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Job and family at one table: an impossible task for many people during the corona crisis
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
Laptop on the kitchen table, zoom meeting on the screen, next to whining children, lunch on the stove: home office combined with all-day childcare overburdens many families.
Therefore, the federal government decided at the beginning of January to radically increase the number of childhood illness days during the corona pandemic.
Who is entitled to child sickness benefit?
How many days can you take?
And until when does the new regulation apply?
The most important answers.
What are childhood illness days and when can you take them?
Children's sick days are a service provided by the statutory health insurances, according to which parents can take time off from work in order to care for a child in the event of illness.
During the corona crisis, however, this definition was expanded: Parents are now also allowed to take childhood illness days if they simply do not have any care for their child.
This is the case, on the one hand, when the child's day-care center or school is closed due to a pandemic - but also when the local authorities ask parents to look after their children at home, even though the day-care centers are open.
Does the rule also apply when you work in the home office?
Yes.
The Federal Ministry of Health announced in a press release: "Even parents who (could) work in the home office have the option of applying for child sickness benefit instead if they need childcare."
How many childhood illness days can you submit?
Normally, each parent is entitled to 10 days of child sickness benefit per child with statutory health insurance.
This has been doubled to 20 days.
If there are several children, each parent is entitled to a maximum of 45 working days.
Example: In a family with two parents and three children, the parents could take a total of 90 working days - i.e. just under four months.
What about part time?
Although parents in particular often work part-time, this case is not clearly defined by law.
In theory, part-time employees are entitled to the same number of childhood illness days as those working full-time.
Labor lawyer Olaf Sauer told SPIEGEL that he assumed that in practice it would be similar to vacation days - that there would be a lower percentage of entitlement to childhood illness days.
What is difficult, however, is that the health insurance companies only bill for full days.
"One problem is the half-day exemption, which is not clearly stipulated in the law," says Sauer.
This affects, among other things, parents who normally work full-time but currently have to look after the children part-time - for example, because the grandparents can only look after the children in the afternoons.
Even the specialist lawyer cannot find a simple solution: "For such cases - which are by no means uncommon with families - employers and employees have to find creative solutions within the framework of flexible working hours in order to do justice to the specific situation," says Sauer.
Can you transfer unused days to the other parent?
There is no legal entitlement to this.
In such a case, the Federal Ministry of Health recommends talking to the employer of the parent who has already exhausted the childhood illness days.
If the employer agrees, unused days from one parent could be carried over to the other.
How many childhood sick days do single parents get?
Anyone who has sole custody or who can be proven to be single to look after their children is normally entitled to 20 days per child, under the corona conditions it is now 40 days.
If there are several children, single parents are entitled to a maximum of 90 working days.
For what period does the regulation apply?
The new rule is planned for the entire year 2021 and will apply retrospectively from January 5, 2021.
What about school holidays?
If holidays were extended or unscheduled decided due to the pandemic, entitlement to children's sickness benefit also applies during this period.
This is not the case for regular vacation periods.
How much child sickness benefit do you get?
Child sickness benefit amounts to around 90 percent of the lost net wage.
If you have received one-off payments such as vacation or Christmas bonus in the previous twelve months, the amount can even be between 90 and 100 percent of the net salary.
Who can apply for child sickness benefit?
Basically all working people who, like the children concerned, are legally insured and for whom no person living in the household can take on childcare.
Special rules apply to the following groups:
Privately insured: If a child has health insurance through a privately insured parent, neither parent is entitled to child sickness benefit - not even the partner who may be legally insured.
For those with private health insurance, there is the possibility of compensation for loss of earnings under the Infection Protection Act.
Self-employed: Anyone who is self-employed full-time and has statutory health insurance can only apply for children's sickness benefit if they are entitled to regular sickness benefit under the insurance cover.
Civil servants: Federal civil servants are also entitled to the extended children's illness days.
The individual state authorities decide on the regulation for state officials.
450 euro jobbers: Parents with marginally paid employment are unfortunately not entitled to child sickness benefit as they are not required to have health insurance.
However, you are entitled to unpaid leave from work.
People on short-time work: Even during short-time work, legally insured persons are entitled to child sickness benefit.
But: Short-time working allowance and child sickness allowance may not be drawn at the same time.
How do I apply for child sickness benefit?
The application runs directly through the respective statutory health insurance.
The health insurers have already made forms for the new regulation available for download on their websites.
What other financial options are there for working parents?
Irrespective of child sickness benefit, all parents are also entitled to special corona leave and the associated loss of earnings payments in accordance with Section 56 (1a) of the Infection Protection Act.
This includes up to ten weeks per parent and up to 20 weeks for single parents.
However, the compensation is only around 67 percent of the net salary and is capped at 2016 euros per month.
And: If one parent receives child sickness benefit - and can therefore do the care work - the claim to the loss of earnings payment is suspended.
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