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 entry, segregation (isolation/quarantine) of the child or closure of childcare facilities or schools. The prerequisite is that the legal guardians or foster parents suffer a loss of earnings because they have to look after their children themselves due to the ban on entering, isolation or closure due to a lack of other reasonable care options.
As an employee, you cannot generally submit the application yourself. Please contact your employer to assert your claim. In the case of employees, the employer is responsible for paying the compensation on behalf of the district governments. The employer can then submit an application for reimbursement to the responsible district government. You must demonstrate to the employer that you cannot provide any other reasonable care options during this period (see form "No other reasonable care options" under "Forms").
Procedure
The application must always be submitted online (see "Online procedure").
- If the working person with custody is an employee, the application is submitted by the employer.
- If the working person with custody is self-employed, the application is submitted by the self-employed person themselves.
The executing authority is the district government responsible for the applicant (see Section 69 (1) sentence 1 or sentence 2 of the Zuständigkeitsverordnung - ZustV).
Special notes
A claim for compensation under Section 56 para. 1a IfSG only applies if the closure or ban on entering schools or childcare facilities or the other constellations listed above under Section 56 para. 1a no. 1 IfSG alone lead to a loss of earnings. This is not the case, for example, if and to the extent that the employee can already stay away from work under other statutory, collectively agreed, company or individual legal bases with continued payment of remuneration or a cash benefit corresponding to the amount of remuneration. If such legal options exist, these must be used as a matter of priority. This is the case, for example, if the legal guardian is still entitled to time credits. This must be reduced as a priority. If it is possible to work flexibly in terms of time and place (e.g. home office) and if this is reasonable, employees must make use of this and look after their children themselves.
There is also no entitlement to compensation for loss of earnings if the working hours of custodians are reduced due to the short-time working order, as custodians who do not have to work can look after their children themselves during this time. There is also no entitlement to compensation if schools would be closed anyway during the school vacations stipulated by state law.
As a precautionary measure, it should be noted that an application made with deliberately false or incomplete information is to be regarded as fraud. The offense of fraud provides for a fine or even a prison sentence of up to five years. Any case that becomes known will be reported and the benefit must be repaid.