Carry-over of unused annual leave: entitlement to release from work for remaining days from prior year

The Federal Labour Court (BAG) reversed the lower appellate court and affirmed in part the first-instance judgment, ordering that the employer must grant the employee eight days of release from work duties for the year 2019, with the employer bearing all litigation costs. The dispute centered on the plaintiff's claim for *Freistellung* (release from work) to utilize remaining leave entitlements from the previous calendar year that had not been utilized by the end of the statutory exclusion period. The decisive legal basis was the interpretation of German federal leave law (BUrlG) and case law regarding the carry-over of unused annual leave, specifically establishing that an employee is entitled to be relieved from working duties to take outstanding leave days under certain conditions, overriding the employer's operational interests or refusal.