Almost every second employee: this is the situation with vacation pay in 2024
Vacation pay is a welcome bonus for many employees in the summer. Whether you are eligible depends on several factors, often determined by the collective agreement.
In the private sector, almost half of the employees will receive vacation pay this summer, just like last year. This is the result of an online survey conducted by the internet portal „lohnspiegel.de“. The exact percentage has remained almost the same: in 2023, the rate was 47%, and now it stands at 46%. The portal is managed by the Economic and Social Sciences Institute (WSI) of the Hans-Böckler Foundation.
The money is usually paid out together with the June or July salary, as reported by the WSI in Düsseldorf on Tuesday. The analysis was based on the responses of nearly 68,000 employees from the beginning of May 2023 to the end of May 2024.
Whether employees receive vacation pay or not depends on several factors. „The most important factor by far is whether there is a collective agreement in the company,“ it said. In companies bound by collective agreements in the private sector, around three-quarters (74%) of those surveyed receive vacation pay. In companies without a collective agreement, it is only 36%.
Where there is a collective agreement, basic salaries are usually higher, emphasized the institute. „Vacation pay is a real extra for employees – and a compelling argument for collective agreement employers who are looking for skilled workers,“ explained income expert Malte Lübker from WSI.
However, collective agreement coverage has significantly decreased in Germany since the 1990s. According to the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), only about half of all employees (49%) are covered by a collective agreement. When looking at the private sector alone, the rate is 42%.
The amount of contractual vacation pay depends on the specific provisions in the collective agreements. „This year, the range varies from 186 euros for employees in agriculture in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to 2,686 euros in the wood and plastics processing industry.“ These figures refer to employees in the middle salary group.
Vacation pay is relatively low in agriculture and gastronomy
According to the information, vacation pay is also relatively low in the hotel and catering industry: in Bavaria, employees covered by the collective agreement receive an extra 240 euros, while in Saxony, it is 195 euros. The special payments are significantly higher in industries such as paper processing, metal industry, printing industry, automotive industry, insurance industry, retail sector, construction industry, and chemical industry.
According to WSI, there is no separate vacation pay in the public sector anymore. Since 2005, it has been paid out together with the Christmas bonus as a uniform annual special payment in November. Also, in the banking sector and in some industry collective agreements in the energy sector, there is no contractual vacation pay.