Ask a lawyer on the topic of Social law

Federal Parental Allowance

November 28, 2011 | 35,00 EUR | answered by Jan Wilking

Dear Sir or Madam,

our daughter was born on 13.03.2011. Therefore, we applied for parental leave benefits for my wife until the 8th month of our daughter's life (13.10.11-12.11.11). At the same time, we informed the parental leave office that my wife needs to return to full-time work starting from 01.11.2011, as her fixed-term employment contract would otherwise expire.

Now, the parental leave office requested a current salary slip and informed us over the phone that we have to repay parental leave benefits, as my wife was already back at work on 01.11.11. When we asked about the remaining 12 days, we were told that they would be forfeited and cannot be taken.

Is it lawful for an entire month of parental leave to be deducted, and for us to have to repay the parental leave benefits for the 12 days?

In November of this year, I as the father applied for parental leave from 13.12.11 to 12.04.11. I will cover the period from 01.11.-12.12.11 with my annual leave.

Due to an illness in November of last year, I was on sick leave until October 2011. Because of this illness, my private disability insurance was informed. They made a voluntary payment of 450 euros per month from May 2011 to 31.12.2011.

Since there were different forms for applying for parental leave compared to my wife, I reported this income to the parental leave office for the month of December.

Now, I have been informed in the decision that I will receive 282 euros less in parental leave benefits for the month of December due to this income. Is it lawful for this money to be deducted for the days from 13.12.-31.12.2011? I have been paying into this insurance since 12.1994.

In my case as the father, I have lodged a timely appeal, as I do not see why the money from a private disability insurance policy should be taken into account here.

In the case of my wife, we will wait for the decision and potentially lodge an appeal!

Yours sincerely

Jan Wilking

Dear inquirer,

I am happy to answer your inquiry considering the description of your situation and your commitment as follows:

Benefits that replace lost income from gainful employment in accordance with their intended purpose are credited against parental allowance. This includes injury, disability, and old-age pensions as well as comparable benefits from private insurance. Therefore, payment from private occupational disability insurance can also be credited. However, these benefits are only credited to the extent that the monthly parental allowance exceeds the amount of 300,- EUR.

The telephone announcement that your wife must repay parental allowance is not understandable. According to § 4 para. 4 BEEG, the entitlement only ends at the end of the month in which an eligibility requirement has been eliminated. This is to prevent the administration from reclaiming the benefit if an eligibility requirement is eliminated during the month. It remains to be seen whether a corresponding decision is actually issued here (against which an objection should possibly be lodged) or whether incorrect information was only given by phone here.

I hope to have provided you with a helpful initial orientation. If you have any uncertainties, please use the free inquiry function.

Please note that I cannot give a conclusive advice without knowledge of all circumstances within the scope of an initial consultation. If you wish for a final assessment of the situation, I recommend contacting a lawyer and discussing the situation with them while looking at all documents.

Sincerely yours