Working with a child

The provisions of the Maternity Protection Act (MuSchG) apply to all women in employment (including part-time employment, marginal or fixed-term employment, trainees, persons working from home and persons treated as such and, under certain requirements, pupils and students), regardless of nationality and marital status. For fixed-term contracts, maternity leave applies for a maximum of as long as the employment relationship exists.

The legal|according to law|statutory protection period begins 6 weeks before the expected date of birth and ends 8 weeks after the actual birth. In the 6 weeks before the birth, the expectant mother can continue to be employed on a voluntary basis, but can revoke this at any time with effect for the future. In the 8 weeks after the birth of the child (12 weeks for premature and multiple births) there is an absolute prohibition of employment.

As the employer's representative, the university has a special responsibility for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Therefore, the workplace must be examined for possible dangers and excessive demands for mother and child. If these exist, protective measures must be taken immediately.

Please inform your line manager and the HR department in good time of the expected date of delivery. In this way, all questions regarding pregnancy and parental leave can be clarified in advance. Please also inform the HR department if the expected date of birth changes, as this will affect the protection periods.

Parental leave can be taken after the maternity protection period. Both parents are entitled to this. Parental leave can be taken until the child reaches the age of 3 (of which up to 24 months can be carried over until the child reaches the age of 8).

Parental leave can be taken in whole or in part alone, jointly or alternately. You do not need the employer's consent for parental leave up to the child's 3rd birthday.

Eligibility requirements:

• Existing employment relationship
• Caring for your own child (or the child of your spouse or partner)
• Caring for a foster or adopted child
• If you live in the same household as the child and look after it yourself
• If you do not work more than a maximum of 32 hours per week

Applying for parental leave:

The employer must be reported in writing (for the first two years of life) no later than 7 weeks before the start of parental leave. The employer is obliged to certify the parental leave. If you intend to work part-time during your parental leave, you should inform your employer of this when you register your parental leave. Please submit your requests through official channels to the Human Resources Department.

The eligibility requirements for parental allowance are regulated in the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act: The employment of the parental allowance recipient must not exceed 30 hours per week.

The parental allowance provides partial financial compensation for parents who

• look after their child themselves after the birth
• Live with the child in a shared household
• Reduce or interrupt their working hours
• Have their main residence in Germany

Applications can be submitted to the relevant parental allowance office from birth (retroactively for a maximum of 3 months).

Amount of parental allowance

Parents who reduce or completely interrupt their working hours receive parental allowance amounting to an average of 65% of the average adjusted net income. The parental allowance amounts to a minimum of €300 and a maximum of €1,800. The minimum instalment of €300 is paid regardless of whether the child was in gainful employment.

Students and trainees do not necessarily have to interrupt their studies to receive parental allowance. For families with several children, the parental allowance rate can be increased accordingly by the so-called Siblings Bonus. You can find out more from the relevant parental allowance office.

Duration of parental allowance

One parent can apply for parental allowance for a maximum of 12 months. 2 additional months, the so-called partner months, are available to the parents if the second parent also applies for at least 2 months of parental allowance. The partners are free to divide the 14 months between them. Excluded from this are months in which the maternity allowance is fully offset against the parental allowance.

Parental Allowance Plus

Parents can choose between Basic Parental Allowance and Parental Allowance Plus. The amount of Parental Allowance Plus is calculated on the same basis as Basic Parental Allowance, but is no more than half of Basic Parental Allowance without part-time work or at least €150. Parental Allowance Plus is paid to parents for twice as long.

Parental allowance for single parents

Single parents (or parents whose partner cannot objectively take parental leave) can apply for parental allowance for 14 months (28 months Parental Allowance Plus) if:

• If you live with the child in a flat without the other parent
• You reduce or interrupt your working hours

Changes to parental allowance from 2024

The option for parents to receive Basic Parental Allowance in parallel will be redesigned for births from 1 April 2024. Simultaneous receipt of Basic Parental Allowance will only be possible for a maximum of one month and only within the first twelve months of the child's life. The new regulation only affects the simultaneous receipt of Basic Parental Allowance. As soon as one of the parents receives Basic Parental Allowance Plus, the other parent can also receive Basic Parental Allowance or Parental Allowance Plus for more than one month at the same time.

Further information on the changes can be found HEREExternal link

Child benefit is payable from the birth of the child and must be applied for in writing to the Family Benefits Office of the Federal Employment Agency.

To apply, you will need the completed child benefit application form, the child's tax identification number (will be sent to you) and the child's birth certificate.

You can also apply for the birth certificate onlineExternal link.

Child benefit is tax-free income and amounts to €250 per month for each child. Only one person at a time can apply for child benefit for a child.

• You can find more information at: https: //www.arbeitsagentur.de/familie-und-kinder/kindergeld-auslandExternal link

Child supplement

The child supplement is a state benefit for low-income families who have unmarried children under the age of 25 in their household and are able to finance their own maintenance, but not that of the child. The minimum income is €600/month for single parents and €900/month for couples.

The child supplement must be applied for separately and is paid out by the local family benefits office of the labour office. The child supplement is calculated individually for each child. You will receive a maximum of €292 per month per child. Further information and the online application can be found HEREExternal link

Advance maintenance payments

Single parents can apply for maintenance advance if the other parent pays no or irregular maintenance. There is no income limit for the single parent. The amount of the maintenance advance depends on the age of the child:

• 230 euros for children aged 0 to 5,
• 301 euros for children aged 6 to 11,
• 395 euros for children aged 12 to 17.

It is also possible to apply for the maintenance advance onlineExternal link.

Housing benefit is a state rent subsidy and whether housing benefit can be claimed and, if so, in what amount, depends on three factors:

• the number of family members in the household
• the amount of the family income
• the amount of eligible rent or harassment.

You can find more information HEREExternal link

If the employee's own child is ill, the employee can be released from work due to the illness. The requirement for this is that the child has not yet reached the age of 12 and a doctor's written) confirmation|certificate is available stating that the child needs to be cared for.

If both parents are covered by legal|according to law|statutory health insurance, each parent can claim up to 10 days per calendar year "child sick". If a parent has already claimed 10 child sick days, they can have the remaining 10 child sick days transferred (only if both employers agree).

New from 2024:

The number of regular child sick leaves will increase - compared to the years before the corona pandemic - from 10 to 15 working days per child and parent per year. For single parents, there will now be 30 working days instead of 20. If there are several children, a total of up to 35 working days per parent can be taken in future, or 70 working days in the case of single parents. This will apply in 2024 and 2025. If the child is hospitalised, there will be an unlimited entitlement to child sickness benefit from 2024.

Here you will find current information and brochures.

Flyer:JUniFamilypdf, 507 kb · de JUniKinderpdf, 478 kb · de

Brochure: Parental allowance, parental allowance plus and parental leavepdf, 4 mb · de

Guide: Guide for all (expectant) parents who are employed at FSU Jena pdf, 4 mb · de

Parental allowance calculator and planner onlineExternal link

Guide_Childcarepdf, 655 kb · de

Wellcome - Practical help after the birth in Jenapdf, 661 kb · de