As of: February 28, 2024, 11:51 a.m
By: Carina Blumenroth
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Is Germany ignoring applicable EU requirements?
A father sues because he was denied paternity leave.
This could set a precedent.
What's behind it.
A man wanted to apply for two weeks of paid paternity leave from his company, but this was rejected.
The background is that the EU directive that was supposed to make this possible, in force since 2019, was never implemented into national law,
Zeit.de
informs .
Instead, the man had to take his regular vacation in order to be able to stay with his wife and child for the first time.
Now the court ruling could bring about a groundbreaking decision.
How families in Germany are generally supported in the early stages and what the Family Start Time Act is all about.
EU requirement for paid paternity leave
Partner exemption after birth stalls.
What the current state of things is.
(Symbolic image) © Cavan Images/Imago
The EU states had until August 1, 2022 to implement the so-called EU Compatibility Directive into national law. Some parts were implemented, but not the relevant paid paternity leave of ten days,
Welt.de
informs .
The background is that the Family Ministry and its minister Lisa Paus (Greens) are planning their own draft law for the family start time.
According to information from
Zeit.de,
the non-implementation of the EU requirement is justified by the fact that there are “comprehensive” regulations on parental leave and parental allowance in Germany.
One could assume that this would also be argued in court.
However, a stumbling block could be the planned family leave law and the associated paid partner leave.
Like the EU rule, this provides for two weeks of paid vacation.
Planned partner exemption: What does it mean and who does it apply to?
The partner exemption is part of the planned family leave law, which is due to come in 2024.
However, when exactly is unclear, as the draft law has yet to be passed, the
Barmer
health insurance company informs .
What the partner exemption should include:
An employed partner should be able to take paid leave for up to ten days after the birth.
The family start time begins on the day of birth or the first subsequent working day.
A minimum period of employment in the company should not be necessary for this.
The claim should be able to be asserted without a registration deadline.
The time released is expected to be counted towards the entitlement to parental leave,
Barmer.de informs.
Who should the partner exemption apply to?
Other parent: Lives in the same household as the woman who gave birth.
Civil partnership: Person who lives in the same household and in a partnership with the woman who gave birth.
A person the woman chooses: If the other parent does not live in the household, the woman can choose a person, for example a good friend.
This is intended to ensure that single parents can also take advantage of family time.
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There is currently still a problem with financing the partner's exemption.
The plan is for the costs to be borne by all employers in solidarity via the allocation system.
So as a counterpart to statutory maternity leave.
This is intended to prevent partner exemption from depending on where you are employed.
According to
Tagesspiegel
, the FDP is critical of financing via the pay-as-you-go system.
Therefore the project is currently stalled.
Parental leave in Germany up to three years per child
If you are entitled to parental leave, you can take up to three years of parental leave per child,
Familieportal.de informs you.
The time begins at the earliest from the birth of the child and ends at the latest on the day before the child's eighth birthday.
According to the portal, each parent is entitled to three years of parental leave, regardless of whether the other also applies for parental leave.
You can freely choose how the time is divided.
The time may be divided into a maximum of three sections.
By the way, you can also take parental leave if you are on probation.
However, everything is a question of money - and there are also changes to parental allowance.