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Parental leave; advice

Mothers and fathers are entitled to parental leave. This must be notified to the employer in writing at least seven weeks before the start of parental leave. If you have any questions about parental leave, you can contact the Zentrum Familie Bayern und Soziales.

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Zentrum Bayern Familie und Soziales Region Unterfranken

Zentrum Bayern Familie und Soziales Region Unterfranken

Street address

Georg-Eydel-Str. 13
97082 Würzburg

Postal address

Postfach 5309

97003 Würzburg

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Procedure details

In order to be entitled to parental leave, the applicant must first be in employment. Mothers and fathers can then claim parental leave to care for their child (those who do not have custody require the consent of the parent with custody). With the consent of the custodial mother, a father whose declared recognition of the child is not yet effective or whose application for paternity has not yet been decided can also take parental leave.
Employees can also take parental leave to care for

  • a child of their spouse or registered partner, with the consent of the custodial parent,
  • a child that they have taken into full-time care, with the consent of the parent with custody,
  • of adopted children,
  • a child they have taken in with the aim of adopting,
  • their sister/brother, niece/nephew or (great-)grandchild in the event of serious illness, severe disability or death of the parents,
  • of their grandchild if one of the child's parents is a minor or is in full-time education which began before the child reached the age of 18; in this case, the grandparents are only entitled to parental leave if neither of the child's parents is claiming parental leave themselves.

The following conditions must also be met in order to be entitled to parental leave:

  • The beneficiary lives in the same household as the child,
  • cares for and raises the child themselves, support from third parties - e.g. au pair help - does not exclude the entitlement, and
  • does not work more than 32 hours per week on average per month during parental leave.

The employer must be informed immediately of any changes to the above conditions.

Parental leave lasts a maximum of three years for each parent per child. It can be taken by each parent alone or by both parents together, even pro rata. In the case of the mother, the period of maternity leave after the birth is deducted from the three years. Parental leave can begin at the earliest with the birth of the child, in the case of the mother at the earliest after maternity leave, and ends at the latest on the day before the child's 8th birthday. Within this time frame, parents are generally free to determine the start and end of their parental leave. However, only part of the parental leave can be taken between the child's 3rd and 8th birthday. During this period, a (second) portion of up to 12 months can be taken for children born up to 30.06.2015, and even up to 24 months for children born from 01.07.2015, without the employer's consent being required.

Each parent can spread their parental leave over up to three periods; spreading it over further periods is only possible with the employer's consent. The employer may refuse to allow a third period of parental leave within eight weeks of receipt of the application for urgent operational reasons if this period is to be taken between the child's third birthday and the child's eighth birthday.

In principle, parental leave can be taken regardless of whether parental allowance is received.

There is protection against dismissal during parental leave, i.e. the employer may not terminate the employment relationship. Only in special cases can dismissal be declared permissible by the trade supervisory authorities. Protection against dismissal begins when parental leave is requested, but at the earliest eight weeks before the intended start of parental leave up to the child's third birthday, and at the earliest 14 weeks before the start of parental leave between the child's third birthday and the child's eighth birthday. However, the employee can also terminate the employment relationship during parental leave in compliance with the notice periods, but only with a special notice period of three months at the end of parental leave.

Membership of the statutory health insurance scheme continues during receipt of state child-raising allowance or parental allowance and as long as parental leave is taken. No contributions are levied on the state child-raising allowance or parental allowance itself.

When deciding whether and for how long parental leave should be transferred, it should be noted that a compulsory insurance relationship with the Federal Employment Agency only exists for as long as a child under the age of three is being raised. If you transfer more than one year of parental leave, this may have a negative impact on your entitlement to unemployment benefit. Entitlement to unemployment benefit requires, among other things, that the necessary qualifying period has been completed. This requires the applicant to have been in a compulsory insurance relationship with the Federal Employment Agency (unemployment insurance) for at least twelve months within a framework period of two years before the entitlement arises. Periods of maternity benefit and periods spent bringing up a child under the age of three are also taken into account as periods of compulsory insurance. Please note that transferring or taking parental leave between the third birthday and the child's eighth birthday can have a negative effect on your entitlement to unemployment benefit. However, you are only obliged to take out insurance if you were already obliged to take out insurance immediately before you started receiving maternity benefit or parental leave, or if you were receiving a wage replacement benefit under employment promotion law.

Since the 1992 Pension Reform Act, three years of child-raising have been recognized in the statutory pension insurance system for children born after 1992, each with one earnings point. Since January 1, 2019, 30 months of parental leave can be credited for a child born before 1992.

Advice on this can also be obtained before transferring parental leave.

In the case of an adopted child and children in adoptive or full-time care, parental leave can be taken for a maximum of three years from the time of adoption, but no longer than until the child reaches the age of eight.

Parental leave for the period up to the child's third birthday must be requested in writing from the employer of the respective parent no later than seven weeks before the start of the leave, and for births from July 1, 2015 for the period between the third birthday and the child's eighth birthday no later than 13 weeks before the start of the leave (or at shorter notice if there are urgent reasons). In the case of parental leave up to the child's third birthday, the period of parental leave to be taken within two years (the third year can be determined later) must be notified. This declaration is binding. However, a subsequent change is possible with the employer's consent.

Part-time work of up to 32 hours per week on average per month is permitted during parental leave. Part-time work for another employer or self-employment requires the consent of the previous employer, which can only be refused for urgent operational reasons (only in writing within four weeks).

During parental leave, there is a statutory entitlement to a reduction in the original working hours vis-à-vis the employer if

  • an agreement between employer and employee on the reduction of working hours is not possible,
  • the employer generally employs more than 15 employees,
  • the employment relationship has existed for more than six months without interruption,
  • the working hours are reduced to no less than 15 and no more than 32 hours per month for at least two months,
  • there are no urgent operational reasons to the contrary and
  • the employer has been notified in writing of the entitlement to a reduction in working hours seven weeks before the start of employment for the period up to the child's third birthday and 13 weeks before the start of employment for the period between the child's third birthday and the child's eighth birthday.

A reduction in the original working hours may be claimed twice during the entire period of parental leave. The entitlement to two reductions in working hours remains in place even if the working hours during parental leave were initially reduced by mutual agreement. Mutually agreed parental leave arrangements do not count towards the entitlement to two reductions.

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Status: 22.01.2025
Editorially responsible for prodecure description: Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Familie, Arbeit und Soziales
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