Can parental leave be extended?
In principle, under the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (BEEG) parents are entitled to 36 months, or three years, per child. In the mother's case, the maternity protection period laid down in the German Maternity Protection Act (Mutterschutzgesetz) is deducted from this parental leave. This entitlement only exists until the child's 8th year of life, however; after that it lapses.
The parental leave may be split into up to three blocks. An example:
Block 1: directly after the birth for 12 months
Block 2: after returning part-time, another 6 months of parental leave when the child is 2 years old.
Block 3: The remaining 6 months can be taken up to the child's 8th birthday, for example when the child moves from kindergarten to school.
In this case the parent has split 2 years of parental leave into 3 blocks.
But be careful: parental leave within the first 24 months must be taken continuously or in a maximum of two blocks. The third can then be taken flexibly up to the child's 8th year of life. In principle, parental leave has to be planned in advance. A subsequent extension is only possible with the employer's consent. If a third block of parental leave is applied for after the child's third birthday, the employer can only refuse it for urgent operational reasons.
You do not have to have planned out all of your parental leave when it begins. Extending parental leave from 2 to 3 years or from 1 to 2 years is possible under certain conditions. Parental leave must be applied for in advance, but it can be extended while it is running. It makes no difference whether the extension is wanted for 4 weeks, one month or a whole year.
Conditions and deadlines for extending parental leave?
An extension of parental leave must be applied for before the end of the period originally approved. Deadlines for extending parental leave can be laid down in the employment contract, the collective agreement or the works agreement. The following statutory deadlines apply:
- Up to the child's 3rd birthday: application at least 7 weeks in advance
- After the 3rd birthday (up to the 8th birthday): application at least 13 weeks in advance
Within the first three years of the child's life (i.e. in the case of point 1), parents must also state how they want to take the parental leave within two years. An example to illustrate:
Max wants to apply for 6 months of parental leave after the birth of his daughter. With this application he must already have planned how he wants to take the parental leave within the first two years of his daughter's life. If, for example, he is planning a second block up to his daughter's 3rd birthday, he must inform his employer of this in the first application. So at the same time he also applies to take a second block one year later.
How do you write an application to extend parental leave?
An application to extend parental leave, stating the period you want, should be made in writing. As a rule, the earlier the application is submitted, the better. Contrary to many myths, it is not necessary to arrange a meeting with the employer. It can be very helpful, however, to discuss the planned return early on.
Since 2025, applications for parental leave may also be submitted digitally. Dropping off a letter or similar is therefore no longer necessary. The employer may also accept or approve the application digitally.
Can the employer refuse an extension of parental leave?
Whether the employer can refuse the extension of parental leave depends on how the application was made:
Extension within the maximum 3 years of parental leave
If parental leave was applied for for a shorter period from the outset (e.g. only for 1 year) and an extension within the total of 3 years is wanted later, the employer must agree to it. A refusal is therefore possible, because this is a change to a contract.
Extension after the child's third birthday
If a third block of parental leave is applied for, the employer can only refuse it for urgent operational reasons within eight weeks of receiving the application.
Extension beyond three blocks of parental leave
Parents are only entitled to up to three blocks of parental leave. Anyone who wants to split their parental leave into four blocks therefore needs their employer's consent.
Who pays for the 3 years of parental leave?
During the third year of parental leave there is no entitlement to salary payments. The third year therefore counts as unpaid leave from the workplace. Parental allowance is only paid in the first 12 or 14 months (correspondingly longer with ElterngeldPlus). After that there is no statutory entitlement to financial support during parental leave. You can find out more about this here.
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