Maternity leave and part-time work?

Would you like to work part-time during your maternity leave? A part-time job with a maximum of 30 hours per week can usually be easily combined with parental leave and can even be requested under certain conditions.

Parental leave and part-time work – how does it work?

It doesn’t matter whether it’s for financial reasons or because they enjoy their job – many parents don’t want to give up working completely during parental leave. Parental leave and parental allowance can be combined with a side job or a part-time job, provided you do not work more than 30 hours a week on average and inform your employer in good time.

In principle, a verbal agreement about your desire to work part-time is sufficient. For reasons of proof, however, we recommend that you submit an informal letter in which you state:

  • When should your part-time work start and end during parental leave.
  • How many hours you want to work.
  • What distribution of working hours you want.

Your letter must reach your employer seven weeks in advance. If possible, discuss your desire to work part-time when you register for parental leave . This prevents, for example, that a full-time employee is hired for you and that part-time work can no longer be easily organized for you. When parental leave is over, normal working hours apply again. Incidentally, if you want to work in another company, this must also be approved by your boss.

part-time and parental allowance

If you receive parental allowance, you can work up to 30 hours on the side. However, additional income is offset against parental allowance. As a rule, parental allowance accounts for between 65 and 67 percent of your previous net income per month. What you earn in addition to the parental allowance will be deducted from this earlier net income. Accordingly, 65 to 67 percent of the new amount will be lower than before. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that it is often worth combining part-time work or a part-time job with parental allowance. Just do the math for your situation. You can get the information you need for this in our parental allowance special .

Entitlement to part-time work during parental leave?

Most employers are happy if they don’t have to do without their tried-and-tested skilled workers completely and readily agree to part-time work during parental leave. Sometimes, however, difficulties arise, so you should find out exactly what your rights are. You have a legal right to part-time work if:

  • the company employs more than 15 workers. Incidentally, interns and trainees are not counted.
  • you work continuously for the employer for at least six months.
  • you take at least two months part-time.
  • there are no “urgent operational reasons” against part-time work.

If all these conditions are met, you are entitled to a part-time position with 15 to 30 working hours and you can be asked to work for two different periods, for example in the second and third year of parental leave for four months each.

Employer’s obligations in the case of part-time work during parental leave

Your employer has four weeks to respond to your application for part-time parental leave. If he agrees, you will start your part-time work on the entered date. If you do not receive a response within one month, your application will automatically be considered approved. If your employer rejects the application, you can fight for your right before the labor court. In this case, your boss must prove the so-called “urgent operational reasons” that prevent you from being able to work part-time. Unfortunately, what exactly is behind this is not legally defined. In general, the reasons are justified if the work processes, organization or safety in the company would be impaired by your part-time work during parental leave or if disproportionately high costs arise.

If the requirements for your entitlement to part-time work during parental leave are not met, for example if you work in a small company or have only been employed for a short time, your boss can reject the part-time request at any time. Here it depends entirely on your negotiating skills and mutual planning whether the part-time position will work out. Take some time to think about your rights and obligations towards your employer. Only then do you know what you can demand and where a little sensitivity is needed.

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