Ask a lawyer on the topic of Labor law

employment law

December 10, 2009 | 50,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla

THIS YEAR I HAVE NO HOLIDAY PAY, NO CHRISTMAS BONUS, AND NOW I CAN'T EVEN TAKE MY HOLIDAY BECAUSE OF THE ECONOMIC SITUATION. I HAVE ALWAYS RECEIVED EVERYTHING BEFORE FOR 16 YEARS. MY QUESTION IS, THIS YEAR IS ALMOST OVER, HOW SHOULD I PROCEED? DO I HAVE TO ACCEPT EVERYTHING AS IT IS? I'M A METALWORKER AND WE DON'T HAVE A WORKS COUNCIL THAT I COULD ASK FOR HELP. ONLY 3 PEOPLE WORK IN THE COMPANY AND EVERYTHING HAS ALWAYS BEEN COMMUNICATED TO ME VERBALLY SHORTLY BEFORE.

Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla

Dear seeker of advice,

Thank you for your inquiry!

Below, I would like to address your question regarding the situation you described as follows:

As simple as your employer may think, they cannot generally withhold your Christmas and vacation bonuses. Especially not at such short notice.

To help you better understand, I have attached a very informative link about Christmas bonuses that is also applicable to vacation bonuses:

http://www.rechtsrat.ws/lexikon/weihnachtsgeld.htm

By law, an employee does not have a right to Christmas bonuses or fines. However, such entitlement may arise from an employment contract or a collective agreement. I cannot assess if this applies to your situation.

Another requirement for receiving holiday and Christmas bonuses is the so-called company practice. This means that if the employer has been paying these benefits for more than two years in a row, they become part of the employment contract and cannot be unilaterally reduced at short notice.

Based on your description, these benefits have been paid out in recent years, so you could at least refer to this company practice.

Therefore, you should first address this issue with the works council, and if necessary, confront the employer.

If this proves unsuccessful, based on your description, you have a legally enforceable claim, so you should consider pursuing your claim in the labor court.

I hope that my explanations have been helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

I wish you a pleasant Thursday afternoon and all the best!

Kind regards,

Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney at Law

Heilsbergerstr. 16
27580 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Tel. 0471/3088132
Fax. 0471/57774