💼 Balancing work and family
In brief
As a single parent you can use several employment-law tools to balance work and childcare: the general right to reduce working hours, parental leave with special protection against dismissal and – in dismissals for operational reasons – preferential consideration of your maintenance obligations in the social selection.
There is no general statutory right specifically for single parents to work from home or to preferred working hours in Germany – such arrangements arise, if at all, from a collective agreement, a works agreement or an individual arrangement with the employer.
Step by step
- Apply for part-time workAt a company with more than 15 employees and after at least six months' employment, apply in writing for a reduction of your working hours at the latest three months before the desired start (§ 8 TzBfG).
- Register parental leaveRegister parental leave in writing with your employer at the latest seven weeks before it begins for the period up to the third birthday, and at the latest 13 weeks before for the period between the third and eighth birthday (§ 16 BEEG).
- Part-time work during parental leaveDuring parental leave you may work up to 32 hours per week on a monthly average without ending the parental leave.
- Know your protection against dismissalThe special protection against dismissal begins already eight weeks (or 14 weeks for parental leave between the third and eighth birthday) before the desired start of parental leave – so inform your employer early.
- Assert maintenance obligations if dismissal threatensIf a dismissal for operational reasons threatens, actively point to your maintenance obligations – they are a criterion of the social selection that must be taken into account by law.
Deadlines
- The right to part-time work under § 8 TzBfG applies only in companies with, as a rule, more than 15 employees – in small businesses this statutory right does not exist.
- If the employer does not refuse your part-time application in writing at the latest one month before the desired start, your working hours are automatically deemed reduced as requested – check this deadline carefully.
- § 616 BGB (short-term paid time off for personal impediment) is validly excluded in many employment contracts and collective agreements – do not rely on it without having checked your contract.
- There is no general statutory right to work from home in Germany; entitlements arise only from a collective agreement, a works agreement or an individual agreement.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Right to reduce working hours (§ 8 TzBfG)
Employees with at least six months' employment in a company with, as a rule, more than 15 employees can demand a reduction of their working hours. The application must be made in text form at the latest three months before the desired start; the employer must agree unless operational reasons stand in the way, and must communicate their decision at the latest one month before the desired start. If they do not refuse in time, the reduction is deemed approved in the desired form. A further reduction can be demanded again at the earliest after two years (gesetze-im-internet.de, retrieved September 2026).
Parental leave and protection against dismissal (§§ 15, 18 BEEG)
Employees are entitled to parental leave if they live in a household with their child and look after and raise it themselves – until the third birthday, with the possibility of transferring up to 24 months to the period between the third and eighth birthday. During parental leave, no more than 32 hours per week may be worked on a monthly average. Protection against dismissal begins eight weeks before the start of parental leave up to the third birthday, or 14 weeks before the start of parental leave between the third and eighth birthday, and continues throughout the entire parental leave; exceptions require approval from the responsible state authority.
Social selection in dismissal for operational reasons
In a dismissal for operational reasons, under § 1 Abs. 3 KSchG the employer must sufficiently take social criteria into account, expressly including maintenance obligations. As a single parent with sole maintenance obligation, this criterion generally works in your favour, but it does not replace any general special protection against dismissal.
Short-term impediment (§ 616 BGB)
A person who is prevented from working through no fault of their own, for a relatively insignificant period, for a reason relating to their own person, in principle keeps their entitlement to pay – for instance in a short-term childcare gap. However, the provision is non-mandatory and in practice is often excluded by employment or collective agreements.
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