Family care leave: More compatibility of care and job

Family care time is intended to ensure the compatibility of care by relatives and professional activity. Because the majority of people in need of care are still cared for at home. The family plays an important role. Close relatives often take over the care partially or even completely. Now time flexibility allows professionals to reduce hours on the job for a specified period of time. So they have more capacity to care for family members. What you need to know about family care leave..

What is family caregiver leave??

When care is needed, most people want to be cared for at home. But the implementation is challenging: If, for example, the children take care of their parents, they have to manage their own family life, the job and, in addition, the care. This is often more than one person can afford.

The Family Caregiver Leave Act (Familienpflegezeitgesetz) and the family caregiver leave it contains are intended to provide support and relief for family caregivers. The law regulates that employed persons can reduce their working hours in order to care for a family member. During the family care time you enjoy protection against dismissal. At the end of this caregiver leave, you resume your job as normal, just as before.

Frequently asked questions and answers about family care leave

Yes, there is an entitlement to family caregiver leave. However, this is limited by law and depends on the size of the company. There is no entitlement for employers with 25 or fewer employees as a rule.

The person in need of care can apply for care allowance from the care insurance fund. This enables him to support his care-giving relative.

In addition, all persons in need of care from care level 2 onwards are entitled to care benefits in kind. The monthly relief contribution of 125 euros is even available to all those in need of care.

What to consider with regard to social insurance?

Unemployment, health, pension and accident insurance continue with reduced wage payments. However, the lower income also reduces unemployment benefits and sick pay if you become unemployed or are prevented from working due to prolonged illness.

Contributions to pension insurance are also reduced. However, they can apply for additional contributions via the nursing care insurance fund.

If an employee wants to take family care leave, he or she must agree on the reduced working hours with the employer and conclude a contract. The company then pays its employee the pro rata salary for the reduced working hours.

The employer also tops up half of the missing amount. He finances this from an interest-free federal loan. This is paid back by withholding a portion of the salary at the end of the family care period.

Can family caregiver time be divided among more than one person?

The Family Caregiver Leave Act stipulates that you can only take caregiver leave once per person in need of care. However, it is possible for more than one person to share the family care time.

Example: In the Muller family, Mrs. Muller requires care. Your two daughters Anna and Sophie take 12 months of family care leave to look after their mother. They can either both apply for 12 months at the same time, then they will have used up the total entitlement of 24 months. Or you can split the time and take it one after the other.

Family care leave Prerequisites: Who can take it?

In order to take family care leave, certain conditions must be met. The two most important are:

• Size of the company
  The law establishes a right to family caregiver leave. However, this only applies if the employer has more than 25 employees. Smaller companies are exempt from the law. Civil servants cannot take family care leave either.
• Relationship to the person in need of care
  Only close relatives of the person in need of care may take family care leave. Close relatives are considered to be: Children, grandchildren, adopted or foster children (both their own and those of their partner), siblings, and spouses or partners.

Family Care Leave Act (FPfZG)

We have clearly listed the most important aspects of the law on family care leave for you:

• Employees are to be partially released from work for a maximum of 24 months (maximum duration) if they care for a close relative in need of care in their home environment (family care leave). In the event of different weekly working hours or a different distribution of weekly working hours, the weekly working hours must not be less than 15 hours on average over a period of up to one year (minimum working hours).
• During family caregiver leave, the reduced working hours must be at least 15 hours per week.
• Caregiver leave and family caregiver leave together may not exceed 24 months for each close relative in need of care (total duration).
• Family care time is not counted towards vocational training periods.
• Employees are to be partially released from work for a maximum of 24 months (maximum duration) if they care for a minor close relative in need of care in a domestic or non-domestic environment. This leave can be taken at any time, alternating with the leave under paragraph 1, within the total duration of the leave.

(Source: Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection)

What forms of leave are available?

If a family member requires care, working relatives have various options for caring for the person in need of care. These are options and their differences:

Short-term absence from work: Up to 10 days

A need for care can arise quite suddenly. For example, due to an accident or illness. In such a case, employees can be absent from work for up to ten days. This allows them to care for the person in need of care and organize care. Continued payment of wages only exists if there is an agreement in the employment contract.

During this time, however, there is an entitlement to care support allowance to compensate for the loss of wages. It is 90 percent of the lost net pay, you must apply for it at the care insurance fund. The prerequisite is that you immediately announce the short-term prevention of work and provide proof of this by means of a medical certificate. Short-term leave is also possible in small companies, regardless of the number of employees.

Caregiver leave: Up to 6 months

Caregiver leave allows a longer-term leave of absence from the job. Employees can take up to six months' partial or full leave from work to care for a close relative at home. Relatives must inform their employer ten days before the start of the family care leave. In addition, you must notify the company of the time period.

As in the case of short-term absence from work, at least care level 1 must be available for this purpose. To compensate for the loss of wages, you can apply for an interest-free loan from the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks. There is no legal right to caregiver leave at a company with fewer than 15 employees.

Support in the last phase of life: up to 3 months

A special form of caregiver leave is support in the last phase of life. It allows family caregivers to take up to three months off from work, either partially or completely. This option also exists if the person in need of care is being cared for in a hospice.

Family care leave: up to 24 months

Thanks to family caregiver leave, employees can take up to 24 months partial leave from their job. The prerequisite is that you continue to work 15 hours per week. You must notify your employer at least eight weeks in advance that you want to take family care leave and to what extent.

As with caregiver leave, you can also apply for an interest-free loan for family caregiver leave. There is also a hardship provision for family caregiver leave. If a family caregiver is unable to repay the loan, there is the option of deferment, partial loan forgiveness, or that the loan debt is extinguished completely.

How long can you take family care leave?

Within the maximum period of 24 months, you can decide for yourself how long you want to take family caregiver leave. If you have already taken advantage of other leave options, such as caregiver leave, this time will be taken into account. A combination is also only possible if you take the family care leave directly afterwards. In certain cases, family care leave ends early. This includes:

• The care no longer takes place in a home environment.
• You are no longer in need of care.
• The person in need of care dies.

In the cases described above, the circumstances change and so do the requirements for family caregiver leave. Family care time ends four weeks after the change occurs.

How do I ask the employer for family care leave?

If you work for a company with more than 25 employees, you are entitled to family care leave. Means: Your employer must comply with your request, unless there are urgent operational reasons not to do so.

Nevertheless, you must notify the employer that you are taking family care leave. You should do this in writing at least 8 weeks in advance. Include in the application:

• Announcement that you are taking family care leave
• Exact period
• Amount of hours per week you wish to continue working
• Certificate of the degree of care

Remember that, by law, you must continue to work an annual average of 15 hours per week. Submit this application to the person responsible for personnel matters. After verification, you will receive a confirmation from your employer.

Family care leave for small companies

If you work for a company with fewer than 25 employees, you are not legally entitled to family caregiver leave. You can request time off from your employer. If the employer agrees to the time off, it is an individual arrangement. It is not a leave of absence under the Family Caregiver Leave Act. This means that you do not have any special protection against dismissal for the time you are on leave.

How to apply for the loan?

With the family care leave you can apply for an interest-free loan for the period. This is granted by the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks. You will then receive half of the difference between your salary before and during the time off (net) each month. The calculation is based on your salary for the last twelve months before the start of family caregiver leave. You can calculate how much this amount will be via the Office's loan calculator. Instead of the full loan amount, you can also opt for a smaller monthly installment.

Repayment of the loan begins from the first month after the last loan installment is made. The loan must be repaid within 48 months. If you cannot repay the loan because you are receiving unemployment or sickness benefits, for example, you can apply for a deferment of payment. If you have not applied for the loan for the entire period of family care time, repayment can be postponed until after the end of family care time.

You can apply for the loan yourself at the office. You can use this form to do so. Attach the following documents to the application:

• Pay slips for the last twelve months
• Certification of the need for care of the person to be cared for
• Agreement on partial time off from job

Send the application for the loan to the following address:

Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks
Unit 504
50964 Cologne

Facts and figures on nursing care in Germany

According to the Federal Statistical Office, there are 4.1 million people in Germany in need of care. Four out of five people in need of care are cared for at home. The majority of them – 2.3 million in total – are cared for by relatives. Only one-fifth of those in need of care are cared for in a nursing home.

The numbers reflect the wishes for the care case. A survey by R+V Insurance found that about 70 percent of respondents would like their partner to provide care at home. Half of the respondents can imagine being cared for by their children or relatives. Multiple answers were possible in the survey.