An overview of German Payroll Absence Presented by Denis Barnard - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

An overview of German Payroll Absence Presented by Denis Barnard

Absences in Germany As with most European companies, the rules around leave and pay for u absences follow the Working Time Directive guidelines for the most part The rules are clearly defined, however there are always grey areas u We will go through: u u Annual Leave u Public Holidays u Maternity Leave u Parental Leave u Sick Leave

Absences - Holidays 1. Annual holiday entitlement u The minimum mandatory holiday entitlement is 24 working days. Most companies start the new employees on 24 days and increase according to seniority to max. 30 days. u Most collective agreements have 26 to 30 days entitlement in them . u Holiday entitlement may be carried over to the following year if there are compelling operational or personal reasons why they could not be taken in the current year, however it must then be taken by latest 31.03. If this is not the case, then any remaining days will be forfeited. 3

Absences - Holidays There is no ability to forfeit leave for cash, unless the employment ends, in u which case you are legally obliged to pay cash for any untaken leave. Some organisations will allow special additional leave for certain life events u such as marriage, bereavement and moving house. These should be clarified in the contract or collective agreements.

Public Holidays Germany is one of the countries with the most public holidays in Europe. During these days banks and most shops will remain closed. The following is a list of the currently valid public holidays for 2016: 5

Public Holidays with localised additions

Public Holidays Ø New Year’s Day, May Day, Unification Day, Christmas and Boxing Day are fixed dates. Ø All other public holidays are moveable and depend on the date of Easter each year. Ø Some of the federal states have additional holidays which are also mainly of a religious nature. Many shops and businesses are also closed on Christmas and News Years Eve, although these are not recognised public holidays.

Absences - Maternity 2. Maternity leave The standard is 6 weeks maternity leave before the expected date of birth and 8 weeks after the birth. u The mother must inform her employer of the pregnancy and expected date of birth either verbally or via a Doctors Certificate (Employers must reimburse the cost of the certificate if they insist on one) u An expectant mother is not required to notify potential employers of her pregnancy before starting employment 8

Absences - Maternity 2. Maternity leave u After an expecting mother has informed her employer of her pregnancy, the employer must forward the information to the Arbeitsschutzämter , Employment Protection Office or the Gewerberaufsichtsaemter , Business Supervisor's Office u Both of these offices ensure that all Mutterschutz provisions are properly regarded, just as they serve to assist both employer and employee on all issues pertaining to Mutterschutz . 9

Absences - Maternity u Both the periods before and after the birth are mandatory leave periods, however the mother can work in the 6 weeks before birth if she formally states her intention to do so u Mothers cannot return to work until 8 weeks after the birth of their baby u For premature, multiple or caesarean section births the earliest return date is automatically extended to 12 weeks u If the baby is born late the full 8 weeks leave must be taken from the date of the birth

Absences - Maternity u Women are well protected from loss of employment due to dismissal - from the beginning of pregnancy until 4 months following childbirth ( Schutzfrist ) through a Kündigungsverbot , Dismissal Ban u Only in extremely rare exceptions are employers permitted to dismiss a pregnant employee during this time. u This prohibition ( Kündigungsverbot) applies when an employer was properly notified and the pregnancy and/or the forecasted birth date was verbally made known, or the employer received a Certificate of Expected Date of Delivery

Absences - Maternity u In the event an employer receives a Certificate of Expected Date of Delivery within 2 weeks of cancelling a pregnant employees contract - the dismissal is usually retracted or nullified u Pregnant employees are not contractually bound to their contract's cancellation provisions during the protected period of employment ( Schutzfrist) u N ormally they may immediately cancel an employment contract during this time with impunity

Absences - Maternity If a pregnant employee cancels her employment contract u she will absolve the employer of having to pay any work related fees including their portion of the Maternity allowance ( Mutterschaftsgeld) in such instances. Job protection goes much further and into even deeper in u detail; for more information contact " Kündigungschutz " at the German Ministry of Economy and Employment at: info@bmwa.bund.de

Maternity Pay Ø The employee is paid a statutory maternity pay based on the average net salary of the three months, or 13 weeks preceding the start date of the maternity leave. Ø The amounts paid to the employee may be reclaimed from the medical insurance on a monthly basis.

Extra protection for expectant and nursing mothers Employers should provide an adequate rest room with a reclining chair if needed u Expectant mothers should not perform tasks that involve heavy labour or work in u an environment that would be hazardous to their health. *The employment protection office or the business supervisors office are the deciding authority in unclear cases and can be approached by either party.

Extra protection for expectant and nursing mothers Working is not permitted between 8pm and 6am u Sunday and public holiday working is not permitted u Overtime is not permitted u There is an 8.5hrs maximum working day, or 90 hrs in a two week period (8 u and 80 hrs respectively for those under 18) NB exceptions are made for workers in hospitals, restaurants, hotels, agriculture, the arts and family households

Nursing mothers u Breast feeding and nursing is highly regarded in Germany and the Maternity Protection Act has provisions to enable this u Working mothers who are nursing are permitted to take nursing breaks as long as they don’t have more than 2 hours in an 8 hour period (although the limits are lower than this anyway)

Nursing mothers u Breaks are permitted to be for 30mins twice a day or 1 hr once a day u If the mother works more than 8hrs then two 45 minute breaks are permitted, or one 90min break if there is no close nursing area u These breaks can not be deducted from pay or hours worked and cannot be used in place of other breaks such as a lunch break.

Absence – Parental Leave 3. Parental leave u Parental Leave (Elternzeit) is part funded by the federal tax system (Elterngeld is an allowance paid for the first 12 months of leave) u Following the maternity leave the employee may opt to take a statutory parental leave of maximum 3 years after the birth of the child u With the Employers agreement, 1 year may be saved and used when the child is between the ages of 3 and 8 19

Absence – Parental Leave u The relationship between the employer and employee is effectively suspended during this period, however the employee may not be terminated. u Parental leave is available to either parent and the leave may be shared. u The BEEG law regulates not only the extent of the leave to be granted but also the payments which will be made to the parents.

Absence – Parental Leave u The parent is entitled to a maximum of three years parental leave which must be applied for in writing u The application must be submitted at least 7 weeks before the start date u The application must also state how long the person wishes to take leave.

Absence – Parental Leave u Parental leaves applies to all employees, regardless of whether they are permanent, part time, full time or on a fixed term contract. u The rights apply for natural, foster and adoptive parents.

Absence – Parental Leave u The law on employment protection ( Kuendigungsschutz ) also applies for the duration of parental leave u It is also possible for parents to work part-time for up to 30 hours a week without affecting the terms of parental leave or employment protection rights.

Absence - Sickness 4. Sick leave u The employee is required to inform the employer of his inability to work owing to sickness immediately upon occurrence of the sickness u As of the fourth day of absence, the employee must produce a doctor’s certificate for absence. u The employee must have been employed for 4 weeks before the first day of sickness to qualify for the payment of full salary for 6 weeks. 24

Absence - Sickness u The employer is responsible for paying the full entitlement for the first 6 weeks. u As long as the employer hasn’t opted out of the U1 social security payments (opting out only available to those with 30 employees or more), up to 80% of the costs can be reclaimed. u From the 6 th week of absence the health insurance pays the sickness to the employee. u From the 6 th week the payment from the health insurance is 70% of the normal salary, but not exceeding 90% of the net salary.