Act on Long-Term Care Leave – Long-Term Care Leave Act – (Gesetz über die Pflegezeit – Pflegezeitgesetz – PflegeZG)
Section 1 The purpose of the Act
The purpose of the Act is to enable employed persons to take care of close relatives who are in need of long-term care in domestic surroundings, and hence to improve the reconciliation of work and family long-term care.
Section 2 Temporary inability to work
(1) Employed persons shall have the right to remain away from work for up to ten working days if this is necessary to organise long-term care as needed by a close relative in need of long-term care in a long-term care situation occurring on an acute basis or to ensure that long-term care is provided in this time.
(2) Employed persons shall be obliged to inform the employer promptly of their inability to work and of its expected duration. The employee must present to the employer, on request, a medical certificate regarding the need of long-term care of the close relative and the requirement of the measures designated in subs. 1.
(3) The employer shall only be obliged to continue to pay remuneration insofar as such obligation emerges from other statutory provisions or on the basis of an agreement.
Section 3 Long-term care leave
(1) Employed persons shall be completely or partly released from performing work if they take care of a close relative in domestic surroundings who is in need of long-term care (long-term care leave). The right in accordance with sentence 1 shall not pertain vis-à-vis employers which have 15 or fewer employed persons as a rule.
(2) The employed persons shall document the close relative’s need of long-term care the by presenting a certificate from the long-term care insurance fund or from the Medical Review Board of Health Insurance. Corresponding documentation shall be provided with regard to persons in need of long-term care who are insured in private obligatory long-term
care insurance.
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(3) Anyone wishing to claim long-term care leave must notify the employer thereof in writing at the latest ten working days prior to commencement thereof, declaring at the same time for which period and to what extent the release from work is to be claimed. If only a partial release is claimed, the desired distribution of the working time is also to be stated.
(4) If only partial release is claimed, employers and employed persons shall reach a written agreement regarding the reduction and distribution of the working hours. The employer shall thereby comply with the employed persons’ wishes unless this is opposed by urgent operational reasons.
Section 4 Duration of long-term care leave
(1) Long-term care leave in accordance with section 3 shall be at most six months (maximum duration) for each close relative in need of long- term care. Long-term care leave claimed for a shorter period can be extended up to the maximum duration if the employer agrees. An extension up to the maximum duration may be demanded if a planned change of carer cannot take place for an important reason. Long-term
care leave shall not be counted towards periods of vocational training.
(2) If the close relative is no longer in need of long-term care, or if care of the close relative at home is impossible or unreasonable, long- term care leave shall terminate four weeks after the commencement of
the changed circumstances. The employer shall be informed promptly of
the changed circumstances. In other respects, long-term care leave may only be terminated early if the employer consents.
Section 5 Protection against dismissal
(1) The employer may not terminate the employment relationship from notification until the termination of the temporary inability to work
in accordance with section 2 or long-term care leave in accordance with
section 3.
(2) Termination may be exceptionally declared permissible in special cases by the highest Land authority responsible for health and safety
at work or by the agency designated thereby. The Federal Government may issue general administrative provisions on this matter with the consent
of the Federal Council.
Section 6 Fixed-term contracts
(1) If an employee is taken on to stand in for an employed person for the duration of temporary inability to work in accordance with
section 2 or the duration of long-term care leave in accordance with section 3, this shall constitute a de facto reason for the establishment of a fixed-term employment relationship. Over and above
the duration of deployment of a stand-in in accordance with sentence 1, the imposition of a fixed term on necessary familiarisation periods shall be permissible.
(2) The duration of the fixed-term employment contract must be determined or determinable according to the calendar, or must be derivable from the purposes designated in subs. 1.
(3) The employer may terminate the temporary employment contract, adhering to a deadline of two weeks, if long-term care leave in accordance with section 4 subs. 2 sentence 1 ends early. The Act on Protection Against Unfair Dismissal (Kündigungsschutzgesetz) shall not be applied in such cases. Sentence 1 shall not apply insofar as its application is ruled out by contract.
(4) If the number of employees employed is taken as a basis in the framework of statutes under labour law or ordinances, then when calculating this number of employees, those who are temporarily unable to work in accordance with section 2, or who have been released in accordance with section 3, shall not be included insofar as a stand-in has been taken on for them on the basis of subs. 1. This shall not apply if the stand-in is not to be included in the count. Sentences 1
and 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis if the number of posts is taken as a
basis in the context of statutes or ordinances under labour law.
Section 7 Definitions
(1) Employed persons within the meaning of the present Act shall be deemed to be
1. employees,
2. persons employed for vocational training,
3. persons who because of their economic dependence are to be regarded
as similar to employees: These shall also include those employed in homeworking and those with equivalent status.
(2) Employers within the meaning of the present Act shall be deemed to be natural and legal entities, as well as partnerships with legal capacity employing persons in accordance with subs. 1. The client or intermediary shall replace the employer for persons similar to employees, in particular for those employed in homeworking and those with equivalent status.
(3) Close relatives within the meaning of the present Act shall be deemed to be
1. grandparents, parents, parents-in-law,
2. spouses, civil partners, partners in a marriage-like community, siblings,
3. children, adopted or foster children, the children, adopted or foster children of the spouse or civil partner, children-in-law and grandchildren.
(4) Persons deemed to be in need of long-term care within the meaning of the present Act shall be those who satisfy the prerequisites in accordance with sections 14 and 15 of the Eleventh Book of the Social Code. Persons who are likely to meet the prerequisites in accordance with sections 14 and 15 of the Eleventh Book of the Social Code shall also be deemed to be in need of long-term care within the meaning of section 2.
Section 8 Imperative nature
It shall not be possible to derogate from the provisions contained in the present Act in favour of employed persons.