Germany’s top labour court: parents are bound by booked parental leave

Germany’s Federal Labour Court has ruled that employees who have registered parental leave are generally bound by that decision, even if their personal circumstances change before the leave starts. According to The Local Germany, the ruling means a parent usually needs their employer’s agreement to cancel parental leave or return to work early.

What happened

The Local Germany reports that a father booked a year of Elternzeit (parental leave, the job-protected time off parents can take to care for a child). Before the leave began, he separated from the child’s mother and moved out of their shared home. The child stayed with the mother.

Nine days before his leave was due to start, he asked to keep working. He argued that he was no longer entitled to Elterngeld (the state parental allowance paid during leave) because he no longer lived with his child. His employer refused and said it had already hired a replacement for the length of his leave. The father went to court and said that losing both Elterngeld and his job put him at risk of financial hardship.

In August, the state labour court in North Rhine-Westphalia, based in Düsseldorf, sided with the father and upheld his right to cancel his leave. On October 6th, the Bundesarbeitsgericht (Federal Labour Court, Germany’s highest court for employment disputes) overturned that decision. The judges found that workers remain bound by their request for parental leave even when their circumstances change and even when they lose Elterngeld. The court also found that the father had not proved financial hardship, because losing Elterngeld alone did not show he could not support himself or his child. He therefore had to continue his parental leave until the following year.

What it means for you

If you are planning parental leave or are already on it, The Local Germany highlights several points from the ruling.

• Employer consent is usually needed. You generally need your employer’s agreement to cancel registered leave or to return early. A break-up or moving out does not release you automatically.
• Cancelling before the start counts too. The rules for ending leave early also apply to cancelling it before it begins.
• Special hardship gives you stronger rights. If a parent becomes seriously ill or disabled, a family member dies, or the parent is threatened by poverty or hardship, they can submit an urgent request to return to work. The employer can only refuse on urgent operational grounds and must accept or refuse the request in writing within four weeks. The same limited grounds for refusal apply after the birth of another child.
• Maternity protection is a separate case. A woman can end existing parental leave to begin Mutterschutz (statutory maternity protection) without her employer’s consent, but she must inform the employer. This period generally runs from six weeks before to eight weeks after the birth.

If you cannot cancel your leave, The Local Germany sets out other ways to earn money or get support. You may apply for part-time work with your current employer, become self-employed, or take a temporary part-time job with your employer’s consent. During parental leave in Germany you are allowed to work up to 32 hours a week, averaged over the month.

If you cannot find suitable work, Arbeitslosengeld I (ALG I, the contribution-based unemployment benefit) may be an option. According to the publication, it covers around 60 percent of your previous salary, which it describes as roughly the same as Elterngeld. To qualify, you must be available for work for at least 15 hours a week, be unable to get suitable part-time work with your existing employer, and meet the usual conditions, including enough unemployment insurance contributions.

Another route is Grundsicherung (basic income support for long-term unemployment), which you apply for at your local Jobcenter (the public office that handles this benefit). The Local Germany says it is currently set at €563 per month, plus an allowance for rent.

Before booking Elternzeit, think carefully about the dates and length you request, because changing them later may depend on your employer. If your situation changes and you face real financial difficulty, The Local Germany recommends getting legal advice on whether you can make an urgent request to return to work.

What to watch next

The court ruled that losing Elterngeld alone is not enough to end parental leave, but The Local Germany notes that it did not rule out claims based on a genuine financial emergency. How that line is drawn in future cases will matter for parents whose circumstances change. The publication also points to planned changes to Elterngeld and to Germany’s unemployment benefits, including the replacement of Bürgergeld, the current basic income benefit. Both could affect the support available to parents on leave.

Source: The Local Germany