a recent reform has further enabled parents of children bom after june to make even more flexible use of the job protection provision with the employer s consent they can use months of the month employmentprotection period any time between the child s third and eighth birthday but beyond the provisions of parental leave elternzeit and family care leave pflegezeit and familienpflegezeit employees in germany are not legally entitled to resume fulltime work once their reduced working hours have been approved by their employer see chapter for an international comparison of legal provisions on average fulltime working mothers in germany put in nearly hours per week outstripped only by swiss and austrian mothers with about hours per week figure