Sundays and public holidays; application for a permit for the employment of employees

As an employer, you require an official permit if you intend to work on a Sunday or public holiday in your business or company, unless there is a legal exception.

Description

Apart from a few legal exceptions, the employment of employees on Sundays and public holidays is subject to approval.

Provided that the work cannot be carried out on working days, approval for work on Sundays or public holidays is provided for by law for exceptions in accordance with Section 13 (3) No. 2 a), b), c) of the Working Hours Act (ArbZG), among others:

  • for the prevention of disproportionate damage in a company, if special circumstances so require
  • for the conduct of in-house and order fairs for commercial resellers
  • for the legally required stocktaking on a Sunday in the year, if this cannot be carried out on a weekday.

Prerequisites

You can apply for permission to work on Sundays and public holidays only if you are an employer and the work cannot be performed on workdays.

A permit for holiday work is required for the federal state in which a holiday is celebrated and in which work is to be performed. The company headquarters principle applies.

Provided that the work cannot be carried out on working days, a permit may be issued in accordance with Section 13 (3) No. 2 a), b), c) of the Working Hours Act (ArbZG) if

  • special circumstances arise in a business which cause disproportionate damage (on up to five Sundays and public holidays per year),
  • in the commercial sector, special circumstances make extended business dealings necessary (e.g. for in-house and order fairs organized exclusively for commercial resellers) on up to ten Sundays and public holidays per year, and
  • the legally required stocktaking is to be carried out and cannot be performed on a working day (on one Sunday per year).

    Procedure

    • You can apply for a permit to work on Sundays and public holidays using the written procedure or online.
    • If the requirements for approval are met, you will receive a notice of approval. If the application documents show that the application is not eligible for approval, you will be asked to withdraw the application. If the application is not withdrawn, you will receive a rejection notice.
    • If required documents or information for processing are incomplete, you will be contacted by the responsible authority.

    Written submission

    • Send the informal application with the required documents to the trade supervisory office (or the mining office if the company is subject to the Federal Mining Act) that is responsible for the company's registered office.
    • In the case of foreign applicants without a registered office in Germany, the trade supervisory office (or the mining office if the operation is subject to the Federal Mining Act) in whose supervisory district the place of employment is located is responsible.

    Electronic submission

    • The application can be submitted digitally to the competent authority using the online procedure.
    • The attachments are uploaded in electronic form (files in PDF format).

    Special notes

    • Every employee who is employed on a Sunday or a public holiday shall be granted an alternative day of rest.
    • The working time of the employee shall not exceed 10 hours.
    • If the working time of the employed employee exceeds six hours, he/she shall be granted a rest break of at least 30 minutes. If the working time exceeds nine hours, the employee shall be granted a rest break of at least 45 minutes.
    • The name and duration of employment of the employee working on a Sunday or holiday shall be recorded.
    • A separate exemption pursuant to Art. 5 of the Act on the Protection of Sunday and Holiday Rest (Holiday Act - FTG) is not required.
    • Exemptions from the prohibition of employment on Sundays and public holidays result from the ArbZG itself as well as various other legal regulations (e.g. Shop Closing Act, Needs Trade Ordinance, etc.).

    Deadlines

    The application can only be processed if it is received by the Factory Inspectorate or the Mining Office no later than 12:00 noon on the penultimate day of opening of the Factory Inspectorate or the Mining Office preceding the Sunday and public holiday in question.

    Processing time

    The average processing time is 2 days, depending on the completeness of the required information.

    Required documents

    • in the case of publicly noticeable work: Statement of the municipality responsible for the place of employment

    • in the case of an existing staff delegation, information on its decision to submit an application

    • Work on Sundays and public holidays for other clients: statement by the client on the necessity of work on Sundays and public holidays

    • Justification that the work scheduled on Sundays and public holidays is not possible on weekdays

    Forms

    Please select a location in "Localization" so that the address of the responsible authority can be filled in.

    • Prefillable Form, Bavaria-wide: Formloser Antrag (ohne Unterschrift)
      Please note

      This form requires no signature. You can sent it electronically (e.g. by secure email or De-Mail) or as hardcopy to the responsible authority.

    Online procedures

    • Online-Antrag auf Bewilligung der Beschäftigung von Arbeitnehmerinnen/Arbeitnehmern an Sonn- und Feiertagen

      You can submit the application for approval of the employment of workers on Sundays and public holidays to the responsible trade supervisory office or mining office online.
      You can fill out the form step by step online and submit it online at the end. The form wizard provides you with help texts to explain the individual form fields. Your information will be checked online for plausibility and completeness. You will receive a confirmation and a completed PDF form for your records. You can save your form data and upload it as a template for future advertisements. This saves you having to fill in unchanged form fields again, such as the details of your company.

    Fees

    • The fees are

      • for 1 Sunday/holiday: at least 50.00 EUR
      • for up to 100 employees per employee: 3.00 EUR
      • for more than 100 employees per additional employee: 1.50 EUR
      • in case of application for several Sundays and public holidays from the 2nd Sunday and public holiday: 75 % of the above-mentioned costs

    Remedy

    Administrative court proceedings; information

    administrative court action

    Related issues

    Status:03.05.2023

    Responsible for editing:Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Familie, Arbeit und Soziales

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    • Online transactions, Bavaria-wide
    • Online transactions, locally limited
    • Form, Bavaria-wide
    • Form, locally limited
    • Prefillable Form, Bavaria-wide
    • Legal bases, Bavaria-wide
    • Legal bases, locally limited
    • Fees, Bavaria-wide
    • Fees, locally limited
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