Child sickness benefit

The children sick pay is a service of public health insurance in Germany and comes into play when one parent because of the care of a sick child can not go to work.

The term "child sickness benefit" is the slang term for "sick pay in case of illness of the child" in accordance with § 45 SGB V . The terms “child care sickness benefit” or “child care daily sickness benefit” are also used synonymously by various health insurance companies.

requirements

• a medical certificate must confirm the need to care for the child, for those with statutory health insurance there is template 21 from the doctor: "Medical certificate for the receipt of sickness benefit if a child is ill"
• no other person living in the household can take care of the care (also working or suffering from illness )
• the child has not yet reached the age of 12 or is disabled
• the child is insured with a statutory health insurance company
• An application must be filled out for payment by the health insurance company.

All insured persons in the statutory health insurance are entitled to child sickness benefit. If both spouses are privately insured, there is no entitlement to child sickness benefit according to Section 45 SGB ​​V.

If one spouse is privately insured and the other spouse has statutory health insurance, it is crucial that the child has statutory health insurance. In the event that the children are assigned to the spouse who is privately insured, the children do not fall under the scope, since its provisions are only binding for those with statutory insurance. This applies regardless of whether the other spouse is still legally insured because their children have no family insurance.

If both parents are legally insured, but in different health insurance companies, the health insurance company pays the caregiver the sickness benefit, regardless of where the child is insured.

For those with private insurance, this means that they have to go other ways. Employees are entitled according to § 616 BGB , z. B. because of the illness of a child to stay at home temporarily while continuing to pay. Often this regulation is regulated more precisely in the employment or collective agreement, e.g. B. how many days are possible per year. The employer is only exempt from this if this is explicitly excluded in the employment or collective agreement. The amount of the payment may be 100%.

According to a ruling by the Federal Social Court, self-employed persons who have statutory health insurance are only legally entitled to child sickness benefit from the child's 43rd day of illness - the day on which they would be entitled to sickness benefit. However, many health insurances take over this benefit for the self-employed from the child's first day of illness. This and the exact type of entitlement calculation, which is only vaguely described in the law and is therefore handled differently by the health insurance companies, should be clarified with your own health insurance company if necessary.

Employer social responsibility

Basics: If the employer has not excluded continued payment of wages if the child is ill in the employment contract (or in the collective agreement), Section 616 of the German Civil Code (BGB) applies . The employer is obliged to grant the employee up to 5 days of paid special leave. Only then does the regulation on sickness benefit apply via the statutory health insurance companies. See also regulations on special leave according to labor law, on § 616 BGB and IHK extract. Labor law: According to the case law of the Federal Labor Court , the employer is obliged to release parents in these cases and continue to pay the salary. Exceptions to this, however, can be anchored in the employment contract. In these cases, the parents are entitled to unpaid leave and at the same time are entitled to child sickness benefit from the statutory health insurance funds.

height

The calculation of the amount of child sickness benefit was changed on January 1, 2015. Previously, like sick pay in the event of incapacity for work, it was calculated on the basis of the regular wages received before the leave for childcare. The wages lost during the time off are now used. This should make the calculation more transparent, fairer and less bureaucratic.

The amount is determined by the following rules:

1. The (gross) child sickness benefit amounts to 90% of the lost net wages (difference between theoretical net wages without exemption and wages actually paid) according to Section 45 (3) sentence 3 SGB V.
2. If the employee has received one-time payments subject to contributions within the meaning of Section 23a SGB ​​IV (e.g. vacation / Christmas bonus) in the last 12 months before the leave of absence , the child sickness benefit amounts to 100% of the net wages lost during the leave of absence, regardless of the Amount of the one-time payments.
3. Cap: The daily (gross) child sickness allowance may not exceed 70% of the daily income threshold in health insurance (example 2019: 4,537.50 € / month x 70%: 30 days / month = 105.88 € / day ).

During the leave of absence, social security contributions will continue to be paid, to 80% of the gross earnings lost (but no more than 80% of the respective ceiling). Contributions to pension, unemployment and long-term care insurance in the amount of the usual employee contribution rate are therefore deducted from the (gross) child sickness benefit determined before the health insurance company pays out the child sickness benefit to the employee. The health insurance pays the rest of the social security contributions.

Duration

In each calendar year, “every” child is entitled to a maximum of 10 working days, but a maximum of 25 working days (even with 3 or more children). For single parents and if both parents work, there is an entitlement to 20 days per child, but a maximum of 50 days. The employer must release the employee concerned for this period.

There is no offsetting between the parents. The entitlement can, however, be transferred to the other parent with the consent of the employer if one parent cannot be absent from work for personal or professional reasons.

• Since August 1, 2002, due to the law to ensure the care and care of seriously ill children for seriously ill children who, according to a doctor's certificate, only have a life expectancy of weeks or a few months, the children's sickness benefit is unlimited in time.
• Even if the employment relationship begins or ends during the calendar year, there is full entitlement to child sickness benefit as for the entire calendar year.

Others

• Exemption only upon application to the health insurance company and the employer.
• the right to exemption cannot be restricted or excluded by an employment contract.

Situation in other states

In Finland there is a right to four days off per year if a child is sick; the full salary is granted.

In France, there is an entitlement to exemption in the event of illness of a child for up to 120 days a year, regardless of the number of children, with a lower payment (allocation de présence parentale) to the parents compared to Germany .

In Luxembourg , special leave can be granted if a child is seriously ill. During the leave of absence, the employee receives a payment equivalent to sickness benefit in Luxembourg.

In Poland , parents are paid full leave for up to 60 days per year due to a child's illness.

In Sweden , parents are given extended leave if a child is ill. Various sources report 60 or 120 days of leave per year and child, up to the child's 12th year. The person who has taken time off from work to look after the child and who does not necessarily have to be related to the child receives temporary parental allowance of 80% of the income from the local social security funds. The exemption is also granted if a person caring for the child falls ill, or for visits to the doctor, school enrollment and similar situations.

Often more generous regulations apply to disabled or dependent children.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Form No. 21
2. ↑ https://www.arbeitsrechte.de/sonderurlaub/
3. ↑ https://www.ihk-berlin.de/blob/bihk24/Service-und-Beratung/recht_und_steuern/Arbeitsrecht/2253304/2954905a813d66e538afaa6df39333ff/Urlaubsansbedarf-Arbeitnehmer-data.pdf
4. ↑ Article 5 No. 2 of the Law on Better Compatibility of Family, Care and Work of December 23, 2014, Federal Law Gazette I, pp. 2462, 2468
5. ↑ BT-Drs. 18/3124 p. 43
6. ↑ ^{a b c d} Family Policy in International Comparison: Learning from Europe ( Memento of the original from November 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Birgit Fix, Online Family Handbook, January 20, 2006 (accessed November 17, 2007) 
7. ↑ Family benefits and family policy in Europe , European Commission, June 2002. Therein: Section “Social insurance”, subsection “b) Illness”, page 9 (accessed on November 17, 2007)
8. ↑ Compatibility in Europe: Learning from one another. (No longer available online.) DGB Bildungswerk, www.gute-arbeit-weltweit.de, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 26, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
9. ↑ ^{a b} It's much more about fathers than mothers , Wiebke Kolbe in conversation with FREITAG.de, June 1, 2006 (accessed November 17, 2007)
10. ↑ ^{a b} Sweden , ec.europa.eu, 2002 (accessed on November 17, 2007)
11. ^ The economic situation of Swedish households (PDF; 245 kB), Swedish Institute, July 2005 (accessed on August 5, 2013)
12. ↑ ^{a b} Why do Swedes have more children than Germans? ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Jan M. Hoem. Also published in: Demographic Research 2005, Vol. 13, Art. 22, pages 559-572 (accessed on August 5, 2013) 

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