Under the Federal Leave Act, leave must as a rule be granted in one block. If it is split, and the employee is entitled to more than twelve days, one part must cover at least twelve working days in a row. During leave, the employee may not do paid work that goes against the purpose of the leave. An employee who falls ill during leave does not lose those days. With a doctor’s certificate, they are not counted as leave.
Leave must also be taken. In 2018, the European Court of Justice decided the case of Tetsuji Shimizu, who had worked for the Max Planck Society and claimed pay for 51 days of leave he had not taken. On 19 February 2019, the Federal Labor Court decided the case on that basis. Statutory leave now lapses at the end of the year only if the employer has asked the employee to take it and has warned clearly and in time that it will otherwise be lost.