Yes. While you are receiving parental allowance, you are allowed to work part-time. The prerequisite is that you do not work more than 32 hours per week. If you work part-time, ElterngeldPlus can be especially worthwhile for you. You can find out more about ElterngeldPlus under How much parental allowance can I get??
Did you know? If both parents work part-time in parallel, the partnership bonus may be of interest to you. As a partnership bonus, you and the other parent can receive additional months of ElterngeldPlus. You can find out more about the partnership bonus under What is the partnership bonus??
These explanations explain the legal situation for parents whose children were born after August 2021. If your child was born before 1. If your child was born on or after September 2021, different rules apply to you in some cases. Please contact your parental allowance office for more information.
How much is my parental allowance if I work part-time??
If you work while receiving parental allowance, this will affect the amount of your parental allowance. Because the parental allowance is calculated from the difference between your income before the birth and your income afterwards. In certain circumstances, it may be worthwhile for you to opt for ElterngeldPlus.
You can calculate the amount of the parental allowance in your case without obligation using our parental allowance calculator.
What is ElterngeldPlus?
If you work part-time, ElterngeldPlus may be particularly interesting for you. Instead of one month of life with basic parental allowance, you can also opt for 2 months of life with ElterngeldPlus. If you do not work after the birth, the parental allowance plus is only half as high as the basic parental allowance. However, if you work part-time after the birth, the monthly ElterngeldPlus can be just as high as the possible basic Elterngeld with income – nevertheless, you can receive ElterngeldPlus for twice as long as the basic Elterngeld. For more information on this topic, see How much parental allowance can I get??
Notification to the parental allowance office
Please inform your parental allowance office as soon as possible if you start working part-time while you are receiving parental allowance. You are obliged to do this. The parental allowance office can then recalculate your parental allowance, if necessary. Parental allowance is calculated separately for the months without part-time work and for the months with part-time work. For the months without part-time work, the parental allowance is calculated exclusively on the basis of your income before the birth. For the months with part-time work after the birth, it also depends on your income from part-time work. For details on the calculation, see Amount of parental allowance.
No. Part-time work is not a prerequisite for ElterngeldPlus. You can, for example, opt for ElterngeldPlus instead of basic parental allowance, so that you receive parental allowance over a longer period of time. If you have no income while receiving parental allowance, the monthly ElterngeldPlus is half the amount of the monthly basic parental allowance. You can receive it for twice as long.
If you want to work part-time while receiving parental allowance, you must provide evidence of the expected amount and duration of your part-time work. Please submit a certificate from your employer when you apply for parental allowance.
Your parental allowance will then only be paid provisionally. This means that the amount of your parental allowance is calculated on the basis of what you will earn during the time you receive parental allowance. After this time, it will be checked how much you have actually earned. To do this, you must submit all salary statements relating to the period in which you received the parental allowance. From this, it is finally calculated how much parental allowance you were entitled to. You have to pay back what you have received too much. What you have received too little will be paid to you in arrears.
Your income may not be the same for all months of your child’s life after birth, for example, because you work less part-time at first and more part-time later. As a result, your monthly income difference between your income before the birth and the respective part-time income after the birth will also change.
However, your parental allowance will not be calculated separately for each month of your life. Instead, it depends on the average:
- For all months of life in which you receive basic parental benefits, your average income for those months is taken into account for calculating basic parental benefits.
- For all months of life in which you receive ElterngeldPlus, your average income for these months is taken into account for the calculation of ElterngeldPlus.
Months without income are calculated separately and are not included in the average.
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