Child sickness benefits

SBK provides you with child sickness benefits so that you can look after your child.

With child sickness benefit, we will continue to pay you most of your lost net salary. This allows you to take care of your child in peace - at home or as a companion when your child is hospitalized. You can find out which conditions apply in these two cases and what else you need to consider on this page.

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Child sickness benefits – your SBK benefits:

SBK pays you child sickness benefit so that you can look after your child at home.

You can also receive child sickness benefit if you accompany your child during an inpatient stay and are also admitted.

Your personal customer advisor will provide you with comprehensive advice on the subject of children's sickness benefit.

Amount of child sickness benefit

For salaried employees

We will pay you 90 % of your lost net salary. If you have received one-off payments from your employer in the last twelve months, such as holiday or Christmas bonuses, the children's sickness benefit is even 100%. There is a maximum limit for children's sick pay. It is €120.75 per day in 2024 (2023: €116.38).

To ensure that you do not suffer any disadvantages in pension, unemployment and long-term care insurance, contributions are paid from the children's sickness benefit. You do not have to pay health insurance contributions. The contributions are calculated on the basis of 80% of your salary or earned income. Your share is calculated from the amount of child sickness benefit. You pay a maximum of half of the contributions. We pay the rest.

You don't need to worry about anything. We deduct your contribution share directly from the children's sick pay and transfer it together with the SBK's share directly to the relevant insurance provider.

For self-employed persons

Your income from work, for which you pay contributions, is decisive for the calculation and amount of your child sickness benefit. The statutory maximum limit per day is €120.75 in 2024 (2023: €116.38). If you are compulsorily insured for pension, unemployment or long-term care insurance, you must pay the contributions for this social insurance. Your share is calculated from the amount of the child sickness benefit. You pay a maximum of half of the contributions. We will pay the rest.

Once we have received your application, we still need information on whether you pay contributions and to which social insurance branches. We will contact you. Once you have provided us with this information, we can finalise your claim.

You will receive child sickness benefits from SBK if:

You are employed and are not receiving any remuneration from your employer,

Your child is covered by statutory health insurance,

Your child is under the age of twelve or is disabled and dependent on help from others,

There is nobody else in your household who can look after your child,

You also have an entitlement to sickness benefits (as an employee or self-employed person with entitlement to sickness benefits) and

You are looking after your child, your child is ill or the nursery is school is closed.

Useful information: Your employer is generally required to release you from work and to continue to pay your wages or salary during this time. In this case, we cannot pay any child sickness benefits. If your employer does not pay your wages or salary, for example because this is stipulated in a wage agreement, you will receive sickness benefits from SBK.

Each parent with statutory health insurance cover can apply for 15 days per child in 2024, and a maximum of 35 days if there is more than one child.
For single parents, this increases to 30 days per child, with a maximum of 70 days if there is more than one child.

The following people are eligible:

Parents with statutory health insurance, who are also entitled to sickness benefits and

with children under twelve years old covered by statutory health insurance.

Another requirement is that there is nobody else in the household who can look after your child for you.

You can complete the application for child sickness benefits due to the pandemic online. You can use the Meine SBK app or the website address meine.sbk.org/child-sickness-benefits. This means that we will receive your application immediately, you will save the costs of postage and can focus on looking after your child.

If you would prefer to make your application in writing, please contact your personal consultant.

If the care is needed because your child is ill, please send us the doctor’s certificate in the usual way. In this case you can also complete your application online – on the Meine SBK app or at meine.sbk.org/child-sickness-benefits.

As of 1 January 2015, child sickness benefits amount to 90% of the parent’s usual net earnings. If in the last 12 calendar months prior to taking time off work they have received lump-sum payments, the value of the child sickness benefits rises to 100% of the usual net earnings. The gross maximum amount of sickness benefits paid out for a sick child is €120.75 for each calendar day (2024).

The sickness benefits paid out to help care for a sick child are generally subject to deductions for nursing care, pension scheme contributions and unemployment insurance. The SBK deducts these contributions prior to paying out the sickness benefits and transfers them to the relevant insurance provider along with the amounts to be paid by SBK.

Yes. This is possible if the other parent cannot claim their entitlement themselves due to personal or professional reasons.

A transfer is possible if:

Both parents are covered by statutory health insurance,

Both parents have an entitlement to sickness benefits,

One parent cannot look after the child for professional reasons and

The other parent has already used their full entitlement.

Please talk to your employer, since they will need to agree to you taking more time off work.

The entitlement to take time off work to look after a sick child is often regulated by collective wage agreements, in which case you will automatically continue to receive your wage when your child is sick. Ask your employer for more details.

If both parents have statutory health insurance but this is with different insurance companies, then the insurance company of the person caring for the child pays out the child sickness benefits. This applies regardless of which company the child is insured with.

You receive child sickness benefit from SBK if,

you are employed and receive no pay from your employer,

your hospitalisation is medically necessary,

your child is covered by statutory health insurance,

your child is under the age of twelve or is disabled and dependent on assistance,

your child requires inpatient treatment*.

*Inpatient treatment includes full and partial inpatient hospital treatment, inpatient preventive care and inpatient rehabilitation services.

Children's sickness benefit for inpatient co-admission is paid for as long as accompaniment is necessary for medical reasons.

If your child has not yet reached the age of 9, please contact your personal customer advisor. He or she will help you with the application.

From the age of 9 until your child reaches the age of 12, we need proof from the inpatient facility that you need to be admitted. You can obtain this proof directly from the inpatient facility or from your personal customer advisor.

Child sickness benefits