Care and family care leave
All important information on the requirements, application and approval of a care leave or family care leave for employees of Leuphana can be found below. It is expressly pointed out that the information contains a summary of the relevant legal provisions and cannot replace the study of these legal provisions. They do not contain information on all detailed questions and do not take into account any individual particularities.
Care time: Employees are entitled to a short-term leave of absence from work according to Articel 2 PflegeZG if they have to organise the care of close relatives. Death benefits are only granted for periods of partial leave (Art.23, para. 3, TV-L). Within the scope of application of the TV-L, there is an obligation to continue to pay for this short-term leave from work only for one day per calendar year and only if the relative to be cared for lives in the employee's household (Art. 2 para. 1) PflegeZG in conjunction with Art.29 para 1(e)(aa) TV-L).
In case of need for care of close relatives, employees have the right to complete or partial leave from work if they care for a close relative in need of care in their home environment (Art. 3 para. 1 p. 1 PflegeZG). This care leave shall not exceed six months for each close relative in need of care; it shall be taken in one piece. There is no entitlement to continued payment of remuneration to the employer. Interruptions due to the PflegeZG are not detrimental to the receipt of the grandfathering allowances according to §§ 9 and 11 TVÜ-L.
Family care leave: In order to facilitate the care of close relatives, the Family Care Time Act (FPfZG, BGBL.I, p.2564), which came into force on 01.01.2012 and was last amended by Art. 3 of the Act of 23.03.2022 (BGBl. I, p. 482), opens up the possibility of reducing working time to at least 15 hours per week for a maximum period of 24 months. For the duration of the care or family care leave, the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks grants a monthly interest-free loan upon application.
Long-term care leave and family care leave affect the employment relationship in terms of collective agreements, social insurance and supplementary pension law as follows:
1. Period of employment: Neither the short-term work prevention nor the care leave/family care leave have an effect on the employment period.
2. Stufenlaufzeit: Insofar as the care period is taken under full leave of absence, it is not taken into account for the step duration, but is otherwise harmless. A partial leave of absence has no effect on the step duration.
3. Payment: In the case of full release, the remuneration for the period of release shall be waived. In the case of partial leave, the remuneration corresponding to the scope of employment shall be paid.
4. Recreational holiday: The recuperation leave including any additional leave shall be reduced by one twelfth for each full calendar month of leave without pay (Art. 4 para. 4 PflegeZG in conjunction with Art. 26 para. 2 TV-L). Part-time employment does not affect the holiday if the distribution of working time over the weekdays does not change. If, on the other hand, the working time is regularly distributed over fewer than five days per week, the holiday entitlement is reduced in accordance with Art. 26 para. 1 TV-L.
5. Annual bonus: The entitlement shall be reduced by one-twelfth for each full calendar month of care leave taken. In the case of short-term absence, there may be effects with regard to the basis of assessment (§ 20 para. 2 TV-L).
6. death grant: An entitlement to death benefits exists only during periods of partial leave (Art. 23 para. 3 TV-L).
7. Social security: Information on the effects of a care/family care leave in all branches of social insurance should be obtained from the respective competent social insurance institution. The following information cannot replace this information. It is also necessary because social insurance law is subject to constant change. The care period is taken into account as an insurance period; the insurance contributions are usually borne by the care insurance fund.
8. Additional old-age and survivors' benefits: Due to the effects of a care/family care leave on later entitlements in the occupational pension scheme, it is recommended to obtain information from the Versorgungsanstalt des Bundes und der Länder (VBL), Hans-Thoma-Straße 19, 76133 Karlsruhe or on the internet at www.vbl.de.