years of age. Saarland is the only Federal State, which requires employers only to provide for 3 days of paid and further 3 days for unpaid leave. During their leaves, employees can attend either civic education or continuing vocational training. Employees continue to receive wage payment during the leave and retain all rights vis-ą-vis the employer and the social security system. Employers bear the wage costs. Exceptions are only Rhineland-Palatinate (providing a lump sum per day of leave to companies with up to 50 employees) and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (refunding a lump sum of EUR 110 for each day of leave for civic education and EUR 55 for each day of leave for CVT). There is no statistical overview on beneficiaries across the German Federal States. According to one estimate, roughly 1 per cent of the employees uses leave each year, however, with considerable differences across the Federal States.