Fem Tech Germany Summit, 22 November 2025

Vacation entitlement when regular working days change 

More and more employees change their working patterns during the course of the year. 

Typical examples include: 

• moving from full-time to part-time work, or vice versa  

• reducing the work week from five to four days  

• increasing from three to five working days  

• returning from parental leave  

In these situations, vacation entitlement should not simply be recalculated for the entire year. Instead, the entitlement should be assessed separately for each period. 

The purpose of this proportional approach is to ensure that employees are neither disadvantaged nor unfairly advantaged simply because the number of their regular working days changes during the year. Vacation entitlement should always reflect the employee's actual working pattern during each period. 

Example 

An employee works five days per week from January through June and four days per week from July through December. Employees working a five-day week receive 30 vacation days per year. 

In this case, a proportional calculation is appropriate: 

• January to June: six months based on a five-day work week  

• July to December: six months based on a four-day work week  

Vacation entitlement is calculated separately for each period using the applicable work schedule. 

These changes should always be documented carefully. It is equally important that HR, payroll, and managers all work from the same data to avoid inconsistencies between employment contracts, HR systems, payroll records, and vacation balances.

Offsites do not solve problems – but they can strengthen teams

Of course, a team event does not replace good leadership, healthy processes, or a functioning company culture.

Offsites do not solve structural conflicts, nor do they automatically turn every team into a “perfect match.”

Still, they can create something that often gets lost in everyday work: closeness. Not in a private sense, but in a human one.

Especially in work environments that are increasingly digital, fast-paced, and heavily scheduled, shared time outside of daily operations has become both important and valuable for many teams.

Not as artificial teambuilding or because everyone suddenly needs to become best friends. But because collaboration often works better when people do not only encounter each other between meetings, tickets, and deadlines.

Sometimes, that alone can already be enough to noticeably strengthen a team in the long term.

📌 Looking for inspiration fot your next team event? Contact us directly or book an appointment

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Why co-sourcing matters for HR & payroll teams

For many HR teams, the main question is no longer whether external support is possible – but how to integrate it without creating loss of control or process disruption.

A team-based Co-Sourcing model provides:

• operational stability during staffing gaps
• retention of internal ownership and decision-making
• protection against single-person dependency
• predictable cost structures
• flexible but structured operational support

Regardless of market conditions, qualified HR professionals remain key business-critical roles. Temporary reinforcement is therefore not a trend, but an established strategic approach to maintaining stability during transition periods without prematurely changing long-term structures.