Annual leave entitlement is calculated on the basis of regular working days, and only these days must be deducted when submitting a request. Employees who work a 5-day week are entitled to 30 days of leave per year.

5-day week – 30 days of leave (UT)
4-day week – 24 UT
3-day week – 18 UT
2-day week – 12 UT

The full annual leave entitlement is acquired for the first time after six months of employment (waiting period).

If the contract begins after January 1, the annual vacation entitlement is reduced accordingly, but only full months of employment are calculated. Public holidays and December 24 and 31 are considered non-working days.

Important: unused vacation days can be carried over to the following year, but must be taken before September 30 of the following year. Vacation days not taken by the deadline will be forfeited!

Procedure:

1. Download the vacation request form for the relevant calendar year.
2. Fill out the header of the application form and enter your annual vacation days and, if applicable, any remaining days from the previous year. If you have any questions about the number of days, please contact your responsible office manager.
3. Then select the reason for leave and enter the start and end dates of your leave. The form automatically calculates your vacation days and the number of vacation days you have left.
4. Sign in the "Unterschrift" field below and save the form. Your supervisor will sign in the "Genehmigt von" field and return the form to you so that you can use it for your next application in the corresponding calendar year.
5. Important: only signatures created in the document with a digital ID will be accepted. To do this, click in the blue field "Applicant's signature" and follow the instructions. The document must remain editable!

Sick leave must be reported on the day of illness before the start of regular working hours by informal email to the relevant department in the PolSoz administration at Urlaub-AU@polsoz.fu-berlin.de. 

Please also inform your department (manager and secretary) by copying them or informing them separately.

You can report sick for 3 days without presenting a doctor's note.

A doctor's note is required from the 4th day at the latest. Every day of absence due to sickness (i.e. as of day 1) must be covered without a gap by a doctor’s note. 

Most doctors now only issue an electronic certificate of incapacity for work (eAU), which sends your data directly to your health insurance company, where your employer can access it electronically. Instead of receiving a paper certificate from you, the department administration only needs the start and end dates of your electronic certificate of incapacity for work. If you still receive a printed certificate from your doctor (employees with private health insurance still receive a doctor's note in paper form), please submit it by email to the above address and send the original to the following address:

Freie Universität Berlin
FB Politik und Sozialwissenschaften
Abteilung Krankmeldungen
Ihnestr. 21
14195 Berlin

Please note: Weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and public holidays are also included in the calendar days. So if you reported sick on a Friday and are still sick on Monday (4. sick day in that case), you must submit a doctor's note by Monday at the latest.

Return to work notification

On the day you return to work, you must send an email with the subject line “Return to work notification” (Gesundmeldung) to the above email addresses. The return to work notification is essential, as otherwise you will continue to be considered sick and the department will make inquiries.

Sickness During Vacation

If you are unable to work due to illness during your vacation, the days missed will not be counted against your vacation time upon presentation of a doctor’s note, provided that the illness is reported immediately—that is, on the day it occurs. To extend your vacation by the number of days missed, you must obtain prior approval from your supervisor.

Work-related and commuting accidents, and accident reporting

Injured people who require medical care must be referred to a so-called transit doctor (Durchgangsarzt = D-Arzt). D-Ärzte are specialists in orthopedics and trauma surgery, are licensed by the state associations of statutory accident insurance, and possess specialized knowledge and experience in the entire field of trauma medicine. They work in doctor's offices or hospital emergency rooms. In cases of isolated eye, ear, nose, and throat, or dental injuries, a corresponding specialist must be consulted.

Civil servants are not subject to the D-Arzt procedure; they have free choice of physician following a work-related or commuting accident. After any work-related or commuting accident, the supervisor must be informed; in the case of student accidents, the institute or department administration must be notified. If initial care for the injured was provided by the fire department, the Occupational Safety Office requests a brief report.

Accident Report
Employees, Trainees, Students

Contrary to the instructions on older forms, an accident report must always be completed whenever medical treatment is required as a result of a work-related or commuting accident, thereby incurring costs. After an accident at work or on the way to work, no co-payments for medicines and remedies have to be paid. If necessary, point out to the doctor that it could be an accident insured by the accident insurance fund. In this case, you do not need to present your health insurance card, because the doctor will contact the Unfallkasse Berlin directly. 

The supervisor is responsible for preparing and signing the accident report within three days of the accident becoming known. Accident reports for students are signed by the relevant department or faculty administration.

The fully completed and signed accident report (all copies) must be sealed and forwarded to the Occupational Safety Office (DAS). For injuries that do not require a visit to the doctor, the entry in the first-aid logbook, which is included with every first-aid kit, serves as proof of insurance.

Civil cervants

If a physical injury has occurred as a result of a work-related accident or a commuting accident, an accident report must be filed immediately upon discovery, either by the civil servant themselves or by their supervisor. This report is then forwarded in a sealed envelope to the Human Resources Department.

Accident report forms can be downloaded from the following websites:

• Occupational Safety Office

http://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/baas/erste_hilfe_unfaelle/index.html

• Human Resources Department

http://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/abt-1/formulare/personal/index.html