Holidays for all!

The Federal Holiday Act is passed

Although a shortage of holiday accommodation in East Germany meant that not all workers were actually able to go on holiday, the constitution did grant them the right to take annual leave. The situation for their West German cousins was a little more complicated. Some unions had managed to agree the right to annual leave for some workers, but there was no binding national entitlement to a week by the sea. This all changed on 8 January 1963. The Federal Holiday Act granted every employee the right to a minimum of 24 working days (including Saturdays) of paid leave every year.