Family and Work

Balancing your job and your family’s needs can be challenging at times. The university‘s Family Office provides advice and assistance to members of the university who seek to reconcile the demands of family with studies, research, and working life generally. Its services are available to all university members regardless of their status. The Family Office has been audited by the “familiengerechte Hochschule” organization and is part of the university’s Equality Office. 

The following family-related aspects might be of special interest:  

Maternity protection is a legal entitlement and must be granted regardless of the type and scope of work, employment contract, nationality or marital status. Even if you are a part-time or temporary employee, you are entitled to maternity protection. Employment prohibition for the protection of mother and child exists 6 weeks before and 8 weeks after the birth, in case of multiple births until 12 weeks after. 

In principle, all mothers and fathers who are employed can take parental leave. During the legally possible parental leave of a total of three years, parents can also be released from work at the same time, without pay, and devote themselves to childcare. The use of parental leave is basically independent of the receipt of parental allowance (“Elterngeld“). For births up to June 30, 2015, a portion of 12 months of parental leave may be transferred to the period up to the child's 8th birthday if the employer agrees. For births on or after July 1, 2015, up to 24 months of parental leave may be claimed between the child's third and eighth birthdays. The employer's consent is no longer required.

With the birth of their child, mothers and fathers are entitled to parental allowance, which is paid in addition to child benefit for the first 14 months of the three-year parental leave. The parental allowance is a dynamic payment in lieu of remuneration and is based on the previous income. As a rule, 67% of the previous net income is paid monthly as parental allowance. Parents who were not previously employed receive a minimum amount of EUR 300. Scholarships do not count as income. In this case, EUR 300 minimum parental allowance can be paid. Applicants with income below EUR 1,000 can benefit from the low-income component, which can increase the percentage up to 100% of income. One parent is entitled to 12 months parental allowance. The entitlement is extended by two additional months if the other parent also takes parental leave or reduces employment in accordance with the conditions of the Parental Allowance Act. Similarly, single parents receive parental allowance for 14 months. At the parents' request, the monthly parental allowance payments can be halved, thus doubling the months of payment. It is also possible for both parents to receive parental allowance at the same time during the first seven months. Parental allowance must be applied for in writing to the parental allowance office in good time after the birth of the child. 

The birth of a child gives rise to an entitlement to child benefit, which is granted irrespective of the parents' income. From the child's 18th birthday, child benefit is only paid under certain conditions up to a maximum of the child's 25th birthday. Foreigners residing in Germany can only receive child benefits if they have a valid settlement permit. In some cases, a residence permit is also sufficient. Child benefit is paid monthly in the following amounts:  

• EUR 219 for each of the first two children (from 2021)   
• EUR 225 for a third child (from 2021) 
• EUR 250 for each additional child (from 2021) 

The University of Tübingen supports you in balancing career and family. One measure in this regard is retention management during family-related time off, such as parental and nursing leave. For this purpose, the University of Tübingen has developed a "Guide to Family-Related Time Off" (“Leitfaden zur familienbedingten Auszeit“) for HR managers, which provides assistance with good preparation for the time off, which also shows how an active connection to the university can succeed and how the re-entry can be optimally supported. You can obtain a hard copy of the guide from the Family Office. The guide can also help employees to structure and plan their career break and re-entry in advance. 

Work organization in the event of children's illness: The legislator has created the possibility for parents to take over the care of their sick children (up to the age of 12) at home for a certain period of time upon presentation of an appropriate medical certificate. Each parent is entitled to up to 10 days off work per child and calendar year in the event of the child's illness. However, there is an upper limit of work-free days per calendar year for each parent. This is 25 days, even if there are three or more children. Single parents are entitled to 20 days off per child and calendar year. If there are several children, there is an upper limit of 50 work-free days per calendar year. 

For further and more specific information please get in touch with Family Office