Requesting Elternzeit from Your Employer: The Deadline That Comes Before the Deadline
Elternzeit (parental leave) is a right you notify your employer of, not a request they can approve or deny, but the notice period matters: at least 7 weeks before a leave period starting before your child's 3rd birthday, and at least 13 weeks before a leave period starting between the 3rd and 8th birthday. If you're taking leave before the 3rd birthday, you must commit in the same notification to a binding plan covering the following two years, changeable afterward only with your employer's consent. The detail that actually surprises people is the dismissal protection under § 18 BEEG: it doesn't start on your first day of leave, it starts 8 weeks before that (or 14 weeks before, for leave taken between age 3 and 8), meaning your employer already can't fire you the moment you notify them, well before the leave itself begins.
The Official Rule
The first thing worth unlearning about Elternzeit is the word “beantragen” that shows up in casual conversation about it. You don’t apply for Elternzeit the way you’d apply for a new job or a mortgage. You notify (anmelden) your employer of it, and according to the Familienportal des Bundes, as long as your notification meets the deadline and form requirements, your employer has no legal path to refuse it. That distinction, entitlement versus approval, is worth holding onto through everything else in this guide.
The deadline itself depends on your child’s age at the start of that specific leave period, not on when you first became a parent. For children born on or after 1 July 2015, a leave period starting before the child’s 3rd birthday needs at least 7 weeks’ notice. A leave period starting between the 3rd and 8th birthday, the portion many parents deliberately hold back for later, primary school transitions or a summer care gap, needs at least 13 weeks’ notice, nearly twice as long. Children born before 1 July 2015 still fall under the older, simpler rule: 7 weeks’ notice regardless of which portion of the leave is being taken.
| Leave period starts | Minimum notice required | Dismissal protection begins |
|---|---|---|
| Before child's 3rd birthday | 7 weeks before leave starts | 8 weeks before leave starts |
| Between 3rd and 8th birthday | 13 weeks before leave starts | 14 weeks before leave starts |
If you’re notifying leave that starts before your child turns 3, the same notification has to include a binding plan for the following two years, not just the first block you’re about to take. This Bindungszeitraum lets your employer plan staffing around a known window rather than an open-ended one. Once it’s declared, shifting the plan later needs your employer’s actual agreement, it isn’t a unilateral do-over. The form requirement has also genuinely changed recently: per TK Firmenkunden’s employer-facing guidance, since 1 May 2025, text form, an email or an unsigned letter, is legally sufficient for children born from that date onward, while children born before 30 April 2025 still need a written, signed notification.
The detail that actually catches people off guard is § 18 BEEG’s dismissal protection timing. It doesn’t start on the first day of your leave, it starts before your leave does, 8 weeks before if the leave begins before your child’s 3rd birthday, 14 weeks before if it begins between the 3rd and 8th birthday. That earlier start date closes a real gap: without it, an employer who knew a leave notification was coming could try to dismiss beforehand. The protection then runs continuously through the leave itself, and applies again before each separate block of leave you’ve formally established, not just the first one.
What Real People Say
Parents describing this process on forums like Toytown Germany consistently mention the same adjustment: coming from a system where parental leave has to be requested and cleared by HR, and needing to mentally reframe Elternzeit as something you inform your employer of on a fixed timeline, not something you wait on a decision about. The practical friction that does come up isn’t the leave itself getting refused, it’s missing the notice deadline by a few days and having to shift the start date later than originally planned, or discovering the binding two-year declaration requirement only once already partway through drafting the notification.
The recurring piece of advice across these accounts is to put the actual deadline in a calendar the moment a due date is known, working backward from it (7 or 13 weeks, depending on which portion of the leave), rather than treating the notification as something to sort out once the baby has already arrived, when the deadline for the very first block may already have passed.
Step by Step
- Work out which notice deadline applies to your situation: 7 weeks before the start of leave taken before your child’s 3rd birthday, 13 weeks before leave starting between the 3rd and 8th birthday.
- Decide your full leave plan for the next two years if any of it starts before age 3, since that plan has to be declared as a binding block in the same notification, not added piecemeal afterward.
- Put your notification in writing, a signed letter to be safe regardless of your child’s birth date, though text form (email) is sufficient on its own for children born from 1 May 2025 onward.
- Send it to your employer by the deadline, not after it, since missing the window can push your intended start date back rather than simply being waived.
- Understand that your dismissal protection is already active in the weeks before your leave starts, 8 or 14 weeks out depending on your child’s age, so don’t wait until the first day of leave to feel like the protection has kicked in.
Compliance Note
This page explains the general framework around requesting Elternzeit under the BEEG, but this is not legal advice, and specific circumstances, your contract, any collective agreement, unusual timing like premature birth, can affect the details. For your specific situation, confirm current requirements with your employer’s HR department, the Familienportal des Bundes, or a labor law advisor.
FAQ & Common Pitfalls
Can my employer actually say no to my Elternzeit request?
No, and this is the single most important thing to understand about the process. Elternzeit is a legal entitlement you notify your employer of (Anmeldung), not an application they approve or reject the way they might a normal vacation request. As long as you meet the notice deadline and your notification is in the correct form, your employer's role is to acknowledge it, not authorize it. What they can weigh in on is timing changes within your binding two-year plan after the fact, that genuinely does need their consent, but the leave itself isn't theirs to grant or deny.
What's the actual difference between 7 weeks and 13 weeks notice?
It depends entirely on your child's age when the specific leave period starts, for children born on or after 1 July 2015. A leave period beginning before your child's 3rd birthday needs at least 7 weeks' notice. A leave period beginning between the 3rd and 8th birthday, the portion of Elternzeit many parents save for later, needs at least 13 weeks' notice instead, nearly double. If your child was born before 1 July 2015, the older, simpler rule still applies: 7 weeks' notice regardless of which portion of the leave you're taking.
Do I need a wet signature on paper, or can I just email my employer?
This changed recently, and the answer depends on your child's birth date. For children born from 1 May 2025 onward, text form, meaning an email or an unsigned letter, is legally sufficient. For children born before 30 April 2025, the older rule still requires written form with an actual signature. If you're not sure which rule applies to your family, sending a signed letter alongside an email covers you either way, and costs you nothing extra.
What does the 'binding two-year plan' actually commit me to?
When you notify your employer of Elternzeit starting before your child's 3rd birthday, you have to declare, in that same notification, which specific periods within the following two years you intend to take as leave, not just the first block. This Bindungszeitraum (binding period) is what lets your employer plan around your absence with some certainty. Once declared, changing the plan requires your employer's explicit agreement, it isn't something you can simply revise unilaterally later. This binding requirement doesn't apply to leave you take starting from the 3rd birthday onward, that portion can be notified on its own timeline without a multi-year commitment attached.
If dismissal protection starts before my leave does, what does that actually protect me from during those weeks?
It means your employer legally cannot terminate your employment starting from 8 weeks before your leave begins (for leave before the 3rd birthday) or 14 weeks before (for leave between the 3rd and 8th birthday), under § 18 BEEG, and that protection then continues through the entire leave period itself. Practically, this closes a gap that would otherwise exist: without it, an employer who saw an Elternzeit notification coming could theoretically dismiss you in the weeks before it started. The law closes that window specifically by making the protection kick in before the leave does, not on day one of the leave.