Organizing work

Part-time models make it easier to reconcile professional and family obligations. Refer to the internal pages of the Staff Service Portal: Part-time / change in hours to find out more about these options for salaried employees and civil servants.

• The collective agreement for the public sectors of the German states (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst der Länder, TV-L) and the German part-time and fixed-term contract act (Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz, TzBfG) fundamentally include regulations on part-time employment.
• In accordance with Section 6 TzBfG, the employer must make it possible for the employee to work part-time in line with the TzBfG.
• In accordance with Section 8 TzBfG, employees have a right to reduce their working time.
• In particular, part-time employment for family reasons is regulated in •Section 11 subsection 1 TV-L,
• Section 3 of the act on periods of nursing care (Gesetz über die Pflegezeit, PflegeZG), and
• Section 15 subsection 4 of the act on national parental pay and parental leave (Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz, BEEG).

Telework is a term for models in which you do some of your work from your own home. Further information and the relevant forms can be found on the internal pages of the Staff Service Portal: Telework.

Short term telework (up to 4 weeks)

• working from home, no extension possible
• reasons for use: exceptional family circumstance or family crisis situations, health-related problems 
• possible loaning out of technical equipment by Universität Hamburg
• supervisor’s approval is required, as is positive assessment of the suitability of the tasks and the individual for working from home

Home office (1 year with the possibility of an extension)

• working from home, possibly also for longer periods, with own equipment, maximum 10 hours per week
• fixed agreement regarding working time at home and presence at Universität Hamburg
• tasks and the individual must be suited to home office work; supervisor’s approval required

alternating telework (long-term telework, 1 year, annual extension possible) 

• working from home for a longer period of time
• fixed agreement regarding working time at home and presence at Universität Hamburg
• application approximately 3 months in advance
• tasks and the individual must be suited to telework; supervisor’s approval required
• set-up and assumption of costs for IT equipment and software

Flexitime regulations constitute a major improvement for technical, library, and administrative staff.

When a child is sick and included on a parent’s state insurance coverage policy, the parent is entitled to apply for time off after presenting a doctor’s certificate. Parents are entitled to up to 10 days of “sick child leave” for each child every calendar year and single parents up to 20 days off for each child. Parents are entitled to a maximum of 25 days of sick child leave for each child every calendar year. Single parents are entitled to a maximum of 50 days per child each calendar year. If this benefit has been depleted, Section 29 of the collective wage agreement for the public sectors of the German states (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst der Länder, TV-L) provides time off work while guaranteeing continued remuneration for the care of a child below the age of 12. The entitlement for this kind of time off work can be claimed for up to 4 working days per year.

Corona pandemic – child sickness benefits: Child sickness benefits in 2022  and 2023 will be granted for 30 days (60 days for single parents). This entitlement also applies to cases where caring for a child at home is necessary. This may be the case due to school/kindergarten/daycare closures or restrictions to on-site working. For more information—also for civil servants—see the overview (PDF). Find information and tips on family life and working from home in this new situation on the Equal Opportunity Unit (PDF, in German only). There is also an overview (PDF) of all support services for supervisors and staff who currently have childcare and home-schooling responsibilities.

You can submit an application (PDF, in German only) to the respective Department 6: Human Resources. You can also apply for sick child leave from your respective health insurance provider, although they generally do not fully cover the incurred loss of earnings. You can find additional information on how to apply and about the amount of sick child leave directly from your health insurance provider. You can transfer the sick child leave benefit from one parent to the other. The sick child benefit can be transferred if one parent is unable to claim it for personal or professional reasons. In addition, both parents must be enrolled in state insurance coverage and the partner’s employer as well as the respective health insurance provider must agree to the transfer. You can find additional information about this from your health insurance provider.

If you are covered by private insurance: All employees with state insurance coverage have a right to sick child leave. In the event that one parent is privately insured and the other is covered by a state insurance policy, benefits depend on the child’s insurance coverage. This benefit is not applicable to children insured by a privately insured parent since these provisions apply only to employees with state insurance coverage. This applies regardless to whether the other parent is covered by state insurance, since in this case no family insurance policy exists. In this case you are not legally entitled to sick child benefits. If your child is sick, you must eventually clarify this with your private insurance provider. Contact your private insurance provider for additional information.