Compensation for Loss of Earnings

Employees and self-employed individuals are entitled to compensation if they have suffered a loss of earnings due to a quarantine requirement or a prohibition on working. These measures may be ordered by the authorities or mandated by law.

Furthermore, working custodial parents of children up to age 12 may receive compensation if child care facilities or schools are temporarily closed or access to them is prohibited as part of an epidemic situation of national significance, the custodial parents must arrange for childcare themselves due to a lack of other reasonable childcare options and suffer a loss of earnings as a result.

Loss of earnings occurs when there are no other claims that take precedence. Such claims may arise, among other sources, from Section 616 of the German Civil Code (BGB), Sections 19 and 25 of the Vocational Training Act, or the Continued Pay Act. Thus, the Federal Labor Court (judgment of March 20, 2024—5 AZR 234/23) and the Federal Administrative Court (judgment of October 9, 2025 - BVerG 3 C 14.24) have ruled that a priority claim under the Continued Pay Act exists even in cases of asymptomatic illness, and that this precludes compensation under the IfSG.

Applications for compensation must be submitted to the public health department within two years of the cessation of the prohibited activity, the end of the quarantine, or the temporary closure of the facility. Eligible employees receive compensation from their employer for a period of 6 weeks; the employer, in turn, may apply to the public health department for reimbursement of these expenses.

Those entitled to compensation are also reimbursed for social security expenses to a reasonable extent.