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Educational leave in accordance with the Thuringian Educational Leave Act (ThürBfG)

Service Description

Since January 1, 2016, employees in Thuringia have been entitled to five days of paid training leave within a calendar year with a five-day working week. If employees regularly work fewer than five days, their entitlement is reduced accordingly. Trainees are entitled to three days of educational leave.

The organizer of educational events can have these recognized in accordance with the Thuringian Education Leave Act.

Recognition is granted for educational events in the areas of socio-political, work-related or volunteer-related education.

Employees in Thuringia are entitled to take up to five days' leave per year from their employer for further training. The leave of absence is granted with continued payment of wages. Recognition is a prerequisite for employees to take paid leave.

The leave of absence is granted for participation in recognized educational events in the areas of socio-political, work-related or volunteer-related education.

Employees must submit their claim in writing to the employer at least eight weeks before the start of the educational event.

Process flow

  • You can find out about recognized educational events online at www.bildungsfreistellung.de/bildungsveranstaltungen and select the educational event you would like to attend.
  • You print out the certificate for the desired educational event that can be found on the website as well as the course description or an event catalog provided by the sponsor of the educational event. If the latter is not available online, contact the provider of the educational event.
  • Use the recommended application form or write an informal application.
  • You send the application together with the certificate of recognition of the educational event in accordance with the Thuringian Education Leave Act to your employer at least eight weeks before the start of the educational event.
  • The employer must inform you in writing of their decision no later than four weeks after the application has been submitted.
  • In the event of a rejection, the employer must inform you in writing of the reasons.
  • If this notification is incorrect (deadline exceeded, written form not observed, reasons not explained), approval is deemed to have been granted.
  • If your application has been approved, you can register with the organizer and take part in the training event.
  • After attending, you must provide your employer with proof of proper attendance. You will receive a corresponding certificate from the organizer of the training event free of charge.

Who should I contact?

Please contact the Thuringian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (TMBJS).

Requirements

In principle, every employee

  • employee is entitled to a pension,
  • trainee and apprentice,
  • employees working from home and
  • persons who are to be regarded as employee-like persons due to their economic independence, as well as
  • persons who work in recognized workshops for disabled persons or for them in home-based work,

are entitled to educational leave if their place of work is in Thuringia or their employer has its registered office in Thuringia.

Civil servants within the meaning of Section 1 of the Thuringian Civil Service Act and judges within the meaning of Section 2 (1) of the Thuringian Judges Act are also entitled to educational leave.

The only exceptions are employees in companies with fewer than five employees and employees who have been employed by their employer for less than six months.
Civil servants within the meaning of Section 1 of the Thuringian Civil Service Act and judges within the meaning of Section 2 (1) of the Thuringian Judges Act are also entitled to take educational leave.
The only exceptions are employees in companies with fewer than five employees and employees who have been employed by their employer for less than six months.

Which documents are required?

You will need the following documents:

  • Certificate of recognition of the educational event in accordance with the Thuringian Education Leave Act

An application form is also recommended, which can be used to submit a written claim to your employer. However, you can also assert your claim informally.

What are the fees?

Fee: free of charge

What deadlines do I have to pay attention to?

The employee must submit a written claim for training leave to the employer at least eight weeks before the start of the training event.

Processing duration

The Thuringian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (TMBJS) decides on applications for recognition after consulting an advisory board made up of representatives of employers, employees and training providers. This is another reason why the processing time is currently at least two months and usually does not take longer than six months.

Processing Time: 0 - 4 Weeks

Legal basis

Applications / forms

Legal action before the labor court if the employer refuses the claim for educational leave and this is unlawful from the employee's point of view. Legal advice is strongly recommended.

Appeal

Forms available: Yes

Written form required: Yes

Informal application possible: Yes

Personal appearance necessary: No

Online services available: No

What else should I know?

The employer may reject an application for educational leave if

  • the claim was not made in writing at least eight weeks before the educational event,
  • there are urgent operational concerns within the meaning of § 7 of the Federal Leave Act of January 8, 1963 that prevent the educational leave,
  • the company is experiencing economic difficulties,
  • other employees' applications for leave that have already been approved conflict with the educational leave,
  • in companies with five to 25 employees, five days of leave per year have already been approved or taken,
  • in companies with 26 to 50 employees, 10 percent of the possible annual leave days have already been approved or taken, or
  • in companies with more than 50 employees, if 20 percent of the possible annual days off have already been approved or taken.

The employer can withdraw their consent if unforeseeable operational issues arise (e.g. illness of other employees). In this case, the employer must reimburse the damage incurred (e.g. the participation fee or the cancellation fee).

If consent is refused or withdrawn, the leave of absence entitlement can be carried over once to the following year; the employee must submit a written application for this.

Other leaves of absence for which the employer continues to pay the salary can generally be offset against the leave of absence entitlement. The time off must have been taken for an educational event within the meaning of the Education Leave Act. This also applies to events organized by the employer (e.g. company training measures) and in which the employees participate at the suggestion of the employer, provided that the employer has previously pointed out the possibility of offsetting.

Otherwise, participation in events for which participation has been declared creditable in the form of a works or service agreement between the employer and the responsible works or staff council is credited.

Participation in events that serve the purpose of training for specific company jobs or predominantly internal company requirements is not credited.

Author

The text was automatically translated based on the German content.

Technically approved by

Thuringian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport

Professionally released on

18.10.2022

Source: Zuständigkeitsfinder Thüringen (Linie6Plus)

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