Update from March 24, 2021, 12:30 p.m.: According to an official statement issued today (March 24, 2021) by Chancellor Angela Merkel, the original plan to declare Maundy Thursday (April 1) and Easter Saturday (April 3) as “days of rest” has been called off. The following assessment is still based on the decisions made by the MPK on March 23, 2021.
Maundy Thursday, April 1, 2021, and Saturday, April 3, 2021, are to be designated as “days of rest.” Based on current information, these days are to be treated as statutory Sundays and holidays. According to Dr. Markus Söder’s statement at his press conference today, March 23, 2021, this includes all legal consequences, such as premium pay, etc. The necessary legal regulations are expected to be enacted today. It therefore remains to be seen exactly how the legal implementation will take shape. These regulations should then be carefully reviewed in detail and, if necessary, evaluated with the help of legal counsel.
In addition to the issue of continued pay, the question arises as to what extent work may be performed on such a day off—possibly while working from home —and whether, to the extent that employees are permitted to work on days off, they are entitled to a substitute day off. The Working Hours Act generally provides for compensatory days off for every Sunday and public holiday worked, which must be granted within eight weeks in the case of work on public holidays. However, this does not necessarily result in an additional day of vacation or compensatory time off. Rather, during the compensation period, a workday (or another day off, such as a Saturday that is already a day off) must be designated as a day off in lieu of the Sunday or public holiday worked. With digital solutions from ZMI, your employees’ attendance and absences can be accurately tracked in your industry as well.
Depending on how the legal provisions regarding days off ultimately take shape, any provisions in collective bargaining agreements or company agreements, as well as the works council’s rights of co-determination, must also be taken into account. If you have any questions or need assistance regarding the legal implications and implementation, please feel free to contact the labor law experts at Warth & Klein Grant Thornton. The contact person is attorney Kathrin Reitner.
As of March 23, 2021, 2:15 p.m.
