Educational leave

Ever since the Educational Leave Act (Bildungsfreistellungsgesetz, ThürBfG) entered into force in Thuringia on 1 January 2016, employees who regularly work five days a week have been entitled to five days’ leave for training purposes per calendar year, while apprentices are entitled to three working days’ leave. They are paid as normal during their leave, and the costs of the training course are covered by the employee.

Detailed implementation instructions have been published by the Thuringian Ministry.

Employees who have been working at Friedrich Schiller University Jena for at least six months can request educational leave by submitting the following documents:

• Request for educational leave, including a statement from their departmental supervisor (departmental supervisors may state their reasons for rejecting a request);
• Certificate of recognition of the training course (the organizer of the training course must provide the employee with a certificate of recognition free of charge); and
• Description / further information on the training course

In accordance with Section 6 (1) ThürBfG, the request for educational leave must be submitted at least eight weeks before the start of the training course; otherwise the request shall be too late.

We will be happy to answer any questions you might have about the Educational Leave Act and its implementation at Friedrich Schiller University Jena.