Coronavirus: Work

In principle, you have to continue to go to work. Nevertheless, your employer has the duty to have regard for the welfare of employees under labor law. This means your employer must do everything in their power to ensure you remain healthy. For example, employers must ensure that safe distances are maintained or a so-called “medical mask” is used at the workplace. Surgical masks and FFP2 masks are considered “medical masks”. Your employer must provide sufficient medical masks.

In addition, your employer must provide you with at least one corona rapid test or self-test per week. Employees who have frequent contact with customers are entitled to two tests per week.

Talk to your superior and inquire about feasible health-related measures. Sometimes, measures such as remote work are regulated in company or works agreements. If your employer ignores employees' safety and well-being, speak to the works council in your company or inform your local Health Office (“Gesundheitsamt”) . You can find your local Health Office via Behördenwegweiser.

If you are infected with Corona at your workplace, the employer's liability insurance association or accident insurance company must be informed immediately. Your illness can only be recognised as an occupational accident or illness only if the employer's liability insurance association or the accident insurance company has been informed in due time. This is very important because the medical treatment and financial support you receive for (recognised) accidents at work and occupational diseases is much greater than what you will be provided by your statutory health insurance.

If you suspect that you got infected with Coronavirus at work, you should tell your employer that you suspect so. Your employer must then inform the trade association (“Berufsgenossenschaft ”) or (“Unfallkasse”) the accident insurance company. If your employer does not take this step, you can contact the company doctor or a “Durchgangsarzt”, i.e. doctors specialised in work accidents/illnesses. You can find the address of these doctors in your area from your professional association. Alternatively, you can report your illness yourself directly to the employer’s liability insurance association or accident insurance company. All you need to do is write an email or a letter with the following sentence to the responsible trade association or accident insurance company: „Ich beantrage die Anerkennung meiner während der Tätigkeit erworbenen Infektion mit Covid-19 als Berufskrankheit“  ("I apply for recognition of my infection with Covid-19 during work as an occupational disease".) You need to send this notification as soon as possible.

As soon as the report arrives at the employers' liability insurance association or the accident insurance company, they will check whether your illness can be recognised as an occupational accident or disease. In order to prove that you have become infected at work, you can, for example, prove that colleagues, customers or patients with whom you had been working are also infected with Coronavirus.

You can learn more (in German, Arabic, English, Turkish, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Polish and Romanian) on the website of verdi. If you need help with the notification letter/email, you can also contact your Works council or a counselling centre of "Faire Integration". To learn more, check out the section "Where can I find help and support?".

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. That means you can reject working extra hours if there are no specified regulations in this regard in your contract and companys agreements.

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.

If the daycare centres and schools have to close or operate only for limited number of days due to the coronavirus pandemic, children stay home the whole day. So, working parents have to find someone to take care of their children during worktime.

For parents who are unable to work because they are taking care of their children at home, the following rules apply:

Child sickness benefit:

• The child sickness benefit is usually for parents who are not able to work as they have to take care of their child who has fallen ill at home. You can find out more about this in our chapter “Sick leave”. Due to the coronavirus, however, the following is valid as of 2021: Parents can also receive child sickness benefits if the facility of their child (daycare, school etc.) is closed due to COVID-19 and they are thus forced to stay home to take care of their child.
• Each parent is eligible for up to 30 days of child sickness benefits per child as of 2021. Single-parents are eligible to receive up to 60 days of child sickness benefits. 
• Child sickness benefits amount to about 90% of your net income.
• You may apply for child sickness benefits directly with your health insurance. To do so, you need a document from your child’s school or day care in which the facility’s closure is confirmed.
• This regulation is valid for everyone who has public health insurance as well as civil servants. It is not applicable for people with part-time employment in the form of a “mini job” or people with private health insurance. To find out more about health insurance in Germany, please read our chapter “Health Insurance”.

Compensation:

• Parents who are not able to work due to closed schools, daycare etc. and are therefore earning less or nothing are eligible for monetary compensation according to section 56 of the Infection Protection Act.
• Compensation amounts to 67% of net income or a maximum of €2,016 and is paid over the course of 10 weeks maximum. Important: Each parent can receive compensation for up to 10 weeks. Single-parents are eligible for compensation for up to 20 weeks.
• You can receive the mentioned compensation if you meet the following requirements: 1) Your child is under the age of 12 or needs care because of a disability. 2)There is no one else available in your household to look after your child. 3) You have already balanced your overtime. Please note: You do not have to use up your entire annual vacation beforehand. However, you must take your vacation from the previous year as well as any vacation that has already been requested and approved beforehand.
• 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.
• You can read more (in German) at ifsg-online.de.

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”. 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.

Quarantine means that the responsible health authority orders you not to leave your home. This can happen when you are considered to put others at risk of infection. 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 ("Krankengeld") instead. You can learn more in our chapter “Sick Leave”.

Please note: If you have knowingly travelled to a risk area, your employer does not have to pay you a wage for the time you must stay in quarantine- unless you can work from home. Whether you have a right to compensation from the state is currently legally controversial and varies from state to state. It is in your best interest to seek advice for your specific case, for instance, from Faire Integration.

Important: If you are quarantined abroad and cannot work from home, your employer does not have to pay you. When that is the case, you are also not entitled to compensation from the German state.

If you cannot return from vacation due to closed borders and consequently cannot come to work, your employer does not have to pay you and you cannot get any compensation from the state either. If your employer has warned you with a warning note or threatened you with dismissal, you should definitely seek advice from Faire Integration's counselling centres.

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 ("Krankengeld"). Learn more in our chapter “Sick Leave”.

If an employer has to temporarily close due to the Coronavirus pandemic, they remain obliged to pay wages if the employees are fit and ready to work. In principle, the missed working hours are not to be made up for later by the employee- unless your contract or collective agreement states otherwise.

However, 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 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 have problems with your employer, you can turn to a counselling centre of the “Fair Integration” project. Their employees speak different languages ​​and support you free of charge when you face problems with your employer. You can search for one of their counselling centres nearby at faire-integration.de. The staff there can also recommend a specialised lawyer if you want to take legal action against your employer.

If there is a Works Council in your company, you can also contact them. The Works council represents the interests of the employees vis-à-vis the employer. For instance, the Works Council ensures that laws and collective agreements are complied with. You should be able to find information about the office hours of your Works Council, e.g., in the break room or on the office "notice board". You can find out more about Works Councils in Germany in our chapter “Works councils & unions”.

If you are discriminated against because of your origins, nationality, sexual orientation, gender or age, you can contact the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency. You can reach their employees on Mondays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. by telephone on 030-18555 1855. Alternatively, you can send them an email to beratung@ads.bund.de. Their staff speak German, English and Arabic.

Please note: You can seek anonymous advice from all of the organisations mentioned above. Your supervisors or colleagues will not find out about your complaint if that is what you prefer.

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 employees are paid 60 or (if they have children) 67 per cent of their net salary for a period of up to 24 months.

If your working time is reduced by at least 50 per cent, your short-time work benefits will increase by time: After four months of collecting short-time allowance, its amount will rise to equal 70% (or 77%, if you have children) of your net salary. From the 7th month, you will receive 80% (or 87%, if you have children) of your net salary as "Kürzarbeitgeld". Such regulation currently applies until December 31, 2021.

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 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. Your residence permit assumes that you are not allowed to receive any money from the state, but you are now receiving short-time work benefits? You do not need to worry. Your residence permit remains valid.

If your short-time work allowance does not cover your life expenses  (rent, food, etc.), you can apply for Unemployment Benefit II (ALG 2). Your short-time work allowance is partially offset against unemployment benefit- in principle, however, the combination of short-time work allowance and unemployment benefit provides you with some more funds compared to what you would have without unemployment benefit. You can find out more about unemployment benefits in our chapter "Coronavirus - State aid" in the section „What can I do if I am dismissed or earning little to no income?“.

Yes. You can work on the side while on short-time work. However, the regulations differ for people who already had a part-time job before short-time work and those who started a part-time job after being put on short-time work.

I already had a part-time job before short-time work: You can continue to do your part-time job. The wages from your part-time job are not offset against the short-time work allowance.

I started a part-time job after being put on short-time work: You can take a part-time job, however, the wages of your part-time job will be offset against your short-time work allowance. Exception: Wages from a mini-job are not offset against your short-time work allowance- this exception applies until December 31, 2021.

Please note: You need to present your wage statements (from your part-time job to your employer so that your short-time work allowance is calculated correctly.

If you do not have a generally applicable work permit, inquire at the immigration authorities responsible for you whether you can take the part-time job in question. You can find the Immigration Office responsible for you at bamf.de. Many Immigration Offices are currently only open to a limited extent, so make sure you call or write them an email in advance.

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 dismissed 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.