Care and profession
Taking care of a close person in need of care during employment is always a difficult situation and requires a lot of time and energy. While mom and dad can slowly prepare for the coming offspring, a person in need of care creates a completely new and usually sudden situation. Reconciling caregiving tasks and studies or caregiving tasks and work is not always easy. That is why we provide the best possible support for students and employees.
Who is classified as in need of care?
Within the care insurance law, the need for care applies to people who, due to a physical, mental or psychological illness or disability, require considerable or greater assistance in the areas of personal hygiene, nutrition, mobility and domestic care for a period of probably at least six months.
The Medical Service of the Health Insurance Fund examines the need for care and, if care is needed, assigns the patient to one of three existing levels. The level of benefits varies depending on the care level.
If the person to be cared for cannot comply with the requirements of care level 1, but also lives with limited everyday competence, care allowance can still be claimed, as care level 0 has existed since 2008. Likewise, in 2013, a redefinition of the concept of care introduced an improvement in benefits for people suffering from dementia.
What are the options of care?
While the most common form of care is at home, a nursing home can also be used. At this point, a distinction is made between outpatient and inpatient care. To support care at home, care allowances, individual caregivers, care aids and combination benefits can be applied for. Care at home, on the other hand, can be provided as fully inpatient, partially inpatient or short-term care. Quality and transparency in the homes are regularly checked.
When caring for relatives at home, the financial support is the care allowance, which is not paid to the caregiver, but exclusively to the person in need of care. A caregiver is defined as a person who provides care for at least 14 hours a week. If the caregiver does not work more than 30 hours a week, the care insurance pays contributions to the pension insurance. The caregiver is also covered by non-contributory, statutory accident insurance during all caregiving activities. If the caregiver is unable to care for the person being cared for due to vacation or illness, the care insurance fund pays the necessary substitute benefits.
Family care leave
Since January 2015, there has been a legal entitlement to family caregiver leave. This means that employees can take partial time off for a period of up to 24 months with a minimum working time of 15 hours per week. For civil servants, the respective civil service regulations apply. If a relative becomes acutely in need of care, there is the right to take up to ten working days off.
Further information on care:
Further information on care benefits: