Procedure descriptions

Apply for educational leave

You can take up to five days' leave per year from your employer for further training. Your employer will continue to pay you your salary or remuneration during the leave of absence. You can use the paid time off for

  • further vocational training,
  • political training and
  • qualification for voluntary work.

If you regularly work less than five days a week, your entitlement is reduced accordingly.
Trainees and students at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University are entitled to five working days during the entire training or study period, limited to the areas of further political training and qualification for voluntary work.
Educational leave is known in other federal states as "Bildungsfreistellung", "Bildungsurlaub" or "Arbeitnehmerweiterbildung".

Forms/Online Services

Responsible department

Your employer

Details

Prerequisite

  • You are
    • An employee,
    • An apprentice or trainee,
    • A student at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University,
    • A civil servant or judge.
  • You have been employed or in training for at least twelve months.
  • The training programme
    • is conducted by a recognised educational institution,
    • has an average of six hours of instruction per day,
    • is in the field of vocational or political further education or is a qualification for your voluntary work and
    • is in line with the free and democratic basic order as defined by the Basic Law and the constitution of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Procedure

Apply to your employer for training leave in writing with the following information:

  • Date,
  • Content,
  • Provider of the training programme and
  • Information on the recognition of the organisation in accordance with the Bildungszeitgesetz Baden-Württemberg.

Tip: Use the recommended application form. You can find this by following the link in the more detailed information.

The employer will make a decision no later than four weeks after receipt of the application. If it fails to do so, the training leave is deemed to have been approved. These deadlines are intended to ensure planning security on both sides.

Your employer can only reject the application for training leave

  • if there are urgent operational reasons to the contrary, for example, if other colleagues' holidays or illness are already causing significant disruption to operations,
  • if ten per cent of the training time to which all employees in the company are entitled for the current year has already been taken or approved, or
  • if fewer than ten people were employed in the company on 1 January of a given year.

Deadlines

no later than nine weeks before the start of the measure

Required documents

  • Flyer for the educational event or
  • Extract from the provider's programme

After the training programme, you must submit a confirmation of participation to your employer immediately.

Costs

You must pay the costs of the training programme and, if applicable, the travel costs.

Miscellaneous

none

Legal basis

Bildungszeitgesetz Baden-Württemberg (BzG BW)

Release note

machine generated, based on the German release by: Wirtschaftsministerium Baden-Württemberg, 30.07.2025