A revenue sharing even while on vacation?
We'll show you what happens to your revenue share during your vacation.
In some sectors, workers and employees receive a share of the turnover in addition to a basic salary. In individual cases, employees even receive a share of the turnover as their only salary. Such a regulation is widespread, for example, with employed dentists. However, such a regulation can also be found in the employment contract for employed lawyers or employees in sales or distribution. A sample wording in an employment contract reads as follows for a dentist, for example:
"The salaried dentist receives compensation for the calendar year in the amount of 25% of the personally generated by him and the dental practice permanently accrued fees."
However, most employees with a revenue share do not realize how it is legally required to pay royalties during their vacation. Many employers, as well as the employees themselves, often assume that employees do not receive a share of the revenue while they are on vacation, as they do not contribute to the company's turnover during their vacation.
This is a misconception! As a matter of principle, every employee and employee is entitled to so-called vacation pay during their vacation. Thereafter, the employee retains the right to the remuneration due for the duration of his leave. This follows from § 11 Federal Holiday Act (BurlG). This regulation is mandatory and therefore can not be excluded in the employment contract by the employer!
The key question is whether a share in the turnover is part of the remuneration due. A revenue share, which is linked to the respective work performance, is judged legally as an ordinary "fixed salary" and is thus to qualify as a working income within the meaning of § 11 BUrlG. This means that the participation in profits is basically to be paid in the form of holiday pay also during the vacation to the employee. The employee is therefore placed during his vacation as if he continues to participate in the turnover and to participate in this.
The amount of revenue sharing during the holiday, however, is not determined by the actual turnover in the company during the employee's holiday, but according to § 11 BUrlG "according to the average earnings that the employee has received during the last 13 weeks before the start of the holiday" , This means that for a worker's holiday his revenue share from the last 13 weeks before arrival is taken into account. Calculated is thus the amount of revenue sharing per single working day during the last 13 weeks to determine and then multiply by the number of vacation days. This then gives the amount of the entitlement to holiday pay in terms of revenue sharing.
Yes, commissions, which the employer owes as sole remuneration or in addition to a basic salary, are also earnings in the sense of § 11 BUrlG. Therefore, these commissions should also be taken into account when calculating the holiday pay. Commissions are thus treated as a revenue share.
In this case you should consult a lawyer for employment law or a specialist lawyer for employment law. He will check your case and determine if you are entitled to a share in the revenue / commission during the holiday. However, since many employment contracts have an 3 months deadline, affected employees should act swiftly, as it is no longer legally possible to claim after the expiry of the cut-off time.
Contact us in time Lawyer for employment law Michael Gabler by phone, by mail or arrange a personal meeting time at our offices in Regensburg or Landshut.
Dear Mr. RA Gabler,
How do I take into account the share of sales generated? If, for example, the employed dentist receives a share of sales above a certain limit and cannot achieve this during the vacation, let's say 2 weeks, as described above, he receives the average of the last 13 weeks for the vacation period and what about the previous one or later working hours? Are sales extrapolated?
For example, if the dentist has a week's vacation and worked for 3 weeks, but doesn't quite reach the participation limit in those 3 weeks, what does his payslip look like?
Example basic salary: €3.500,00 Sales share: April + May €2.000,00 and June €1.500,00, share 25% from €15.000,00, worked out in July (3 weeks) €12.000,00
Best Regards
Mareike Reimers