FAQ: Covid-19 & Reconciliation

Update 25.05.2021

Entitlement to 34 days off work (for a 5-day week) arises anew at the beginning of 28.03.2021. There is no possibility to carry over days from the old grant period.

Parents can claim leave from work, if

• school or company holidays are mandated or extended due to infection protection.
• the school lifts compulsory attendance.

If parents have to provide care to children under 12 years of age, they can claim 34 days of paid leave and up to 16 days of unpaid leave if childcare facilities such as schools and daycare centres are closed due to the coronavirus. Closures during the summer holidays and public holidays do not count. Single parents can obtain a paid exemption from work for up to 67 days.

If you have to provide care for close family members in need of care and care facilities are closed due to the coronavirus, you can claim up to 20 days of paid leave.

Furthermore, alternative care arrangements, for example provided by other family members, must have been ruled out.
For the first 34 days, 100% of the loss of earnings is reimbursed. As the additional 16 days are not compensated, the total possible reimbursement amounts to 67%, up to a maximum of 2016 euros per month.
The time limit of the regulations has been adjusted again.

Time off for the purposes of childcare is now possible as long as a pandemic situation continues. There is no longer a limited end date.

Time off for the purpose of caring for family members is possible for a limited period until June 30, 2021.

Requirements:

• Due to occupational or personal issues employees can't make use of ad hoc teleworking.
• Any overtime hours must be reduced to half a day before the leave from work can be granted.
• Supporting documentation, clearly indicating the closure time or quarantine, must be attached to the application.

Employees’ annual leave accounts do not play a role in this context, as they are intended for recreation.

The entitlements based on § 45 SGB V, for insured persons and their children who have statutory health insurance, are (initially) limited in time for the year 2022.

Thus, each child who has not yet reached the age of twelve or who is disabled and dependent on assistance is entitled to child sickness benefit for a maximum of 30 working days, and for single parents for a maximum of 60 working days.

The entitlement is for a total of no more than 65 working days, for single parents no more than 130 working days.

Entitlement also exists if a child has to be cared for at home because

• schools or childcare centres are closed,
• compulsory attendance at school has been lifted or
• access to childcare services at the childcare centre has been restricted.

The entitlement to time off work pursuant to Section 45 (2a) SGB V exists irrespective of positive flextime accounts or whether the work is performed, or could be performed, in mobile working.

For more information, see the press release of the Federal Ministry of Health.

School or daycare closures often result in a childcare shortage. It is often difficult to organize emergency childcare at short notice. For employees of Forschungszentrum Jülich (and all branch offices), the services of pme Familienservice is available.

This service offers virtual and offline childcare services: In addition to virtual events, it is also possible to book a wide range of services such as holiday and emergency holiday care for children.

The service provider is also personally available to support parents with individual concerns.
More information about the new service provider pme Familienservice

In addition to childcare, homeschooling may also pose a problem, therefore you will find help for studying at home on an extra page, including information on virtual tutoring and learning support services during Corona.

• The requirements for the child benefit bonus (205 euros/month since 1 January 2021) have been relaxed so that more families are eligible.
• Child benefit will increase by a further 15 euros per child from January 2021. Thus, families with one or two children will receive 219 euros per child. For the third child 225 euros and from the fourth child 250 euros. At the same time, the child allowance will increase by over 500 euros to a total of 8,388 euros.
• Furthermore, the advance support payment for children of single parents will be increased by up to 174 euros.

Information of the Federal Employment Agency on the child benefit supplement (German)

Information of the Federal Government on the increase of the child allowance

Federal government information tool (German) to find out which family benefits or assistance you or your family are likely to be entitled to.

For working parents, secure and reliable childcare is essential right now, but not always a certainty: Daycare centres are quarantined or the child has to stay home due to cold symptoms. But what exactly does that mean for parents? How can home office and childcare be reconciled? Are there alternatives?

The BfC is aware of these concerns and therefore wants to support parents during this challenging time.

More information on Corona and children

In addition, since 03.12.2020 it has been possible for parents to apply for Corona-related time off work even if they are not allowed to enter the childcare facility or if their children are quarantined.

However, the same conditions apply as for the exemption on the occasion of day-care centre and school closures during the pandemic.

Even when ad hoc teleworking is possible in theory, reviewing the individual circumstances may show that it is not in fact possible in practice. Every department is responsible for implementing ad hoc teleworking for its employees, which means that yes, this can be approved, since it is not unusual in the current exceptional circumstances for employees not to be able to adequately arrange homeschooling and childcare while working from home. Leave from work might relieve a huge burden in this case.

Yes, you do not have to claim all 20 days of paid leave together. You can also apply for just one day at a time. Taking half a day’s leave of absence is also allowed.

It was announced in a circular dated 7 April 2020 that it will soon be possible for federal TVöD employees to be reimbursed for loss of earnings, for example caused by temporary reductions in working hours or similar circumstances, for the purpose of childcare as a result of school and daycare centre closures. This is in reference to the regulation regarding entitlement to reimbursement according to Section 56(1a) of the German Infection Protection Act (IfSG). If any more information comes to light, we will be sure to keep you up to date.

All employees who perform essential work are entitled to emergency childcare places. You can find an up-to-date list of all eligible professions at the link below.

Questions and answers regarding a prohibition on accessing childcare facilities and childcare for key workers (German)

Certification of essential work for the purposes of emergency childcare is generally issued by P-B following examination of the individual occupation. Along with the certification on the official form, P-B can also certify that a person is indispensable from the employer’s point of view. Some daycare facilities and schools accept this if not all their emergency childcare places have been taken. As a general rule, employment at Forschungszentrum Jülich is in and of itself not enough to qualify as essential work.

No, the same rules apply to the Kleine Füchse daycare centre on the Jülich campus as to all the other childcare facilities in North Rhine-Westphalia. It provides childcare only to children who have at least one parent in essential work and who ordinarily attend this daycare centre.

No, a new parental allowance reform adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic was adopted in May 2020 and it stipulates that changes in income have no impact on the amount of a recipient’s parental allowance. For example, months with reduced working hours or lost income triggered by the pandemic are generally excluded for the assessment period. In addition, contributions for the partnership bonus are neither reduced nor required to be repaid in the event that average weekly working hours are not reached because of an increased or decreased presence at work due to COVID-19.

If (soon-to-be) parents are not currently able to claim their monthly parental allowance because of their essential work, they can postpone claiming the monthly parental allowance until June 2021 (even beyond the 14th month of the child’s life).

All the regulations apply retroactively from March 2020 and expire on 31/03/2021.

Further information on the 2020 parental allowance reform (German)

Yes, there have been recent updates to allow work and care to be better reconciled. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, employees who must provide care to relatives are able, until 31/03/2021, to receive a carer’s grant for up to 20 days in place of their salary.

Another update has been made regarding short-term absence from work. Previously, employees have had the option to take up to 10 days off work in the event that an urgent caregiving situation arises. The new regulation allows for up to 20 days to be claimed.

It is also possible, due to the current situation, for caregiver leave and family caregiver leave to be made shorter and more flexible. The period of notice to the employer for family caregiver leave has been reduced to 10 days. In addition, it has been allowed temporarily for an employee to work less than the minimum 15 working hours.

Emergency assistance for employees caring for family members (German)

The regulations of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) do not permit leave from work if the facility/school is closed due to school holidays or planned closures.

Should the facility/school provide childcare places during the school holidays, for example within the scope of optional after-school care (OGS), leave from work can be granted if this option is cancelled due to COVID-19. This means that employees must present supporting documentation from the facility/school, clearly indicating that the childcare option would have been provided during the school holidays (with exact dates) and that it has been cancelled due to COVID-19.

For single parents or parents with shared custody, all these situations can be twice as stressful. Helpful information on this can be found on the website of the Association of Single Mothers and Fathers NRW (VAMV NRW). The Corona crisis hotline for single parents set up by the VAMV NRW can be reached at 0201 82774-799.

Information for parents and children about the coronavirus (German)

Financial help and support for families during the coronavirus pandemic (German)

Current information about help and support services (German)