Legal entitlement to educational leave

A draft law was passed in the Saxon state parliament, which is based on a popular proposal entitled “5 days of educational time for Saxony”. The aim of the Saxon Educational Exemption Act proposed therein is to give employees in the Free State of Saxony a legal right to educational exemption. According to the draft, employees and other employee groups, such as trainees, dual students, civil servants or employees in workshops for people with disabilities, should be entitled to up to five days of paid leave per year for further training or qualifications in voluntary work. The prerequisite is that the employment relationship lasts at least six months and the further training is offered by recognized providers. The educational exemption is intended, among other things, to enable professional, political, cultural or social further training. Employers can only refuse an exemption if there are urgent operational or business reasons against it. With the draft law, Saxony is intended to follow the practice of many other federal states in which regulations on educational leave or educational leave already exist. It was approved with 65 votes in favor, 50 against and three abstentions.

Vote breakdown