Family Service - PME Familenservice

What is the Family Service?

The Family Service is a private consultancy and placement service with offices in many larger towns in Germany. They help you finding care services for children and other family members in need of care.

How can I use the Family Service?

Please contact the peronal office first. The contract only concerns care provision for children not of mandatory school age and care for the elderly.

Please note:

• The Back-Up-Emergency care is in genereal cases 2 days per child a year (can be booked until 6pm for the following day)
• You need a qualification certificate which must be signed by the head of administration or his representatives. You can get in the personell office and have to send to the PME Familienservice
• For the Emergency care you can submit the certificate later if necessary

Who is allowed to use the Family Service?

The service is free of charge to members of staff in Max Planck Society facilities, fellowship holders, persons employed to work with a Max Planck scientist on an ad personam contract, and all guests working on a fee basis whose working period at an institute will last at least 6 months. The costs for consultation and placement will be covered by the Max Planck Society.

What types of care can the Family Service provide?

The Family Service helps you select the solution best suited to your family needs from the wide, sometimes confusing range on offer. The types of care include for example:

• Childcare
  • Arrangement of a (permanent) childcare place (day-care persons and childcare establishments)
  • Arrangement of a babysitter (childcare person at home)/au pairs/granny to go
  • Emergency care at private home/back-up facilities via an emergency hotline
  • Online website enabling employees to search themselves for institutional childcare solutions (crèche/nursery) (age 0 to 6)
  • Holiday care services
  • Meeting care
• Eldercare
  • Consultation on and arrangement of care for the elderly (consultation on care solutions and the financing of care, arrangement of carers and places at care homes)
  • Support with the development of suitable care concepts
• Work Life Balance
  • Provision of  events  for health management (Stress and Burn Out Prophylaxis)

Who pays for the care services?

You pay the costs for the care services you select via the Family Service. In making suggestions for care options, the service endeavours to take your financial situation into account. Should you have financial problems with the costs of care, talk to one of the consultants from the Family Service - often it is possible to find cheaper alternatives. Single parents can apply for subsidies from the local authority´s Youth Welfare Department, with the help of the Family Service. In addition the Family Service also offers information and consultation about the "Pflegeversicherung".

Details about the reimbursement for additional childcare of max 36 Euro per day and a link for the application form can be found here.