Entitlement to carryover leave for unutilized annual vacation upon expiration of the calendar year

The Federal Labor Court partially upheld the employee’s revision, reversing the appellate decision to grant the plaintiff three days of compensatory leave for the 2012 vacation year, while otherwise upholding the lower court's judgment and apportioning litigation costs 75/25 against the plaintiff. The dispute centered on the employee’s entitlement to carryover leave following a dispute over the employer’s refusal to grant vacation within the calendar year, specifically concerning the calculation of remaining leave days owed upon termination or expiration of the employment relationship. The decisive legal basis was the statutory framework governing the expiration of accrued vacation rights at the end of the calendar year and the conditions under which unused leave must be carried over or converted into financial compensation, establishing the specific entitlement to three days of *Ersatzurlaub* (substitute leave).