Parental leave offers working parents the opportunity to spend time with their own child. In return, they are released from work during parental leave. However, this period is limited to 36 months. However, there are ways to extend parental leave.
The application to extend parental leave
Each parent is entitled to 36 months of parental leave. The prerequisite for this is that parental leave is taken before the child’s third birthday. After that, there is only an entitlement to 24 months. Once the child reaches the age of eight, the entitlement to parental leave expires.
Parental leave does not have to be taken in one go. It may also be divided into up to three sections.
It is also possible to extend parental leave, provided it does not exceed 36 months. As parental leave is always applied for with the employer, it is possible not to apply for the full 36 months directly.
If this is the case, an application can be made to the employer during the current parental leave period to extend the current parental leave. This must be done in writing and should at least include the date of the application and the desired extension period. For the extension period, the desired date for the start of the extension – not the start of the current parental leave – and the desired end of the extension must be specified.
Employers may only object to the extension if the application is made during the commitment period.
The bonding period is the period before the child’s third birthday. If parental leave is taken within this period, the parents are committed to the parental leave for two years. They must then plan their parental leave for the next two years. These plans must also be communicated to the employer. The employer can refuse to extend parental leave within the commitment period if the company’s plans do not permit extended parental leave.
The restrictions on parental leave
Parental leave is generally subject to certain restrictions that must be taken into account when applying for an extension. If these restrictions are disregarded, the employer may or must reject the application for extension.
As already mentioned, parental leave may not exceed 36 months in total. It is therefore not possible to extend parental leave beyond this. If the 36 months have not yet been fully used up, it is possible to apply for an extension. It does not matter how much parental leave has already been taken. It is also irrelevant how long the extension should be. It can be a week, but also several months.
In addition, the maximum of three periods of parental leave must be observed. Strictly speaking, the application for an extension of parental leave is not an application for an extension of parental leave at all. The extension counts as a further section. This must be taken into consideration.
If the three sections have already been scheduled, it is not possible to apply for an extension. Conversely, it must also be taken into account that no further parental leave can be taken if the extension is the third period of parental leave.
In addition, the deadlines must also be observed when applying for an extension of parental leave. This is 13 weeks before the start of parental leave or the extension. If the application is submitted later, the start of parental leave must be postponed accordingly. This would then also apply to the extension and there would be a gap between the sections.
Conclusion
The extension of parental leave is basically not an extension at all, but a further period of parental leave. No more than three sections may be taken and the maximum period of 36 months may not be exceeded. Otherwise, however, there are only a few hurdles to extending parental leave relatively spontaneously. However, the employer must be asked in good time and its consent is required.
