👶 Parental leave: entitlement, duration, transferability and registration
In brief
Parental leave (Elternzeit) is your individual entitlement against your employer to be released from work without pay to look after your child – regardless of whether and how much parental allowance you receive. Each parent has their own entitlement of up to three years in total per child. Up to 24 months of this can be saved up for the time between the child's 3rd and 8th birthday, but only with the employer's consent for the period from the 3rd birthday.
Unlike maternity protection, parental leave must be registered actively and on time: for the period up to the 3rd birthday at least 7 weeks, for the period afterwards at least 13 weeks before the start, in each case in text form (since 1 May 2025 an e-mail is enough).
Step by step
- Plan the periodsDecide which periods you and, if applicable, the other parent each want to take as parental leave – up to three periods per parent are possible without the employer's consent.
- Register on time in text formRegister the parental leave with your employer in text form (since 1 May 2025 an e-mail is enough, § 16 Abs. 1 BEEG), observing the 7- or 13-week deadline. Keep proof of receipt.
- CommitAt the same time, commit yourself for the first two years – a later unilateral change is only possible with the employer's consent or in narrow exceptional cases.
- Document the transferIf you want to transfer a portion to the period after the 3rd birthday, clarify and document the employer's consent expressly.
- Apply for parental allowance separatelyRemember that registering parental leave with your employer does not replace the parental allowance application to the parental allowance office – both must be done separately.
Deadlines
- A separate paid "paternity leave" or "family start leave (Familienstartzeit)" of 10 working days around the birth – as required since August 2022 for partners/second parents by the EU Work-Life Balance Directive (EU) 2019/1158 – has, according to current knowledge (September 2026), still NOT been introduced by law in Germany for employees in the private sector and in the public service (collectively agreed employees). The original EU infringement procedure regarding the Directive as a whole was closed in 2023 because Germany implemented other parts; the "Familienstartzeit" announced in the 2021 coalition agreement was postponed several times and, according to available information, is not part of the current coalition agreement. For paid special leave around the birth, do not rely on these pages, but check collective agreement or company rules and, where applicable, § 616 BGB (short-term prevention through no fault of one's own) in the individual case.
- For federal civil servants, the Administrative Court of Cologne ruled on 11 September 2025 (Az. 15 K 1556/24) that they can rely directly on the EU Directive and are entitled to 10 days of paid paternity leave, because the state as employer did not implement the Directive in time. The federal government has appealed; at the time of this research the proceedings before the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia had not yet been decided with final effect. According to its underlying reasoning (direct effect of directives against the state as employer), this case law applies in principle only to civil servants, not to employees of private employers.
- Splitting parental leave into more than three periods per parent is only possible with the employer's consent (§ 16 Abs. 1 Satz 6 BEEG).
- For federal civil servants, the Maternity Protection and Parental Leave Ordinance (MuSchEltZV) applies instead of the BEEG, for state civil servants the respective state ordinance – the basic principles are similar to the BEEG, but there are differing procedural rules.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Eligibility requirements
Under § 15 BEEG, employees are entitled to parental leave if they live in a household with their child and care for and raise it themselves. The entitlement exists regardless of the size of the business and the length of service and can be used by both parents at the same time or in turn.
Transferability to the period after the 3rd birthday
Since the 2015 BEEG reform, up to 24 months of the total of three years of parental leave can be transferred to the period between the child's 3rd and 8th birthday (§ 15 Abs. 2 Satz 4 BEEG). For this transferred portion, however, the employer's consent is required, which the employer can refuse only for urgent operational reasons within eight weeks.
The missing "paternity leave" – legal position and open questions
Since 2 August 2022, EU Directive (EU) 2019/1158 has required at least 10 working days of paid leave for fathers or equivalent second parents around the birth, independent of the regular parental leave and parental allowance system. The original EU infringement procedure against Germany was closed by the EU Commission on 1 June 2023, after Germany had implemented other parts of the Directive with the Vereinbarkeitsrichtlinien-Umsetzungsgesetz (VRUG, in force since 24.12.2022) – ironically, the paid special leave around the birth itself was, according to available information, not introduced. The two-week "Familienstartzeit" announced in the 2021 coalition agreement repeatedly remained unimplemented for cost reasons. For federal civil servants, the VG Köln affirmed a direct entitlement under the Directive in September 2025 (Az. 15 K 1556/24); the federal government appealed, and a final decision was not yet available as of this page. The question is therefore politically and legally not yet finally settled and, before an important decision, should be checked currently with an advice centre or trade union.
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