The purpose of parental leave is to allow parents to spend time with their children. Extra leave is granted for a certain period of time, so to speak. However, it is possible to continue working during parental leave. This can be useful to prevent financial bottlenecks caused by parental leave.
Requirements for part-time work during parental leave
According to the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (BEEG), employees with a permanent position are entitled to work part-time during parental leave. This does not necessarily have to be a part-time position in the company where the employee is permanently employed.
However, the additional income from part-time work can affect the parental allowance. Above a certain amount, the parental allowance is reduced accordingly.
Certain requirements must be met in order to be entitled to part-time work during parental leave. The employee must:
- have been employed in the relevant company for at least 6 months
- work in a company that regularly employs at least 15 people
- apply for part-time work for at least 2 months
In addition, there must be no urgent operational reasons against the part-time position. This would be the case, for example, if the company would get into financial difficulties as a result.
Part-time work can be agreed between the employee and employer even if the requirements are not met.
The weekly working hours must be between 15 and 32 hours per month. How and when the working hours are used can be agreed individually. It is not necessary to work the same number of hours every week.
Incidentally, you are also entitled to normal leave during part-time parental leave. This is calculated as normal based on the percentage of a full-time position. So if the part-time work corresponds to 50% of the working hours of a full-time position, you are also entitled to 50% of the corresponding vacation days.
Advantages and disadvantages of part-time work during parental leave
Although parental leave is primarily intended to give parents time with their children, it can make sense to continue working part-time. This allows you to stay in the flow, so to speak, and not lose touch with the company.
A longer break can make it difficult to return to work. The part-time position solves this problem or prevents it from arising in the first place.
Basically, the part-time position during parental leave can be used in the same way as bridging part-time work. You go from full-time to part-time and from there back to full-time. So apart from the reduced working hours, nothing changes.
During parental leave, special protection against dismissal applies, which remains in place even during part-time employment.
The major disadvantage of part-time work during parental leave is the financial aspect. Basically, part-time work is not financially worthwhile. The earnings are usually offset in full against the parental allowance and deducted from the position accordingly.
It is only really worthwhile financially if the net earnings from the part-time job are well above the maximum rate for basic parental allowance of EUR 1,800.00 per month.
An alternative is to receive Parental Allowance Plus, as nothing is deducted from the parental allowance up to half of the previous net earnings.
However, it is almost impossible to calculate in general terms when part-time work during parental leave is financially worthwhile. It is best to find out in advance whether it is worthwhile for you.
Conclusion
Whether a part-time position during parental leave is worthwhile depends on what the goal is. In most cases, part-time work does not bring any financial benefits. On the contrary, parental allowances are usually reduced.
However, part-time work is a good tool for staying on the ball in the company and in the job. Instead of returning to work after a longer break, you can stay in your day-to-day work and switch straight back to a full-time position after parental leave without having to find your feet again.
