Description
Working custodians or foster parents of children under the age of twelve or who are disabled and dependent on assistance can receive compensation under certain circumstances in the event of an officially ordered ban on entering, isolation (quarantine) of the child or closure of care facilities or schools. The prerequisite is that the custodians or foster parents suffer a loss of earnings because they have to care for their children themselves due to the ban on entry, isolation or closure for lack of other reasonable care options.
As an employee, you will generally not be able to make the request yourself. Please contact your employer to make the claim. In the case of employees, the employer will pay the compensation to the district governments, so to speak, as a disbursement agent. The employer can then apply to the relevant district government for reimbursement. You must demonstrate to the employer that you cannot provide any other reasonable care during this period (see form "No other reasonable care" under "Forms").
Procedure
The application must always be submitted online (see "Online procedure").
- If the working custodian is an employee, the application is submitted by the employer.
- If the person with custody is self-employed, the application is submitted by the self-employed person him/herself.
The enforcement authority is the district government with local jurisdiction over the applicant (cf. Section 69 (1) sentence 1 and sentence 2 of the Zuständigkeitsverordnung - ZustV).
Special notes
A claim for compensation under Section 56 (1a) IfSG only applies if the closure or the ban on entering schools or childcare facilities or the other constellations listed above under Section 56 (1a) No. 1 IfSG alone result in a loss of earnings. This is not the case, for example, if and insofar as the employee can already be absent from work under other statutory, collective bargaining, company or individual law principles with continued payment of the salary or a cash benefit equivalent in amount to the salary. Insofar as such legal options exist, these must be used as a matter of priority. This is the case, for example, if the parent or guardian still has time credits. This must be reduced as a matter of priority. If it is possible to work flexibly in terms of location and time (e.g. home office) and if this is reasonable, the employees must make use of this and thus look after their children themselves.
There is also no entitlement to compensation for loss of earnings insofar as the working hours of caregivers are reduced due to the order to work reduced hours, because caregivers who do not have to perform any work can look after their children themselves during this time. There is also no entitlement to compensation insofar as a closure of the schools would take place anyway during the school vacations established by state law.
As a precautionary measure, it is pointed out that an application made with the intentional provision of false or incomplete facts is to be considered fraud. The crime of fraud provides for a fine or even imprisonment for up to five years. Any case that becomes known will be reported and the benefit must be repaid.
If you select a location under "Localization" the contact details of the responsible authority and, if applicable, locally valid information will be displayed.