Coronavirus & Work

The German law has not foreseen any legal entitlement to work from home for the employees. However, the employer is responsible for workplace safety. So employees can work from home so if their employer agrees. Talk to your superior and inquire about feasible health-related measures. Sometimes, “home-office” as an option is regulated in firm-level or a collective agreements.

If your employer ignores employees' safety and well-being, speak to the works council in your company or inform the Health Office (“Gesunheitsamt”) in your area. You can find the proper Health Office via Behördenwegweiser.

Overtime is when an employee works more than the agreed regular working hours. In principle, employees only have to work overtime if a collective agreement, a firm-level agreement or their employment contract requires them to do so. In exceptional situations, however, i.e. at times of disaster and emergency (e.g. flooding in office), or at times of particular operational necessity (e.g. when the fulfilment of specific tasks in a short notice is crucial for the survival of the company and many colleagues are ill and incapable of work), all employees are obliged to work overtime, regardless of their contract or collective agreement.


Whether the overtime is compensated by extra pay or additional free time is often regulated in the employment contract. If according to the employment contract, your overtime work is to be compensated either with wages or with free time, then, your overtime hours may not amount to more than 10% of the contractually agreed working hours. If overtime is not regulated in your employment contract, you will often receive your regular hourly wages for the overtime hours- but only if your superiors have ordered the overtime and you have documented the overtime work in writing. To do so, you need to write down your overtime and have it signed by your supervisor.
Please note: Employees who receive larger salaries (higher than 5800 euro gross in East Germany and 6500 euro in West Germany) are not paid extra for overtime.

Please note: Employees who receive larger salaries (higher than 5800 euro gross in East Germany and 6500 euro in West Germany) are not paid extra for overtime.

Since the daycare centres and schools are closed, children stay home the whole day. So working parents have to find someone to take care of their children during worktime. If you do not have anyone who can look after the children when you work, you need to talk to your employer so that together you can find a solution. One solution, for instance, can be that you work from home. If that does work, in principle, you are entitled to a paid leave for some days. Some work contracts or collective agreements include additional regulations in this regard. If that is the case, these regulations apply. 

The current closure of schools and daycare centres will take longer- such a solution, however, can only function as a temporary one. Afterwards, you need to find a long-term solution along with your employer, for instance, a paid/unpaid leave or using up your overtime hours.

At the end of March, a new law was passed: Parents who are unable to work due to childcare and therefore receive little or no wages will be compensated. The compensation amounts to 67% of your net wages (maximum 2,016 euro) and is paid for a maximum of six weeks. You can only receive the mentioned compensation if you meet the following requirements:

• Your child is under the age of 12 or needs care because of a disability.
• There is no one else available in your household to look after your child.
• You have already balanced your overtime and do not have any paid vacation left.

The employer applies for compensation on behalf of the employees. The self-employed must contact the Health Office responsible. You can find the proper Health Office at Behördenwegweiser.

Please note: There are emergency childcare services for children whose parents work in certain professions (e.g. police, fire brigade, hospital staff, energy supply, etc.). If you have a job like this, ask your child's school/ daycare centre or the responsible Schooling authorities ("Schulamt") about the regulations which apply to you, since there are no uniform regulations in this regard throughout Germany.

An employer is obliged to send you home when you are sick. You will continue receiving wages while sick. You can learn more about missing work during illness in our chapter “Sick Leave”. Please note that currently, for specificness illnesses you can also obtain a doctors’ note (“Krankschreibung”) per phone.  If an employer decides to send fit and ready-to-work personnel home as a precautionary measure, he/she remains obliged to pay the wages. When that is the case, the employee does not have to make up for lost working hours.

No. The employee is solely responsible for finding a way to get to the place of work.

Individuals who are ordered by health authorities to stay home due to suspicion of contagion and to protect the public health will suffer an income loss which will be compensated. For the first six weeks you have to spend in isolation, your employer will continue to pay your full wage and then apply for and have it reimbursed. Starting the seventh week, you will receive sickness benefits ("Krankgeld") instead. You can learn more in our chapter “Sick Leave”.

Yes. When an employee falls ill, he or she is entitled to receive wages despite being unable to work for six weeks. Starting the seventh week, you will start to receive sickness benefit ("Krankgeld"). Learn more in our chapter “Sick Leave”.

If an employer has to temporarily close due to the Coronavirus pandemic, he/she remains obliged to pay wages if the employees are fit and ready to work. The missed working hours are not to be made up for later by the employee. If other regulations are included in your contract or collective agreement, those apply. 

If a company is closed for longer, "short-time work" or compulsory redundancies may be adopted. You can learn more about “Kurzarbeit” or “short-term work” in the section below. To learn more about dismissal/quitting in Germany, check our chapter “Termination of Employment Contract”.

When the spread of Coronavirus results in limitation or a total halt of the production process, the employers can apply for short-term work or "Kurzarbeit" at the Employment Agency. For employees, "short-time work" either means that their working hours are reduced, or they will have to stop working for the time altogether. The employees, however, remain employed and receive a part of their wages which is known as “Kurzarbeitergeld” or “short-time work benefits”. According to this scheme, the emplyees are paid 60 or (they have children) 67 per cent of their net salary for a period of up to twelve months. The funds are paid by the Employment Agency in order to avoid redundancies at workplaces.

Employers need to directly apply for short-term work- you can also find more information concerning short-time work and other new guidelines on the website of the Federal Employment Agency.

Please note: Receiving short-time work benefits will not negatively affect your prospect of residence In Germany.

Yes. You can work on the side while receiving short-time work benefits. If you start the part-time job after you begin to receive short-time work benefit, your benefits will be reduced according to your additional earnings. In other words, the wages of your part-time job will be deducted from the short-time allowance. This general rule does not apply, however, if you take a part-time job in a sector of so-called systemic importance (healthcare, agriculture, etc.). When that is the case, your short-time work benefit will not be reduced.

If you do not have a valid work permit, ask the appropriate Immigration Office whether you can work part-time. Currently, you can only do so per phone or email.

For more information about part-time jobs, check our chapter "Labour Rights". You can also find out more about mini-jobs in our chapter "Mini-job".

Since the Corona crisis, subcontracted workers can also benefit from short-time work allowance. You can find out more about short-time work in the section "What does it mean if my company switches to short-time work?"

Please note: Subcontracted workers are also entitled to unemployment benefits. You can find out more about this in the section "What can I do if I am fired or earn little?".

In principle, short-time work does not apply to trainees. The company must first think of other options, e.g. change the curriculum or move you to another department. Only when other options fail can short-time work be arranged for trainees. In that case, you will continue to receive your full training salary for at least six weeks. Only after these six weeks will you receive short-time work benefits. If the short-time allowance is not enough to live on, you can also apply for unemployment benefit II. To learn more check the section "What can I do if I am fired or earn little?".

If you need more comprehensive information about vocational training in times of Coronavirus, check ausbildung.de.

So far, there was no specific financial provision for students who have lost their jobs due to the corona pandemic. In principle, students cannot receive short-time work benefit or unemployment benefit. But due to the extraordinary situation in hand, an exception has been made. As of now:

• Part-time students, i.e. students who previously were employed in a job (subject to social security contributions) for more than 20 hours per week, can receive short-time work benefits or unemployment benefits. 
• Students who cannot receive BAföG and have now lost their income can apply for unemployment benefit at the Jobcentre- but only if they are NOT residing in Germany on a student visa.

Many companies are currently looking for additional employees. Ask food delivery services, supermarkets, petrol stations, etc. in your area if they have vacancies. Many farms are also looking for harvest aids. You can search for jobs in agriculture directly at www.daslandhilft.de.

Please note: Students who receive BAföG do not have to worry about extending their funding beyond the maximum funding period due to cancelled exams. Call your BAföG office and explain your problem to the staff.

You can find more information on the subject of corona and student life at studentenwerke.de.

When your right of residence dependent on the continuation of your employment and you lose your job, you may have to leave the country. If that is not possible, you will be issued a "Duldung" or tolerated stay permit. You can learn more about this type of stay permit in our chapter "Duldung". Contact the Immigration Office responsible for you to find out more. You can find the proper Immigration Office at webgis.bamf.de.

If you earn little or no money, you are entitled to unemployment benefits under certain conditions. There are two different types of unemployment benefit: Unemployment benefit I and unemployment benefit II. You will only receive unemployment benefit I if you have had a job including compulsorily social insurance contributions in Germany for at least 12 months in the past 24 months, i.e. you have paid into unemployment insurance. You can apply for unemployment benefit I directly at the Employment Agency responsible for you. Your staff in charge will provide you with the necessary information in the event of dismissal. You can find out more about dismissal in our chapter "Termination of the Employment Contract".

To benefit from unemployment benefit II, on the other hand, you do not need to have paid unemployment insurance for 12 months. Unemployment benefit II (also called "Hartz 4" or "ALG 2") is basic substance income provided by the Jobcentre for applicants' livelihood, i.e. for food, clothing, hygiene, etc. A single adult currently receives 432 euros per month as unemployment benefit II. Depending on their ages, you will receive between 250 and 354 euro per month for your children. In addition, the rental costs -i.e. the net rent, additional costs and heating costs- are also taken over by the Jobcentre.

To benefit from unemployment benefit II, you must meet the following requirements:

• You must be at least 15 years old.
• You must not be retired yet. You can find out more in our chapter "Pensioners in Germany".
• Your primary place of residence must be in Germany.
• You must be ready to work, i.e. you should be, in principle, capable of working.
• You must have little to no income.
• You must be either a person entitled to asylum, refugee status or subsidiary protection or have German citizenship or have citizenship of an EU country and had been working in Germany.

Please note: Asylum seekers and people with a tolerated stay ("Duldung") are granted asylum seeker benefits- they are not entitled to unemployment benefit II.

First of all, call the Jobcentre and register as unemployed or to apply for an additional benefit ("Aufstockung"). Informing Jobcentre per phone is crucial since you will receive benefits retrospectively from the time you register by telephone. Then visit www.arbeitsagentur.de, and enter your postcode to find the Jobcentre responsible for you. The rest you need to do online: On the website of the Jobcentre responsible for you, find and click on "Zum erstmal Antrag Arbeitslosengeld II (2)". Then click on "Antrag auf Arbeitslosengeld II (2)" to register. There you will find the "Application for unemployment benefit II (2)", which is the MAIN APPLICATION FORM you need to fill out. 

To clarify your income, you also have to fill in the "Anlage zur Einkommensbescheinigung," i.e. the appendix to the certificate of income, which you can find under "Arbeitslosengeld 2 - Anlagen zum Einkommen und Vermögen". If you are unemployed and have no income, you can enter "zero euro" as income. When you are employed, your employer has to fill out the "Income Certificate Form" ("Formular zur Einkommensbescheinigung "). 

If you are self-employed, fill out the form "Anlage zum Einkommen Selbständiger". You do NOT have to fill the "Anlage zum Vermögen" as of now. You need to send the filled out (main) application form and the certificate of income, to the Jobcentre per email. You can find the email address on the website of the Jobcentre responsible for you.

The Jobcentre will then process your application and contact you. They will also let you know if you need to fill out any additional forms. After you have sent all the necessary documents to the Jobcentre, you will be informed whether you entitled to receive ALG II.

Forms you find on Jobcentres' website are often not easy to understand. At kub-berlin.org, you will find the necessary application forms translated into many languages- use these forms to understand the German forms better. Please note, however, that you have to fill out and send the original German version to the Jobcentre.

Please note: The Jobcentre will not inquire about the size of your apartment or whether your rent is too high. They do not ask about the applicants' assets either. Such extraordinary regulation applies for six months.

Apply for Emergency aid (“Soforthilfe”):

To help the survival of small businesses, the self-employed and freelancers, the federal government has decided to provide a so-called "Soforthilfe" or emergency aid. If you an employer with up to 5 employees, you can receive up to 9,000 euro for three months. If you have more than ten employees, you can benefit from a one-off payment of up to 15,000 euro for three months. Using these funds, you can cover the running costs, e.g. rent and insurance. The crucial prerequisite is that your business must be in an economic emergency caused by the Coronavirus crisis. You do not have to return the funds. You need to apply to your state authorities to benefit from "Sofothilfe"- at fuer-gruender.de, you will find further locally-specific information regarding the emergency aid. 

Deferral of Social security contributions ("Stundung")

Companies with employees can apply for deferral of social security contributions for their employees, i.e. make the due contributions later without interest[ma1] . To do this, an employer must send an application to the relevant health insurance company. On handwerksblatt.de, you will find the addresses of the largest health insurance companies in Germany and a sample application form.

Please note: The self-employed can also apply for unemployment benefit II at the Job Center (if they have little or no income)without losing their self-employed status. You can find out more in the section "What do I do if I am dismissed or earn little?".

Compensation (Entschädigung)

Parents who are unable to work due to childcare, are entitled to a compensation under certain circumstances. Read more in section “Can I stay home to look after my child/children?”.

“Kinderzuschlag”

Families with low incomes can obtain a monthly child benefit ("Kinderzuschlag" or KiZ) of up to 185 euros per child. Whether one receives the KiZ and its amount depends on several factors - above all, your income, housing costs, the size of the family and the age of the children. For example, a family with two children and monthly rent (including heating) of 1,000 euro will be entitled to the KiZ if the total gross income of the household is around 1,600 to 3,300 euro. Anyone who receives a child benefit is also exempt from daycare fees and can apply for additional benefits for education and participation purposes.

The basis for calculating the amount of due child benefit used to be the applicant's average income over the past six months. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, however, the federal government has designated an emergency child support scheme ("Notfall-Kinderzuschlag") so support the families sustaining themselves on short-term allowances ("Kurzarbeit"). From April 2020, families can apply for the KiZ based on their income in the previous month rather than the last six months- such regulation is to apply until September 30, 2020. 

You can check whether you are entitled to child benefit with the KiZ guide of the Family Fund Office ("Familienkasse"). You can also apply online on the website of Employment Agency. 

If you cannot pay your rent due to the financial problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic, your landlord is currently not allowed to remove you from the flat. The restriction applies until June 30, 2020. Let your landlord know that you cannot currently pay. The rent that is not paid now must be paid (with interest) at the latest within the next 24 months, i.e. by June 30, 2022. If you do not pay the rent by then, your landlord can demand you to evacuate.