Paid leave and Reimbursements
If your workers take paid leave during their posting, you pay them a remuneration for paid annual leave (14.25 % of gross wage). We reimburse you for this remuneration.
Have you granted a worker more leave than they are entitled to? If so, then it is considered as a voluntary payment beyond the scope of the collective agreement and we are not able to offer you a reimbursement.
Reimbursement if you comply with your obligations
We pay your reimbursement if
- there are no outstanding amounts on your account and
- you submitted all monthly reports.
Paid leave days
Your posted workers are entitled to paid leave while they are stposted to Germany. The amount of paid leave days granted to them depends on the amount of time they work in Germany.
Each of your workers is entitled to one day of paid leave for every 12 employment days. That amounts to 30 paid leave days each year.
Employment days include every day of the week (Monday to Sunday) and public holidays. There are 30 employment days in a month and therefore 360 employment days in a year.
Working days are Monday to Friday. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are not working days. Your workers do not have to take leave on those days.
Do you want to calculate your workers’ paid leave entitlements at a certain time? All you have to do is calculate how many employment days your workers had in Germany in the current year (January to December). Then divide that number by 12. Fractions of paid leave days are always rounded down to full paid leave days during the current year.
Formula for calculating paid leave days:
Total employment days : 12 = paid leave days
Example:
A worker has been posted to a construction site in Germany since 1st April and would like to take leave from 31st October. What is the maximum amount of paid leave days he can take?
1 April to 31 October = 7 months
7 x 30 calendar days = 210 employment days
210 employment days: 12 = 17.5 paid leave days
17 paid leave days (rounded down)
Remaining leave
If some paid leave days are left over by the end of the year (January to December), they can be taken by the end of the following year. If a worker does not take the remaining leave by the end of the following year, they forfeited their paid leave entitlements. In other words, the worker is no longer able to request their remaining leave from you.
If, when calculating a worker’s paid leave entitlements, the sum results in a fraction that is at least half a day’s leave, this will be rounded up to a full day at the turn of the year.
What to do if a worker is still entitled to leave at the end of their posting? They will be able to take their leave if they are posted to Germany again.
If workers will not be reposted to Germany, they can apply with us for pay in lieu of leave. When submitting their application, they have to comply with the applicable deadlines.
If the worker stays on a construction site in Germany in the new calendar year and then takes leave, they have to first use up their remaining leave from the previous year. The worker can take their remaining leave by the end of the new calendar year, after which it is forfeited. However, the worker can apply for compensation from us for their forfeited paid leave entitlements.
Leave in your home country
Have you already granted your worker more leave in the current year before the posting than the worker earned during their employment in the home country? In that case, you granted your worker leave in advance.
We deduct any leave granted in advance from their paid leave entitlements earned in Germany. Their remuneration for paid annual leave is reduced proportionally.
Change of employer
If a worker changes to another construction company within Germany, they take their saved up leave with them. It does not matter whether the new construction company is based in Germany or abroad.
However, it is important that the previous employer notifies us of the end of the employment relationship. We then inform the new employer about the worker’s remaining paid leave entitlements.
Remuneration for paid annual leave
Leave is paid time off from work. Every worker is entitled to an allowance for the duration of their leave (= remuneration for paid annual leave).
This remuneration for paid annual leave amounts to 14.25 % of their gross wage. It consists of
- leave pay, which replaces the worker’s regular wage during leave and amounts to 11.4 % of their gross wage, and
- an additional 25 % of their leave pay.
Gross wage as the basis for calculation
The amount of remuneration for paid annual leave granted to each worker depends on the gross wage that they earn in Germany. The gross wage depends on the provisions of the employment contract and the applicable laws or collective agreements in the home country. However, you must pay your worker at least the statutory minimum wage applicable in Germany.
If a worker takes leave and you give him remuneration for paid annual leave, that also counts towards his gross wage for that month. However, the gross wage does not include
- the collectively agreed 13th monthly income or similar payments (Christmas bonus, other annual bonuses),
- pay in lieu of leave or
- severance payments at the end of an employment relationship.
Calculating remuneration for paid annual leave
14.25 % of the gross wage = remuneration for paid annual leave
Example:
In 2022, a worker has earned EUR 9,000.00 gross in Germany. 14.25 % of the worker’s gross wage (EUR 9,000.00) results in an additional remuneration for paid annual leave of EUR 1,282.50.
Calculating remuneration for paid annual leave for partial leave
If a worker only takes part of their leave, their employer gives them a proportionate amount of their remuneration for paid annual leave for each day of leave.
How do I calculate remuneration for paid annual leave per day?
Paid leave entitlement in EUR: paid leave days = daily amount
Daily amount x paid leave days granted = remuneration for paid annual leave
Example:
A worker has earned a total of 8 paid leave days and a paid leave entitlement of EUR 1,200.00 during the 2022 calendar year. He would now like to take 2 paid leave days. How much remuneration for paid annual leave is he getting for this partial leave?
EUR 1,200.00 : 8 = EUR 150.00
EUR 150.00 x 2 = EUR 300.00
The worker gets EUR 300.00 as remuneration for the 2 days from their employer.
Calculating paid leave days and remuneration for paid annual leave for repeated partial leave
Remaining paid leave entitlements in EUR : remaining paid leave days = daily amount
Daily amount x paid leave days granted = remuneration for paid annual leave
Example:
A worker has already received 2 paid leave days and EUR 300.00 as remuneration for paid annual leave from their paid leave entitlements for 2022.
By now, he has spent a total of 130 days of employment on German construction sites in 2022 and earned EUR 11,425.00 in gross wages (including remuneration for paid annual leave). He would now like to take another 6 paid leave days. How much remuneration for annual paid leave is the worker entitled to for those 6 paid leave days?
a) First of all, the worker’s total remuneration for paid annual leave for the calendar year must be recalculated based on the total gross wage reported by the employer.
14.25% of EUR 11,425.00 = EUR 1,628.06
The worker is entitled to EUR 1,628.06 as remuneration for paid annual leave for 2022.
The worker has already received EUR 300.00 of that amount.
EUR 1,628.06 - EUR 300.00 = EUR 1,328.06
The worker’s remaining remuneration for paid annual leave for that year is EUR 1,328.06.
b) The paid leave days saved up by the worker for the calendar year also have to be recalculated.
130 : 12 = 10.83 / rounded down to 10
The worker has earned a total of 10 paid leave days in the calendar year. The 2 paid leave days that have already been granted must be deducted from the total.
10 - 2 = 8
The worker still has 8 paid leave days remaining for 2022.
c) As the worker does not want to take all remaining paid leave days, this is another case of partial leave. Therefore, the daily amount has to be calculated again. The new daily amount is then multiplied by the new amount of leave days to be granted.
EUR 1,328.06 : 8 = EUR 166.01
EUR 166.01 x 6 = EUR 996.06
The worker gets EUR 996.06 from his employer as remuneration for paid annual leave for the 6 new paid leave days to be granted in 2022.
Deducting reimbursements from contributions (Saldierung)
SOKA-BAU will reimburse you for your paid remuneration and we will deduct this amount from your owed contribution. This will reduce your payable contribution. For that to happen, you must meet the following requirements:
- you have submitted all monthly reports and master data and
- that you have indeed paid remuneration.
Important: You cannot have (new) reimbursements deducted from outstanding contributions.
Deadlines
You can request your reimbursement from us. You do this by stating the paid leave days and remuneration granted to your workers in your monthly report. You must do this by 30th September in the year following the one in which you granted your workers the remuneration for paid annual leave. If you do not meet this deadline, your entitlements are forfeited and you do not get any money.
Example: If you pay your workers remuneration for paid annual leave in 2021, you must request your reimbursement by 30th September 2022.
If you are no longer posting workers to Germany, you must request your reimbursement even earlier – by the 15th of the second month following the end of the posting.
Example: You end your posting on 20th March 2022. You must request your reimbursement from us by 15th May 2022.
Other deadlines only apply in the case of retrospective participation in the leave scheme and certain lawsuits.