Junior professors—special considerations

Employment must be extended for periods of statutory maternity leave or parental leave if there are no official reasons not to extend employment and if the employee desires the extension. Please note that the employee must submit an application. It is irrelevant whether or not the junior professor is a normal employee or a so-called “temporary civil servant” (Beamte auf Zeit). For infromation see the guide published by the union for education and science (GEW)(PDF, in German only).

Section 24 paragraph 1 of the Hamburg higher education act (Hamburgisches Hochschulgesetz, HmbHG, in German only) in connection with Section 2 paragraph 5 of the academic fixed-term labor contract act (Gesetz über befristete Arbeitsverträge in der Wissenschaft, WissZeitVG) regulate matters relating to extensions of the junior professorship due to statutory maternity leave, parental leave, or reduction of hours due to childcare. Moreover, Section 24 paragraph 2 of the HmbHG stipulates an extension option on the grounds of care of underage children of up to one year per child, with a maximum of two years. Applications for this should be in writing (no form) and should be submitted via the dean of the respective faculty to Human Resources.

If statutory maternity leave or parental leave need to be taken in the first phase of a junior professorship, the intermediate evaluation is postponed accordingly, as these times do not count toward the employment period. However, the employee is required to submit an informal application to HR requesting that statutory maternity leave and/or parental leave periods not be counted toward the regular employment period.

In accordance with Section 19 subsection 1 sentence 2 HmbHG, the faculty is responsible for conducting the intermediate evaluation; HR must inform the office of the dean that the intermediate evaluation is to be postponed by the period taken for statutory maternity leave and/or parental leave.

In accordance with recommendation for the Presidium of 18 November 2014, parental leave has the following consequences for professors’ teaching obligations:

The teaching obligation refers to a complete single semester; if parental leave begins mid-semester, the teaching obligation is reduced accordingly.

Section 16 subsection 5 HmbHG states: “Professors must take vacation during the reading period. Exceptions are granted if

1. the course schedule requires other provisions, or
2. care of the sick or occupational safety cannot otherwise be guaranteed; the necessary curriculum must be ensured.”

A replacement can be already be hired during statutory maternity leave and be retained throughout the subsequent parental leave.  Contact HR staff if you have more questions.

Professors must first ascertain what kind of replacement is most suitable. A replacement could, for example, take on specific teaching duties. Professors seeking a replacement during their statutory maternity leave can submit an application to the Equal Opportunity Commissioner for funding from the equal opportunity fund.