For employers
The desire for flexibility is an important criterion for employees. This includes flexible working hours, home office as a standard option and the option of bringing the child with you if there is no childcare available. There can always be an emergency, whether in kindergarten or at school. As an employer, you create the opportunity for your employees to thank you for the flexibility and support you have provided with particularly good work results.
There are also clear legal requirements that you as an employer must meet. For the care of a sick child, every legally insured parent entitled to sickness benefit is entitled to ten working days' leave and child sickness benefit in accordance with § 45 Para. II, III SGB V per year. Employees who are not insured and who are entitled to sickness benefit are also entitled to unpaid leave. Single parents are entitled to 20 days. The number of days doubles with two children. If there are more than two children, the upper limit is 25 days per parent and 50 days for single parents.
Possible financial support from the employer may include, for example, payments in the form of a recovery allowance or an allowance towards childcare costs for children who are not yet at school.
As an employer, you may not provide tax advice for your employees. Nevertheless, your employees, who are often inexperienced in tax matters, will appreciate a few tips. The tip on the possible crediting of child allowances in the annual declaration is certainly helpful. Encourage your employees to do this annual declaration themselves or have it done by a tax consultant.
Questions and answers
How does the recovery allowance principle work?
The recovery allowance is a voluntary additional payment made by you as the employer, which can be granted once a year. The employee is obliged to use this additional payment exclusively for the purpose of rest. Written proof of use as a copy for you as an employer is important for your tax recognition. These can be receipts for holiday bookings, massages, a yoga course or a wellness weekend. You can and should request this receipt. The recovery allowance is not a payment to be negotiated individually, but applies to all your employees upon introduction.
The maximum recovery allowance is 156 euros for employees, 104 euros for spouses and 52 euros for each child. This is paid in addition to the salary. The employer pays a lump sum of 25% wage tax (plus solidarity surcharge and church tax if applicable) to the tax office. The employee receives the amounts without further taxation.
How am I contractual arrangements to the Home Office?
You can grant home offices to the entire workforce, to specific groups or to individuals on a case-by-case basis. If you wish to grant this option, you should lay down rules for this in a contract. This can happen in the employment contract itself or as a supplementary agreement. This written regulation should contain the following:
- Maximum home office volume in percent or hours per week
- Additional payments for the domestic infrastructure
- Commitment to the trustworthy execution of the discussed tasks
- Documentation of time and work performed in the home officeIf home office work does not function satisfactorily, the supplement can only be revoked individually with a statutory period of notice, for example, if this was either contractually regulated in the home office agreement in the small enterprise with regularly no more than 10 employees, or if in the enterprise with regularly more than 10 employees, for example, a proper social selection was made prior to the termination of this clause, or if there is a collective agreement to cancel this agreement. Attention, if more than 5 employees have been working in the small business since 6 months before 31.12.2003 (period of protection clause), as a rule, without interruption since this period of protection clause, a proper social selection must also be made before this home office clause notice.
Checklist
Document
Employer benefit for childcare
Detailed document on the special regulations on the childcare cost subsidy as an employer supplement for childcare from the Platform Mittelstand und Familie.
Platform Mittelstand und Familie - www.mittelstand-und-familie.de
Helpful Links
More information on the subject of recovery allowance - Deutsche Handwerkszeitung
Helpful article with lots of information on the topic of recovery allowance.
More information on the subject of the home office – Tax Advisory Chamber of the Federal State of Saxony
Helpful, more in-depth information, especially for employers who want to get a closer look at the topic of home offices.
