‘Maternity protection’ covers a number of regulations to protect women during and after pregnancy. They apply to students as well as working women.

As long as you are healthy, you may continue your studies and/or take exams up until the birth of your child. If your pregnancy prevents you from meeting the requirements of your study program, you may apply to take a free semester for the duration of your pregnancy.

If your studies involve working in a laboratory, you must find out as early as possible if there are any materials there which can be harmful during pregnancy. Ask the laboratory supervisor (see note).

If you work as well as study, be aware that maternity protection laws apply to you regardless of the nature and scope of the work, what kind of job contract you have, your nationality, and your marital status. If you are a part-time or temporary employee, you still have the right to maternity protection. The maternity leave period – which protects mothers and babies from hazards and health risks in the workplace – begins 6 week before the expected date of birth and ends 8 weeks afterward; in the case of multiple births, up to 12 weeks afterward. For the 8 (or 12) weeks following the birth, new mothers are not permitted to work. Expectant mothers may choose to work in the 6 weeks prior to birth. In addition there are special regulations regarding piece-work, night shifts, overtime, and Sunday work.

In the case of premature birth or other instance in which the baby comes before the expected date, the maternity leave period is extended after the birth by the number of days not taken prior to birth.

The right to paid vacation is not affected by maternity leave. Any move to reduce paid holiday leave because of a work ban due to maternity protection is not permissible (see Gesetz zum Schutz der erwerbstätigen Mutter, Mutterschutzgesetz – MuSchG).

With few exceptions, an employee may not be fired by her employer in the period from the start of her pregnancy until 4 months after birth.

If your employer refuses you maternity protection, you can take the matter to the staff council.

Further information at http://www.my-stuwe.de/beratung-soziales/rechtsberatung/ and at Bestimmungen des Mutterschutzgesetzes (German-language page).

Note:

What to do if you are pregnant/ nursing and work in a laboratory:

Please tell the laboratory supervisors that you are pregnant. Then they can takes steps to ensure your safety.

Following notice of a pregnancy, laboratory supervisors are obliged to check the workplace and complete a risk assessment, if this has not already been done.

The risk assessment must clarify whether the pregnant woman is exposed to carcinogenic substance or substances which can damage DNA or fertility, e.g. via skin contact or by breathing. If this is the case, the pregnant woman may not continue her work in the laboratory.

This applies accordingly to nursing women.

The law allows for parental leave in total of three years; parents may take (unpaid) leave of absence from work to care for their children. Receipt of parental benefit is not affected by parental leave. Parents may take up to 24 months of parental leave between the child’s third and eighth birthdays. The employer’s consent is no longer required.

Parental leave may be divided up for each parent in three time periods, however the third parental leave period may be refused by an employer with good operational reasons, if it falls between the child’s third and eighth birthdays. If parents wish to work part-time during their parental leave, then the application is automatically approved if the employer does not reject it within a set time.

If the child to be cared for is aged under three years, the employer must be notified of parental leave seven weeks prior to its beginning; thereafter the notification period is 13 weeks.

Whether the relevant law (Elternzeitgesetz) also applies to marginal part-time jobs (minijobs) must be determined case by case.

BMFSFJ brochure:

For births until 31.08.2021 Elterngeld, ElterngeldPlus und Elternzeit - Das Bundeselterngeld - und Elternzeitgesetz und Parental allowance

For births after 01.09.2021 Elterngeld, ElterngeldPlus und Elternzeit - Das Bundeselterngeld - und Elternzeitgesetz

Further information can be found on the BMFSFJ family portal.

The application for parental leave can be found on the website of Department IV Human Resources, Section 2, in the Download ABC.

This seems to contradict the closing sentence of the previous paragraph – can the employer refuse leave or not?

Parental leave and vacation entitlement

The vacation to which staff are entitled for the leave year is reduced by one-twelfth for each full calendar month of parental leave. In other words, if you take parental leave between January 15 and February 15, there is no reduction. But if you take parental leave between January 15 and March 15, your annual leave will reduce by one-twelfth (i.e. to allow for the full calendar month of February). If reduction by parental leave results in a fraction in the annual leave, this is rounded up in favor of the staff member.

The birth of a child entitles parents to parental allowance, which is paid in addition to child benefit for the first 14 months of the three-year period in which parental leave can be taken.

Parental allowance is a benefit that varies in relation to previous income.

In general, 67% of previous net income is paid monthly as parental benefit. Parents who were not previously employed receive a minimum amount of €300. Scholarships are not regarded as income; in this case a minimum parental allowance of €300 can be paid. Applicants with a monthly income below €1,000 can benefit from the low-earners’ component, which can boost the percentage to up to 100% of income.

There is no income threshold for parental allowance: All parents can receive parental allowance. The maximum parental allowance is €1,800. In the case of multiple births there is an additional €300 top-up parental allowance per newborn. So a family with twins can receive a maximum €2,100 parental allowance a month.

Parents who already have one child aged under 3 or two children aged under 6 receive a sibling bonus of 10% of the parental allowance, with a minimum of €75.

Parental allowance only applies pro rata to the lost income from employment. It is calculated taking account of income from part-time work during parental leave.

One parent is entitled to twelve monthly payments of parental allowance. This entitlement extends by another two months if the other parent also takes parental leave or the first parent’s employment is reduced in accordance with the conditions of the parental allowance act (Elterngeldgesetz). Single parents also receive parental allowance for 14 months. Parents may request that the monthly parental allowance payments are halved thereby doubling the number of months payment is made.

This also results in the 14 months of payments being used up. If the mother receives maternity benefits in the first two months of the child’s life, this uses up two months of parental allowance.

Attention; changes for births from April 1, 2024

Parallel receipt: The option for parents to receive basic parental allowance in parallel will be revised from April 1, 2024. In future, it will only be possible to receive basic parental allowance for a maximum of one month up to the child's 12th month of life. There are exceptions to the parallel receipt of Parental Allowance Plus, the partnership bonus and for multiple births and premature babies.

New income limit of 200,000 euros. Couples and separated parents with a joint taxable income of more than 300,000 euros currently do not receive parental allowance. This limit will initially be lowered to 200,000 euros taxable income on April 1, 2024 and to 175,000 euros taxable income on April 1, 2025

Further information on changes to parental allowance from 01.04.2024

Financial support for families and digitalisation of family benefits

Parental allowance must be applied for in writing soon after the birth of the child, as an application can only be backdated for the three months of life before the start of the month in which the application is made. So we recommend submitting your application to the parental allowance office (Elterngeldstelle) within the first three months of life of the child.

Non-taxable benefits such as scholarships do not affect receipt of parental allowance.

You can find more information about parental allowance, e.g. minimum parental leave and entitlement to parental allowance, the sibling bonus, the multiple-birth supplement or how parental allowance is credited when you receive other state benefits, in the following BMFSFJ brochures: 
The ElterngeldPlus with parentship bonus and more flexible parental leave
Parental Allowance, Parental Allowance Plus and Parental Leave. The Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act

and on the following websites: 
https://familienportal.de/familienportal/familienleistungen/elterngeld 
Elterngeldberatung der L-Bank (German-language page)
Kalkulator Elterngeld (German-language page)

General information for families resident or employed outside Germany:

Informationen der L-Bank zum Elterngeld für Familien mit Wohnsitz oder Erwerbstätigkeit außerhalb Deutschlands. (German-language page)

Information in English:

The ElterngeldPlus with partnership bonus and more flexible parental leave  
Parental benefit and parental leave

ElterngeldPlus and Partnerschaftsbonus

• Parents who work part-time are able to receive ElterngeldPlus for twice as long. One parental allowance month is equal to two ElterngeldPlus months, regardless of the number of hours worked part-time (up to 30 hours a week, from Sept. 1, 2021 up to 31 hours a week). Therefore it can benefit parents to return to work early on.

• In addition to this there is a Partnerschaftsbonus: If the parents share care of their child and they each work between between 24 and 32 hours a week for at least four months they will in each case receive ElterngeldPlus for four months. Single parents can make use of the new ElterngeldPlus to the same extent.

• Parents of multiple-births are entitled to parental allowance for each newborn and receive the multiple-birth supplement of €300 for each additional child.

Informationsbroschüre des BFSFJ zur Einführung des ElterngeldPlus mit Partnerschaftsbonus und einer flexibleren Elternzeit zum 1. Juli 2015 (German-language brochure)

More information from

ElterngeldDigital - rundum das Thema Elterngeld (German-language page)