Payout of unused holiday when you leave, by country
Eight statutes pay out leave that is still untaken when the job ends, and they differ on method and timing. Austria pays a pro-rata share for the final year plus full pay for earlier years that have not yet lapsed, and withholds the fifth and sixth weeks if an employee quits without justification. Australia pays what the leave itself would have cost, while France starts from a tenth of gross pay and sets the pay-on-leave amount as a floor. Canada fixes percentages of wages and a 30-day deadline, Sweden a deadline of one month, and Norway the last regular payday before the employee leaves. Germany states the right without an amount or a date.
Scope of this guide
Canada: the Canada Labour Code (federal sector) and the Ontario statutes that LawAsked has loaded. Other provinces are not compared.
| Country | Paid out? | How it is calculated | When due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Yes (Ersatzleistung) | Pro-rata share of the final leave year, plus full pay for untaken leave from earlier years that has not lapsed | At the end of employment |
| Australia | Yes | The amount the employee would have been paid had the leave been taken | |
| Canada | Yes (vacation pay owing) | Vacation pay owing for completed years, plus the percentage of wages (4%, 6% or 8%) for the part year | Within 30 days after employment ends |
| Germany | Yes (Abgeltung) | ||
| France | Yes (indemnité compensatrice de congé) | One tenth of gross pay in the reference period, or the pay the employee would have received on leave if higher | |
| Netherlands | Yes (payment in money) | Wages for a period matching the untaken leave | |
| Norway | Yes (all accrued holiday pay) | All holiday pay earned; the part not yet calculable may be paid with the final pay settlement | Last regular payday before the employee leaves |
| Sweden | Yes (semesterersättning) | On the same basis as holiday pay; saved days as if taken in the year employment ended | Without undue delay and within one month after employment ends |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- Urlaubsgesetz § 10
- An employee who leaves unjustifiably early gets no payout for the fifth and sixth week of the current year’s leave (§ 10(2)).
- The payout passes to the heirs if the employee dies (§ 10(5)). Leave already taken counts against the pro-rata share.
zum Zeitpunkt der Beendigung des Arbeitsverhältnisses eine Ersatzleistung als Abgeltung für den der Dauer der Dienstzeit in diesem Urlaubsjahr im Verhältnis zum gesamten Urlaubsjahr entsprechenden Urlaubgebührt anstelle des noch ausständigen Urlaubsentgelts eine Ersatzleistung in vollem Ausmaß des noch ausständigen Urlaubsentgelts, soweit der Urlaubsanspruch noch nicht verjährt istgebührt im Fall eines unberechtigten vorzeitigen Austritts keine Ersatzleistung für die fünfte und sechste Woche Australia
- Rule
- Fair Work Act 2009, s 90(2)
- National Employment Standards. The payment is owed when the employment ends and the employee has a period of untaken paid annual leave. Section 90 sets no deadline for it, so that column is left empty.
If, when the employment of an employee ends, the employee has a period of untaken paid annual leave, the employer must pay the employee the amount that would have been payable to the employee had the employee taken that period of leave. Canada
- Rule
- Canada Labour Code ss 184.01 and 188
- Federally regulated employers only. The percentage depends on years of continuous employment with the same employer: 4%, 6% after five years and 8% after ten.
the employer shall pay to the employee within 30 days after the day on which the employee ceases to be employedthe applicable percentage, under section 184.01, of the wages of the employee during any part of the completed portion of their year of employment 4% of their wages during the year of employment6% of their wages during the year of employment in respect of which they are entitled to the vacation, if they have completed at least five consecutive years of employment with the same employer Germany
- Rule
- Bundesurlaubsgesetz § 7(4)
- Applies when the leave can no longer be granted wholly or partly because the employment ends. Section 7(4) states the duty to pay it out but not the amount or the due date, so those columns are left empty.
Kann der Urlaub wegen Beendigung des Arbeitsverhältnisses ganz oder teilweise nicht mehr gewährt werden, so ist er abzugelten. France
- Rule
- Code du travail, art. L3141-24 and L3141-28
- Due for the part of the leave not taken, whether the contract ended through the employee or the employer. It is also owed to the heirs of an employee who dies before taking the leave.
- L3141-28 refers to L3141-24 to L3141-27 for the calculation. The statute sets no payment deadline in these articles, so that column is left empty.
il reçoit, pour la fraction de congé dont il n'a pas bénéficié, une indemnité compensatrice de congéL'indemnité est due que cette rupture résulte du fait du salarié ou du fait de l'employeur. ouvre droit à une indemnité égale au dixième de la rémunération brute totale perçue par le salarié au cours de la période de référencel'indemnité prévue au I du présent article ne peut être inférieure au montant de la rémunération qui aurait été perçue pendant la période de congé si le salarié avait continué à travailler Netherlands
- Rule
- Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7, art. 641
- The employer must also give the employee a statement of the period of leave still owed at the end of the contract. An employee who takes a new job may claim that leave without pay from the new employer, unless a written agreement departs from that rule, keeping at least the statutory minimum.
heeft recht op een uitkering in geld tot een bedrag van het loon over een tijdvak overeenkomend met de aanspraakDe werkgever is verplicht aan de werknemer een verklaring uit te reiken waaruit blijkt over welk tijdvak de werknemer bij het einde van de arbeidsovereenkomst nog aanspraak op vakantie heeft Norway
- Rule
- Ferieloven § 11(3)
- Applies when the employment relationship ends. A leaving employee does not lose accrued holiday pay. The rule may be departed from by collective agreement (section 11(9)).
- A resignation connected with a lawful strike or lockout does not trigger the payment duty (section 11(4)).
Opphører arbeidsforholdet, skal alle opptjente feriepenger utbetales siste vanlige lønningsdag før fratreden.Den del av feriepengene som ikke lar seg beregne innen dette tidspunkt, kan utbetales i forbindelse med det avsluttende lønnsoppgjør. Sweden
- Rule
- Semesterlag (1977:480) 28 to 30 §§
- Owed when employment ends before the employee has received the holiday pay earned. If it cannot be calculated within a month, it is paid within a week after the obstacle ends.
- Section 28 excludes the case where earned holiday benefits are moved to a new employment under 30 b or 31 §.
Om anställningen upphör innan arbetstagaren har fått den semesterlön som tjänats in, ska arbetstagaren i stället få semesterersättning. Semesterersättning bestäms enligt grunderna för beräkning av semesterlön.För sparade semesterdagar ska semesterersättning beräknas som om de tagits ut under det semesterår då anställningen upphörde. Semesterersättning ska betalas ut till arbetstagaren utan oskäligt dröjsmål och senast en månad efter anställningens upphörande. Countries not in this table yet
The United States (no federal statute on annual leave), the United Kingdom (Working Time Regulations not ingested), Spain and Japan are not shown. The ingested Spanish Estatuto de los Trabajadores and Japanese Labour Standards Act state no payout rule for untaken leave.
How this table was built
Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.
Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.
The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.
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LawAsked, “Payout of unused holiday when you leave, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/unused-holiday-payout (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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