Elternzeit: plan leave with your employer
Iranian employees in Germany can claim Elternzeit when the household and childcare conditions are met. Notify the employer with the applicable notice period and birth-date-specific form. Elternzeit is leave from work; Elterngeld is a separate benefit application.
Step by step
- Notify the employer correctlyCheck the child's applicable rules, plan leave dates and any part-time work, give notice in the required form and retain the employer's confirmation.
Eligible employees live with the child and care for the child themselves. Parental leave is available up to the third birthday, with up to twenty-four months usable between the third and eighth birthdays under the statutory rules. Work during leave is limited; check the applicable birth-date rules and any proposed part-time arrangement.
The ordinary advance notice is seven weeks for leave before the third birthday and thirteen weeks for the later period. For children born from 1 May 2025, current §16 allows text form; older children fall under transitional versions, so check the correct form. For early leave you must also declare the intended periods within the binding two-year planning period. Obtain the employer's leave confirmation.
Sources
- BEEG §15 · Bundesministerium der Justiz
- BEEG §16 · Bundesministerium der Justiz
- BEEG §28 · Bundesministerium der Justiz
- Elterngeld beantragen · Land Berlin
