Answers to the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) about balancing studying, work and family commitments are given below:
Yes. Please contact your manager in the event that you are pregnant and inform the human resources department as well. For the purpose of calculating the dates for your maternity leave, please send a copy of your Mutterpass stating your expected due date to the relevant person in the human resources department at FAU. Please do not submit a doctor’s certificate that you are charged for. Once you report the pregnancy, you will receive a letter from the human resources department informing you when maternity leave begins and what else you ought to be aware of. Your manager is obliged to report your pregnancy to the Supervisory Authority for Occupational Safety (Gewerbeaufsichtsamt) and to carry out a risk assessment of your place of work. For more information, see FAU’s human resources handbook.
If you are a student, please report your pregnancy to L 3, Susanne Kramarenkoff: ibz-mutterschutz@fau.de or phone + 49 9131/85-23733 (cellphone: + 49 174/6105615). FAU is obliged to report your pregnancy to the Supervisory Authority for Occupational Safety. Further details: Maternity Protection Act for students
Parental leave must be applied for in writing at least seven weeks before it begins. You should submit the form for applying for parental leave “Anmeldung der Elternzeit” (for employees: P1002; for public servants: P1104). As proof of the child’s date of birth, we require a copy of the child’s birth certificate or confirmation of birth for child benefit. You can submit it together with your application, if you are applying after the child is born or submit it after the child is born if you are applying beforehand. All we require with your initial application is proof that you are actually expecting or have had a child (not all the stated types of proof are required at this stage). When applying for parental leave, you must state the exact dates you would like to take parental leave within a period of 2 years. Please remember to transfer any months you do not take to a later date by marking the application form accordingly.
Parental leave taken after the child’s third birthday must be applied for 13 weeks in advance. Your manager must acknowledge your application for parental leave by signing the form. The signed form is then processed by the person responsible for you in the human resources department. After it is processed, the mother/father/grandmother/grandfather receives a letter confirming the parental leave. If parental leave is split into three phases, the employer is entitled to refuse the third phase on the basis of urgent work-related reasons.
After a change of rules introduced in 2023, all staff should apply for child allowance from the family benefits office at the Federal Employment Agency (Familienkasse der Agentur für Arbeit). Application forms are available for downloading.
Family benefits office (responsible for Erlangen and Nuremberg): Familienkasse Bayern Nord, Solgerstraße 1 in 90429 Nürnberg, Phone: +49 800 4555530.
You should apply for parental allowance from the Zentrum Bayern Familie und Soziales (ZBFS). The website of the ZBFS gives detailed information on the various options for applying for parental allowance and an online application form. Your individual details are checked and you receive a check list detailing the documents you need to submit. You need to print off and sign the application. The website also includes a parental allowance calculator and information on the Bavarian family allowance (Familiengeld) and daycare allowance (Krippengeld).
All information about a leave of absence under certain justified circumstances and the relevant application forms are available on the website of the FAU’s Student Records Office. During a leave of absence due to pregnancy or for childcare purposes, you can continue to study at the pace you can cope with and take examinations, but the semesters are not officially counted.
Yes. During your parental leave, the Chair can use available personnel funding to employ a replacement for you. The same applies to maternity leave, during which you receive part of your normal salary, but this must be applied for separately: staff shortfalls in teaching and research as a result of a research assistant being unable to work due to maternity protection provisions are covered with funds from the target agreements between the faculties and the FAU Executive Board. This also applies to employees funded by third-party funds in order to improve the chances of women being employed for positions allocated to a specific project. Please send an informal application referring to the target agreements to FAU University Administration: ZUV der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, P3, z. Hd. Herrn Dietmar Bruckler, VA, Schlossplatz 4, 91054 Erlangen and send a copy to Frau Dr. Imke Leicht, Büro für Gender und Diversity.
The application should include an explanation of why the cover is required and information on the type, scope and exact timeframe of the required cover.
All the information you need on caregiver leave and family caregiver leave is available in FAU’s human resources handbook. The aim of caregiver leave is to enable employees to take unpaid leave from work for a limited period of time in order to care for relatives requiring care. During this period, they may choose to work part time or not at all.
In an acute situation, a leave of absence of up to ten days can be taken in order to arrange the required care. A doctor’s certificate is sufficient proof. For the ten days caregiver leave you receive payments replacing your wage, similar to when you take time off to care for children who are ill. You need to apply to the Pflegekasse (nursing care insurance fund) of the person requiring care. Please check the application procedure with the relevant insurance fund. Further information is available (in German) at www.wege-zur-pflege.de and www.pflege.de.
You can apply for time off work or a reduction in working hours for a period of up to six months to care for close relatives yourself. You are required to give ten days notice, and submit a certificate from the nursing insurance fund of the Medical Service of the German health insurance companies.
It is also possible to take leave of absence to care for underage relatives requiring care.
You are entitled to accompany close relatives in palliative care in the final weeks of their life.
If necessary, you can apply for an interest-free loan from the Federal Office for Family Affairs (Bundesamt für Familie). Please contact the person responsible for you in the human resources department in every case.
If you are interested in arranging a daycare place via FAU, please refer to the relevant pages on the Family Service website. Please send the application forms directly to the head of the relevant daycare facility. If you do not live in Erlangen or if you would prefer a daycare place nearer to where you live for any other reason, please check directly with the local facilities or your local municipality about how to apply. The web portals for the various districts are as follows: Erlangen, Fürth and Nuremberg. It is important that you get your name down on the waiting list at least one year in advance, if possible, as the situation regarding childcare is currently under a lot of pressure due to a number of different factors such as a lack of available places and skilled personnel.
FAU expects to be allocated 50 kindergarten places in the Johanniter Kinderhaus “Pfauennest” as of September 2022. If you would like to have your name put on the waiting list, please contact the head of the institution Ms. Scherzer directly (phone: +49 9131 85 67 53 5, e-mail: nadja.scherzer@johanniter.de).
For places in other facilities, please check the websites for Erlangen, Fürth and Nuremberg or your local town directly. Please note that kindergarten places are generally allocated according to catchment area, in other words you only have a chance of being accepted if you live in the vicinity of the childcare facilities.
We advise getting your name on the waiting list for a kindergarten place at least one year in advance, as the situation regarding childcare is under a lot of pressure in the Metropolitan region.
