[Germany] May 1 falls on a Sunday and reignites ‘catch-up’ holiday debate

[Germany] May 1 falls on a Sunday and reignites ‘catch-up’ holiday debate
29 Apr 2022

People across Germany will miss out on one of their public holidays in 2022 as May 1 falls on a weekend once again this year. As a result, politicians from the Left and Green parties have restarted the debate about giving people additional days off work to make it up, I Am Expat reports.

Labour Day and Christmas Day fall on weekends in 2022

In many countries around the world - including Belgium, Spain and the UK - people are given an extra day off on either a Monday or Friday to ‘make up’ for holidays that fall on the weekend, meaning that everyone gets the same number of public holidays each year. 

However, such a policy does not exist in Germany and this year both Labour Day and Christmas Day fall on weekends, meaning that people across the country get two fewer days off work. This is unfair to workers, according to politicians from Die Linke and the Greens. 

“Every lost holiday means more stress and less urgently needed rest from the stresses of work and the pandemic,” Jan Korte of the Left party told the Rheinische Post. He said that his party was intending to take parliamentary action to “ensure that no more public holidays are lost in the future.” 

Beate Müller-Gemmeke - labour market expert for the Greens - said that the issue should be debated in the Bundestag. “Of course, it is annoying for employees when Labour Day, the public holiday on May 1, falls on a Sunday,” she said and added that it was time to discuss “whether public holidays that fall on a Sunday can be made up for.” 

German population supports extra days off for weekend holidays

The debate over “catch-up holidays” in Germany is reportedly not a new one, it has periodically hit politicians’ agendas over the past few years. In 2021, the Left and the SPD joined calls to compensate workers for weekend holidays as a kind of “corona bonus” in recognition of the hard work done during the pandemic. The most recent attempt to push a corresponding regulation through parliament failed in 2018. 

Such a move would have public support. A poll conducted by YouGov in 2021 found that roughly half of Germany’s population would be in favour of replacing lost public holidays, while a third were against the proposal. 

Critics claim that the additional days off could potentially damage Germany’s international competitiveness, pointing out that the federal republic has some of the shortest annual working hours in the EU, and - together with Denmark - the most generous entitlement to holiday leave. 


Source: I Am Expat

People across Germany will miss out on one of their public holidays in 2022 as May 1 falls on a weekend once again this year. As a result, politicians from the Left and Green parties have restarted the debate about giving people additional days off work to make it up, I Am Expat reports.

Labour Day and Christmas Day fall on weekends in 2022

In many countries around the world - including Belgium, Spain and the UK - people are given an extra day off on either a Monday or Friday to ‘make up’ for holidays that fall on the weekend, meaning that everyone gets the same number of public holidays each year. 

However, such a policy does not exist in Germany and this year both Labour Day and Christmas Day fall on weekends, meaning that people across the country get two fewer days off work. This is unfair to workers, according to politicians from Die Linke and the Greens. 

“Every lost holiday means more stress and less urgently needed rest from the stresses of work and the pandemic,” Jan Korte of the Left party told the Rheinische Post. He said that his party was intending to take parliamentary action to “ensure that no more public holidays are lost in the future.” 

Beate Müller-Gemmeke - labour market expert for the Greens - said that the issue should be debated in the Bundestag. “Of course, it is annoying for employees when Labour Day, the public holiday on May 1, falls on a Sunday,” she said and added that it was time to discuss “whether public holidays that fall on a Sunday can be made up for.” 

German population supports extra days off for weekend holidays

The debate over “catch-up holidays” in Germany is reportedly not a new one, it has periodically hit politicians’ agendas over the past few years. In 2021, the Left and the SPD joined calls to compensate workers for weekend holidays as a kind of “corona bonus” in recognition of the hard work done during the pandemic. The most recent attempt to push a corresponding regulation through parliament failed in 2018. 

Such a move would have public support. A poll conducted by YouGov in 2021 found that roughly half of Germany’s population would be in favour of replacing lost public holidays, while a third were against the proposal. 

Critics claim that the additional days off could potentially damage Germany’s international competitiveness, pointing out that the federal republic has some of the shortest annual working hours in the EU, and - together with Denmark - the most generous entitlement to holiday leave. 


Source: I Am Expat

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