Family Start Time Act

On July 12, 2023, the Federal Council approved the draft law for the Family Start Time Act, which was presented by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs on March 8, 2023. The law is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2024.

The purpose of the law is to promote the compatibility of family and professional life. It should give parents the opportunity to use the days after the birth to coordinate with each other, overcome the first challenges of parenthood together and simply have the time to enjoy their new family life.

In the future, partners of a parent should therefore be entitled to up to ten days of paid leave from their employer from the day of the birth. Whether and to what extent these days are used is the responsibility of the employee. The exemption can therefore last for less than ten days, although the entitlement to exemption ends on the tenth day after the birth. In the case of single parents, the parent will be able to designate a person for initial support who will be given the same right to leave.

The employers will continue to pay the employees' previous wages in full. The plan is for employers to be able to have the wages paid reimbursed (at least in part) by the health insurance companies as part of the U 2 apportionment system. However, the coalition is still undecided on the exact structure of the political subsidy for this funding.

The future implementation of the legal requirements is primarily the responsibility of the companies after they come into force. Automated processes for informing employees about their legal entitlements, questions regarding applications and the implementation of the billing process with health insurance companies still need to be finalized.