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 Human Resources 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 Human Resources 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.
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.
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.
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 information: Maternity Protection Act for students
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.
Family benefits office (responsible for Erlangen and Nuremberg): Familienkasse Bayern Nord, Solgerstraße 1 in 90429 Nürnberg, Phone: +49 800 4555530.
If you are entitled to an extension to your contract pursuant to the WissZeitVG, please apply to the human resources department in good time. The application form is available here. (Application for extending employment for periods of time when taking parental leave and/or periods of time subject to a prohibition of employment (P1162) (last updated: October 5, 2022))
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, Freyeslebenstraße 1, 91058 Erlangen and send a copy to Frau Dr. Magda Luthay, Office of Equality and Diversity.
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.
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.
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.
FAU has more than 200 daycare places available in various facilities. If you are interested in arranging a daycare place via FAU or UKER, please refer to the relevant pages on the Family Service website. Registrations in nearly all facilities are now organized centrally. The various web portals for the cities are available here: Erlangen, Fürth and Nuremberg. You can gain an overview of the various facilities, rank them in order of preference and state the date when you would like childcare to begin. When registering, you must state that you are a member of FAU or UKER to ensure that the facilities can allocate places accordingly.
We would recommend getting 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 has 78 kindergarten places in the Johanniter daycare center “Pfauennest”, in the “Kleiner Stern” and in the “Uferstädtchen” in Fürth. Registrations in nearly all facilities are now organized centrally. The various web portals for the cities are available here: Erlangen, Fürth and Nuremberg. You can gain an overview of the various facilities, rank them in order of preference and state the date when you would like childcare to begin. When registering, you must state that you are a member of FAU or UKER to ensure that the facilities can allocate places accordingly.
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.