If you make the right use of the bridging days in 2022, you can almost double your free time. What you should consider when planning your vacation.
Frankfurt – There is great hope that more will be possible again in 2022. The corona pandemic has severely affected travel in recent years, and the greater the desire for vacation. Employees in Germany are now entitled to an average of 28 vacation days. But if this time is not enough, you can get a few more days out with clever planning.
Because: There will be a number of bridge days in Germany again in 2022. In combination with just a few days of vacation, employees can finally travel to foreign cities again or immerse themselves in the nightlife. An overview of how you can get more of your free time with public holidays and long weekends in 2022.
Bridging days 2022: How you can almost double your free time with clever holiday planning
Even with the Holy Three Kings holiday, travelers with just one day of vacation can start the new year with a short trip of up to four days. Because the holiday falls on a Thursday. If workers take the following Friday off, nothing stands in the way of a long weekend. At least if you live in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, in these federal states the day is a public holiday.
As with the bridging days in 2021, you can get a lot out of the Easter holidays when planning your vacation in 2022. For example, employees can take the week before Good Friday (April 15, 2022). This means that, theoretically, a vacation time of ten days is possible with just four vacation days. The same applies if the week after Easter Monday (April 18, 2022) is used instead.
| Holidays in 2022 | Applies in the following federal states |
|---|---|
| New Year | nationwide |
| Epiphany (January 6th, 2022) | Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, Saxony-Anhalt |
| International Women’s Day (March 8th, 2022) | Berlin |
| Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday | nationwide |
| May Day / Labor Day (May 1st, 2022) | nationwide |
| Ascension Day (May 26th, 2022) | nationwide |
| Whit Sunday, Whit Monday (05.-06.06.2022) | nationwide |
| Corpus Christi (June 16, 2022) | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland (only partially in Saxony and Thuringia) |
| Assumption of Mary (August 15, 2022) | Bavaria (partially) and in Saarland |
| World Children’s Day (September 20, 2022) | Thuringia |
| Day of German Unity (October 3rd, 2022) | nationwide |
| Reformation Day (October 31, 2022) | Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia |
| All Saints’ Day (01.11.2022) | Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland |
| Day of Repentance and Prayer (November 16, 2022) | Saxony |
| Christmas holidays | nationwide |
| Source: dgb.de |
Long holiday holidays in 2022: this is how you have more of the holidays
Unfortunately, Labor Day, May 1st, does not have an additional day off for most workers in 2022 either. Because it falls on a Sunday. Instead, however, the nationwide holiday of Ascension Day is the perfect candidate for a bridging day this year. Because it falls on a Thursday, four days off can be taken for a bridging day. In combination with Whit Monday, there is even more to it. If you take six days of vacation between the holidays, you have twelve days off from work. Many employees are sure to take a nice twelve-day beach vacation with only six vacation days with them.
The holiday of Corpus Christi in 2022 is also favorable for a bridging day, it also falls on a Thursday. However, the day off only affects employees in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is only partially used in Saxony and Thuringia. Another national holiday in 2022 means well to the working population. German Unity Day is on a Monday. A long weekend is possible for many without a long weekend.
Public holidays and long weekends in 2022: Skilful planning enables more vacation
Reformation Day and All Saints’ Day fall on Monday and Tuesday. Depending on the federal state, a maximum of one bridging day must be taken for a long weekend.
While many holidays in 2022 are favorable, this unfortunately does not apply to the Christmas holidays. Christmas Eve falls on a Saturday in 2022. Thus, many actually only have Christmas day off, while the other Christmas days are in the weekend anyway. But for employees who have saved up a few more vacation days with the help of cleverly used bridging days, a longer Christmas vacation may then also be possible. (slo)
Category picture: © CHROMORANGE / Imago
