Parental leave: advice and information

When you become a parent, you are entitled to unpaid leave from employment, provided you meet certain requirements. You must apply for parental leave in writing with your employer.

Parental leave is an unpaid break for parents following the birth of a child. Your employer must grant you up to 3 years of leave from work per child.

During this time, you enjoy special dismissal protection and will not receive a salary. However, compensation through parental allowance (Elterngeld) is possible and must be applied for separately by you.

Regarding the topic of parental leave, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) has provided various advisory centers and informational materials.

Start

Parental leave begins,

• for mothers after the maternity leave period, which is 8 weeks after the birth of the child.
• for the other parent at the earliest from the birth of the child.

relationship to the child

Parental leave is available for

• biological children.
• biological children of your wife or husband or of your registered partner.
• Children for whom you as the father have applied for recognition of paternity or establishment of paternity, even if your application has not yet been decided.
• Foster children in full-time foster care.
• Adoptive children, even while the adoption process is still ongoing, so-called „children in pre-adoption foster care“.
• grandchildren, if one parent of the child is a minor or is in an apprenticeship/education that began before their 18th birthday, provided neither parent of the child takes parental leave
• Siblings, nieces or nephews, grandchildren or great-grandchildren, for example, if both parents have a serious illness or disability or have passed away.

Planning

Both parents can each take 3 years of parental leave, regardless of whether the other parent also takes parental leave.

You can divide parental leave into up to 3 periods or take it all at once. For the division, it is crucial whether the parental leave or parts of the parental leave

• before the 3rd birthday or
• between their 3rd and 8th birthdays

of the child. With the employer's consent, more periods can also be taken.

Registration

You must notify your employer of your parental leave in writing, but without a specific form. The deadline for notification is

• within the child's first 3 years of life at the latest 7 weeks before the desired start of parental leave,
• from the 3rd birthday up to the day of the 8th birthday, at the latest 13 weeks before the desired start of parental leave.

Your employer is obligated to confirm your parental leave.

Information about parental leave

The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) offers further information and contact details for advisory centers to find out more about parental leave. These include, for example:

• the family portal on the internet
• the brochure „Elterngeld und Elternzeit“
• the service hotline of the family portal
• the authority search for an on-site consultation

There are no costs.