Forced vacation

Compulsory leave is leave prescribed by the employer. This takes place without the employee submitting a prior application. However, this is only permitted under certain conditions.

This is because the employer must actually take the employees’ vacation planning and wishes into account. This means that only important reasons are required for ordering annual leave.

Where is compulsory leave permitted?

For example, compulsory leave is permitted in companies that …

• are a seasonal business.
• are unable to operate without a boss.
• suddenly find themselves in an operational crisis.
• have an employment contract that permits compulsory leave.

Examples of such cases include medical practices and law firms. In these cases, employees are usually asked to take leave at the same time as the doctor or lawyer. If this is the case, compulsory leave in the form of company parties is imposed.

The following two aspects are also important: If leave has already been approved, it may not be canceled for mandatory leave. The second point is that if all vacation days have already been used up, the employer may not schedule the following year’s vacation for compulsory leave.

Unexpected crisis

An unexpected and sudden crisis can also lead to forced leave. If the company’s existence is threatened, for example if major customers are lost or the supply of raw materials fails, then this is such a crisis.

Before the employer then forces employees to take leave, it must first check other options. These include the following, for example:

• Overtime reduction
• Other forms of time credit
• Reduction in working hours / introduction of short-time working
• Dismissal of temporary workers
• Restriction of shift work

If there is also a works council, it must first agree to the imposed leave.

Particularly important: In the event of order slumps or operational disruptions for which management is responsible, for example, compulsory leave is not permitted. This type of development is part of the economic risk and must not be passed on to the employees.