Family care time and Co: There are various models for working people who care for relatives – and need free time for this. The most important questions and answers.
Anyone who suddenly has to care for a close relative is faced with many unanswered questions. One that many working people ask themselves: How am I supposed to reconcile everything in the short term? Good news in this often difficult situation: there are several ways for employees to be completely or at least partially released from work. With the family care leave, the latter can even last up to 24 months.
What are the requirements for family care leave?
The first requirement is that employees care for a close relative who has at least care level 1. Close relatives include, for example, parents, spouses and children. In addition, the care must take place in the home environment, i.e. in the home of the person in need of care or in that of the caring relative. “An exception applies here for underage close relatives, they can also be cared for outside the home,” says Annemarie Schoß from the social association VDK Germany in Berlin.
Anyone taking family care leave must be employed – and continue to work at least 15 hours a week in their job. However, due to the corona pandemic, there is currently an exception to the number of hours until April 30, 2023: Employees can work less than the minimum working time for a maximum of one month.
Important to know: “The employer only has to agree to the family care leave if the company has at least 26 employees,” says Felizitas Bellendorf from the consumer advice center in North Rhine-Westphalia.
What about my remuneration?
During family care leave, employees can apply for an interest-free loan from the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks. The interest-free loan is paid monthly. The maximum amount is the difference between the net salary before and during the leave of absence.
The maximum loan amount can be determined using the family care time calculator from the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks. The loan must be repaid after the exemption.
Where do I apply for family care leave?
There is no application in the classic form. Instead, employees announce the family care leave to their employer. They must also inform the employer how long they will take the family care leave and how they want to structure their working hours during this time.
When do you have to do this?
Employees must notify their employer at least eight weeks before the desired start of family care leave. “There is also an exception to this due to the corona pandemic,” says Annemarie Schoss. If the family care leave begins on April 1, 2023 at the latest, the deadline is at least ten working days before the desired start.
How do you make good agreements with the employer?
“The earlier you inform the employer, the better,” says Bellendorf. However, family caregivers often cannot plan well in advance. When you make the announcement, you must tell the employer how you intend to organize your working hours during family care leave. It must be specified in writing by how much the working hours will be reduced and how this will be distributed.
“The employer must be guided by the wishes of the employees,” says Schoss. One exception: Urgent operational reasons speak against it.
Can my employer refuse family care leave?
If the formal requirements are met, i.e. the company has at least 26 employees, there is a legal entitlement to family care leave. The employer cannot then say no.
If you work in a smaller company, you must come to an agreement with your employer on a voluntary basis. The consumer advice centers then advise getting together with the employer at an early stage and looking for a possible solution.
What other options are there besides family care leave?
In an acute care situation, caring relatives can, under certain conditions, claim a short-term absence from work. This allows you to be released from work for up to ten working days. “Every employee is entitled to this,” said Bellendorf.
During these ten days, relatives can receive a care support allowance from the care insurance fund of the person requiring care. There is another exception here until April 30, 2023: The duration can be 20 working days, but there must be a connection with the corona pandemic.
Another option: take care leave. Relatives can be completely or partially released from their work for up to six months. A prerequisite for claiming care leave is that the company in which you work has more than 15 employees.
By the way: If you want to take family care leave for the same relative who needs care directly after a care leave, you are obliged to announce this very early. At least three months before the start. Due to the corona pandemic, there is an exception until April 30, 2023 that under certain conditions the family care leave does not have to follow the care leave directly. An announcement of at least ten days before the start of the family care leave is sufficient.
To support the person in need of care in the last phase of their life, employees also have the option of being completely or partially released from work for up to three months. One of the prerequisites here is a company size of more than 15 employees. As with family caregiver leave, you can apply for an interest-free loan from the Federal Office for Family Affairs and Civil Society Tasks both for support in the last phase of life and for caregiver leave.
(This article was first published on Sunday, February 05, 2023.)
