Parental leave for mayor in Rhineland-Palatinate: Why it doesn't work!

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Landau in der Pfalz diskutiert die fehlende Elternzeit für Bürgermeister und erste Schritte zur Reform der Regelungen in Rheinland-Pfalz.
Landau in the Palatinate discusses the lack of parental leave for mayors and first steps to reform the regulations in Rhineland-Palatinate. (Symbolbild/ANAG)

In Rhineland-Palatinate, Mayor currently has no opportunity to take parental leave, which leads to a special situation. Nationwide, experts observe that this regulation could have a potentially impact on equality and application of women for such offices. SWR reports that mayor like Lukas Hartmann from Landau and Stefanie Seiler from Speyer took their vacation after the birth of their children. Hartmann even brought his baby to work, while Seiler took her child to work after the statutory maternity protection period.

Administrative scientist Constanze Janda points out that the current civil service regulations in Rhineland-Palatinate do not provide parental leave for municipal election officers. Your analysis shows that a legal basis is missing to change this practice, whereas in other federal states such as Baden-Württemberg Mayor can apply for parental leave.

Missing legal basis in Rhineland-Palatinate

The situation is clear: Mayor in Rhineland-Palatinate can only take a vacation or bring their children to work, which makes it difficult to reconcile work and family. Janda notes that the lack of options during parental leave could possibly prevent women from applying for these offices. It suggests that the introduction of shorter or part-time parent times are considered in order to promote greater acceptance and participation.

For civil servants in Rhineland-Palatinate, it is generally possible to apply for parental leave after the maternity protection periods. According to information from LFF Rheinland-Pfalz there is an application for parental leave at the respective office, which informs about deadlines and provisions of the parental leave law.

parental leave and parental allowance

It is also important that there is no entitlement to ongoing payments during parental leave. Officials must demonstrate their income through reimbursements at the responsible parental allowance office. In a system where teachers are not automatically official, there are different framework conditions in other federal states that can affect parental leave and parental allowance.

The inadequate regulation for mayor reflects a much bigger problem within the public service. There is a clear need for reforms to improve the compatibility of work and family in municipal offices. simple-elterngeld.de in this context shows that well-clocked planning and advice are essential to make parental leave as effective as possible.

The current situation requires a rethink: If women are to rise in political leadership positions, flexible working models must be created that take into account the needs of families.

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