An extra week of paid vacation? Almost all employees forego this. However, the right to educational leave is usually the law – and it’s also good for your health. This is how you can apply for educational leave.
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Allowing a week of paid vacation to expire every year – that would only occur to very few employees. But that is exactly what the overwhelming majority of employees do when taking educational leave. According to the German Trade Union Confederation, only one to two percent of employees exercise their right to paid time off for further training. This is enshrined in law in most federal states.
Except in Saxony and Bavaria, employees have a legal right to educational leave (also known as educational leave or educational time). This is usually five days per year or ten days in two years. Of course, the educational leave must then also be used for further training, but not necessarily eight hours a day. In Hamburg, for example, the minimum is 4.5 hours a day for language courses.
Educational leave: What you need to know
The good news: The course doesn’t have to have anything to do with the actual work. There are a number of specific job-related offers under the heading “educational leave”, for example on accounting, conflict resolution or software programs. But in many federal states, the time off can also be used for health, qualification for voluntary work and cultural or political education. That’s why topics such as local Jewish history or stress management in the great outdoors with the dog are on the program.
The decisive factor is that the course has been certified as educational leave by the federal state in which you live or work. However, this does not mean that only on-site courses are permitted. For example, interested parties can also learn Spanish in Mallorca or yoga in the Camargue. “The only exception is North Rhine-Westphalia. Here, educational leave can only take place 500 kilometers from the state border,” reports Lara Körber, co-founder of the platform.
Körber is not surprised that so few people take advantage of the offer. “Unfortunately, there is no legal obligation for companies to communicate – they should actively inform employees about educational leave instead of keeping quiet about it,” criticizes the expert. “That would lower the hurdle for many employees when applying.”
According to Körber, many employees simply do not know that they have a right to educational leave. But fear is also at play in the low level of acceptance. “Especially if the seminar you want sounds like it could be fun to learn there,” the expert notes. Even for seminars on burnout prevention or physical health, many people are still hesitant to submit such a request to their superiors.
Körber advocates abandoning this false reticence. “Every educational leave is examined by the federal states before the seminar is officially recognized as an educational leave – so there is always added value, even if the seminar sounds like fun,” she says, emphasizing: “Learning and having fun while learning are not mutually exclusive.”
According to Körber, the fact that educational leave is still used so little also shows that continuing education is still neglected in many companies. In times of a shortage of skilled workers, increasing sick days and “quiet quitting”, however, educational leave is a “360-degree employee benefit”: “Because the variety of seminars on a variety of topics makes it possible for employees to take responsibility for their current needs.”
Educational leave: costs, application
“Self-responsibility” also means that employees cover the costs of the course. Roughly speaking, the price ranges from 50 euros for a week-long seminar at the adult education center to over 2,000 euros for the programming course for managers. According to Körber, employers sometimes cover the costs, but this is the exception. There are also some subsidies from health insurance companies for prevention programs.
The employment agency recommends submitting applications for educational leave four to nine weeks in advance. Trainees and civil servants are also usually eligible for this. Employees must have been with the company for six months (twelve months in Baden-Württemberg and Saarland, according to Körber). There are also different regulations that exempt very small businesses.
According to Körber, the fact that the boss does not like the topic of the seminar is no reason to refuse educational leave. The situation is different if there is an important deadline or a shortage of staff. According to Körber, the entitlement does not simply expire, but is carried over to the next year. Two weeks of paid educational leave would then be possible.
However, employees often have the short end of the stick when their boss is stonewalling. “Because who wants to go to the labor court for that?” says Körber. She therefore recommends: “Set the time period together with the employer and explain transparently what you expect from the seminar content. Many employees also give small insights into what they have learned after the educational leave – this removes hurdles.”
Perhaps this will give some managers the idea of taking educational leave themselves. “When do you ever have the option in your everyday life to work intensively on a topic for five days in a row?” Körber is promoting the program.
Source: Stern
