Familienpflegezeit Informationserteilung

Family care leave gives you the opportunity to reduce your working hours to up to 15 hours per week for a maximum of 24 months in order to care for a close relative in need of care in the home environment.

You only have a legal right to family care leave if your employer has at least 26 employees (those employed for vocational training are not counted). You will only be granted family care time if your relative has at least care degree 1.

Employment contract provision for family caregiver leave:

• You must reach a written agreement with your employer on working hours and the distribution of hours.
• Your employer can only contradict your wishes regarding working hours for urgent operational reasons.
• A change in the fixed working hours during the current family care leave is only possible if your employer agrees.

You can apply for an interest-free loan to cushion the loss of income.

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Combination of family care time with care time :

• Directly before or directly after family care time (under the Family Care Time Act), care time (under the Care Time Act) may be taken.
• If the family care time is taken before the care time, the family care time must be announced to the employer eight weeks before the desired start date.
• If family caregiver time is taken after caregiver time, the notice period for family caregiver time is three months.
• In total, the care period and the family care period may not exceed 24 months.

Close relatives within the meaning of the Family Caregiver Leave Act are:

• Grandparents, parents, parents-in-law, stepparents.
• spouses, civil partners, partners in a marriage-like partnership, partnerships similar to civil partnerships
• Siblings
• Children, adopted or foster children
• Children, adopted or foster children of the spouse or life partner, children-in-law and grandchildren
• Sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law

Possibility of reducing working hours to care for a close relative

• Maximum duration: 24 months
• Minimum remaining working hours: 15 hours per week
• Legal entitlement if the company has at least 26 employees
• Proof of a care degree (at least 1) required
• Care must be provided in home environment

• Sample form for the announcement of the family care time

• Forms for the application of the interest-free loan

• Both are available on the website https://www.wege-zur-pflege.de/