On March 29, 2020, the laws passed last week to protect the population in an epidemic situation of national scope and for social protection in the light of the Corona crisis came into force in the last week.
The social protection package is designed to deal with the social impact of the corona pandemic. To this end, the drawing of social benefits will be simplified, the additional earnings limit for old-age pensions will be raised and marginal employment in the form of short-term employment will be expanded. Furthermore, earnings from part-time work taken during short-time work in systemically relevant areas are no longer fully taken into account. Social service providers are also financially supported to participate in measures to deal with the impact of the pandemic. Finally, an amendment to the Working Hours Act enables exemptions to maintain the operation of systemically relevant areas.
The Infection Protection Act was also amended with the Act for the Protection of the Population in an Epidemic Situation of National Impact. In addition to additional competencies for the federal government in combating epidemics, it now also provides for compensation claims for parents who have to look after their children due to official school and daycare closings and thus suffer loss of earnings.
An overview of the key labor law changes for companies:
AMENDMENT OF WORKING TIMES TO SUPPORT SYSTEM-RELATED OPERATIONS
In order to ensure the maintenance of systemically relevant operations, such as those from the health system, public security and order, the provision of general interest and the supply of the population with existential goods, the social protection package provides for a change in the Working Hours Act enabled by working time regulations to maintain critical infrastructure. The Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs can now, together with the Federal Ministry of Health in exceptional emergencies with nationwide effects, such as epidemics, allow certain employees in systemically relevant professions to deviate from the regulations of the Working Hours Act for a limited period. So far, the Working Hours Act only allowed local exemptions by the authorities responsible under state law for urgent public interest.
COMPENSATION CLAIM FOR MERIT LOSSES BASED ON KITA AND SCHOOL CLOSURES
After the meantime nationwide official daycare and school closings as a result of the pandemic, both employers and employees demanded clear legal regulations on how a loss of earnings caused by working parents can be compensated for. The legislator has now reacted to this with the law for the protection of the population in an epidemic situation of national importance. This introduced an extension of the Infection Protection Act (IfSG), which was limited until the end of 2020. Parents who are unable to work due to closed childcare facilities or schools (not even in the home office) can claim compensation according to the new Section 56 (1a) IfSG.
Employed custodians of children up to the age of
12 years of age or disabled and dependent children,
if you have to take care of your child yourself because of the closure and therefore suffer a loss of earnings; and
they have no other reasonable childcare options (e.g. through the other parent or emergency care in the facilities; currently identified risk groups such as the child's grandparents should not, however, primarily have to be used for childcare). The employee bears the burden of proof for the lack of other childcare options.
There is no loss of earnings if there are other legal options for temporarily staying away from the job, for example by reducing time credits. As with short-time work benefits, credit balances on working time accounts will have to be reduced to "zero" before there is a right to compensation. A possible entitlement to short-time work benefits takes precedence over the compensation claim. How to deal with vacation entitlements is still unclear. It is conceivable here that at least residual vacation entitlements from the previous vacation year must be reduced in accordance with the handling of short-time work benefits.
The entitlement to compensation does not exist during the times when the childcare facility or school would be closed anyway (e.g. during school holidays).
The compensation payment amounts to 67% of the loss of earnings (net wages) incurred by the custodian, for a full month a maximum of € 2,016 (maximum amount). Based on the E
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