Parental and maternity leave cover in legal

By Christian Steinmetz and Maren Siegels

Short answer: To plan parental and maternity leave in a legal team, work backwards from the first day of absence. In Germany, maternity protection (Mutterschutz) starts 6 weeks before the birth (§ 3 MuSchG); in Switzerland, maternity leave of at least 14 weeks starts on the day of birth (Art. 329f OR). Start looking for cover about 12 weeks before that date and allow two to four weeks of overlap. In Germany, parental leave (Elternzeit) can last until the child's third birthday (§ 15 BEEG); in Switzerland, overlap, holidays and a staggered return usually make cover much longer than 14 weeks.

This guide is for general counsel, heads of legal, heads of compliance and HR in Switzerland and Germany. It sets out the statutory key figures for both countries in one table, compares the cover options and provides a timeline, a handover checklist and worked cost examples.

What applies where? Maternity and parental leave in Switzerland and Germany

The main difference is duration: the Swiss statutory minimum is 14 weeks of maternity leave, while in Germany absences of more than a year are possible. The table summarises the figures that matter when you plan cover.

Topic	Switzerland	Germany
Protection period before the birth	No statutory protection period; if the employee is unwell, the rules on continued pay apply (Art. 324a OR)	6 weeks before the birth; work only if the woman expressly agrees, revocable at any time (§ 3(1) MuSchG)
Duration after the birth	Maternity leave of at least 14 weeks, longer if the baby is hospitalised (Art. 329f OR); 8-week employment ban, then work until week 16 only with her consent (Art. 35a(3) ArG)	8-week employment ban, 12 weeks after premature or multiple births (§ 3(2) MuSchG)
Allowance	Daily allowance for 98 days at 80 % of earnings, capped at CHF 220 per day; up to 56 extra days if the baby is in hospital for at least two weeks (Art. 16c, 16e, 16f EOG)	Not decisive for planning cover; protection periods and Elternzeit are what count
Parental leave / further leave	2 weeks for the other parent within 6 months (Art. 329g OR); no general statutory parental leave beyond this	Elternzeit until the child's 3rd birthday; up to 24 months of it between the 3rd and 8th birthday; notice at least 7 weeks in advance, binding for 2 years (§§ 15, 16 BEEG)
Protection against dismissal	After probation, during pregnancy and for 16 weeks after the birth; notice given in this period is void (Art. 336c OR)	During pregnancy and for at least 4 months after the birth (§ 17 MuSchG); from the request for Elternzeit, at the earliest 8 weeks before it starts, and throughout it (§ 18 BEEG)
Impact on cover	Statutory minimum of 14 weeks; in practice often around six months (see worked example)	From a few months to over a year; the notification under § 16 BEEG is your key planning input

In Switzerland, collective agreements (GAV), company regulations and, for public-sector staff, cantonal law can go beyond the statutory entitlements. Check your own regulations before you fix the length of cover. Austria has its own rules, such as an 8-week employment ban before and after the birth (§§ 3, 5 MSchG); our guide to staff leasing of lawyers in Switzerland and Germany covers assignments there.

Why maternity cover in Switzerland lasts longer than 14 weeks

The 14 weeks are the statutory minimum, not the length of the cover. These factors extend it in practice:

Overlap before the birth: the date of birth cannot be planned exactly, so cover is best started two to four weeks earlier.
Holidays: many employees add holidays to their maternity leave.
Return between weeks 14 and 16: until week 16, the employee may only work with her consent (Art. 35a(3) ArG).
Reduced hours: anyone returning on lower hours leaves a gap that the cover can fill.
Unpaid or extended company leave: many employers offer more than the statutory minimum.
Hospitalisation of the baby: maternity leave and allowance are extended (Art. 329f(2) OR, Art. 16c EOG).

Worked example (assumption): 3 weeks of overlap + 14 weeks of maternity leave + 3 weeks of holiday + 4 weeks of staggered return make 24 weeks, or just under six months of cover.

Which cover options does a legal department have?

There are five realistic options for parental or maternity leave cover in a legal or compliance team. They differ in who directs the work, how quickly they are available and how easily they adapt if the leave is extended or cut short.

Option	Fits when	Points to note
Fixed-term employment	The absence is long and predictable, and you have time to recruit	In Germany, covering maternity protection and Elternzeit is a statutory objective reason for a fixed term (§ 21 BEEG; generally § 14(1) sentence 2 no. 3 TzBfG). New hires often have their own notice period to serve.
Staff leasing (CH: Personalverleih, Swiss staff leasing; DE: Arbeitnehmerüberlassung, German temporary agency work)	The cover should work as part of the team and the duration may change	You direct the work. Germany caps assignments at 18 months per person and client (§ 1(1b) AÜG); Switzerland has no statutory maximum. In Switzerland, only a provider based and licensed in Switzerland may lease staff (Art. 12 AVG).
Freelancing	Clearly defined tasks, such as a contract project or one area of law	The professional works independently within the agreed mandate. In Germany, close integration and instructions point towards employment (§ 7(1) SGB IV); in Switzerland, working for a single client is usually treated as employment for social security (AHV) purposes.
Internal redistribution	Short absence or spare capacity in the team	Strains the team for months; agree priorities and limits in writing.
Law firm	Individual specialist questions or proceedings	Usually more expensive for day-to-day work; the knowledge stays outside the company.

The cover does not need to match the full role profile. Separate tasks that must continue from development topics that can wait. If several areas of law are involved, two people or a part-time arrangement often work better than one overly broad profile.

Alpinum Solutions provides legal and compliance professionals for this kind of cover through staff leasing and freelancing, part-time or full-time, from junior to senior level. The contracting entity in Switzerland is Alpinum Solutions AG, which holds a cantonal licence; in Germany it is Alpinum Solutions GmbH, licensed by the Hesse regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency. A move into your team (temp-to-perm) is possible; the terms are agreed in advance.

Timeline: 12, 8, 4 and 1 week before the start

Twelve weeks is usually enough for briefing, selection, contracts and overlap. The plan counts back from the first day of absence; in Germany that is normally the start of maternity protection, in Switzerland the expected date of birth or an earlier start of holidays.

12 weeks before: list tasks and open matters, estimate workload and duration, approve the budget, choose the model (fixed-term hire, staff leasing or freelancing).
8 weeks before: finalise the role profile, review profiles and hold interviews. In German companies with a works council, plan for its involvement (§ 14(3) AÜG, § 99 BetrVG).
4 weeks before: sign contracts. In Germany, the leasing contract must expressly be labelled as Arbeitnehmerüberlassung and name the individual before the assignment (§ 1(1) sentences 5–6 AÜG); in Switzerland, the staff leasing contract must be in writing (Art. 22(1) AVG). Request system access, hardware and powers of attorney.
2 to 4 weeks before: start the overlap. The cover works alongside the employee, takes over matters step by step and meets stakeholders.
1 week before: complete the handover record, review open deadlines together, set up out-of-office messages and forwarding, and announce the new contact internally.

If the baby arrives early, the overlap shrinks. Keep the handover record up to date from week 8 rather than writing it at the end.

Handover: matters, deadlines, stakeholders, authority, systems

A good handover lets the cover continue without starting from scratch. The handover record should include:

Matter register: all live contracts, proceedings, projects and requests with status, next step and priority.
Deadlines: court, regulatory and contractual deadlines, termination and renewal dates, reporting obligations.
Stakeholders: internal contacts per business unit, external law firms, authorities, auditors.
Authority and approvals: what the cover may decide alone and what needs internal sign-off; who signs.
Systems: contract database, document management, ticketing, mailboxes, templates and clause library.
Return: a handover meeting before the return; a list of matters that go back and of matters the cover will close.

Our briefing template for interim lawyers lists what to include in the role profile.

Overlap and return: part-time, staggered handback, extension

A staggered return works best: the returning employee takes back individual matters first, while the cover stays on with reduced hours for a transition period. In Germany, part-time work of up to 32 hours a week on monthly average is permitted during Elternzeit (§ 15(4) BEEG). If someone returns part-time, the cover can take the remaining hours; in Swiss staff leasing, you adjust the leasing contract, because working hours are part of its mandatory content (Art. 22(1) AVG).

Extension or early end

Parental leave plans change. Agree in the contract how much notice is needed to extend or end the cover. For a German fixed-term hire, the employer may give at least 3 weeks' notice if Elternzeit ends early without its consent (§ 21(4) BEEG). In staff leasing, the contracts with the provider set the notice periods; in Switzerland, open-ended assignments also have shorter minimum notice periods of 2 or 7 days in the first six months (Art. 19(4) AVG). In Germany, the 18-month cap also matters if the leave is long.

Calculating the cost of cover

The basic formula is days per week × weeks × day rate. At Alpinum Solutions, a senior profile (7+ years) in staff leasing costs EUR 960–1,440+ per day in Germany and CHF 1,200–1,800+ per day in Switzerland; an experienced profile (3–6 years) in Switzerland costs CHF 800–1,200 per day, all excluding VAT (as of 18 October 2026).

Germany, assumption: senior legal counsel, full-time, 39 weeks including 4 weeks of overlap, public holidays not deducted: 195 days × an assumed EUR 1,100 = EUR 214,500 excluding VAT.
Switzerland, assumption: experienced legal counsel, 80 % (four days a week), 24 weeks as in the worked example above: 96 days × an assumed CHF 1,000 = CHF 96,000 excluding VAT.
Switzerland, senior variant, full-time: 120 days × an assumed CHF 1,400 = CHF 168,000 excluding VAT.

Offset this against the absent employee's saved salary costs and avoided law firm hours. Our guide to interim legal and compliance costs explains all ranges and cost drivers.

Example: 9 months of senior legal counsel cover including one month of overlap

An international industrial company in Germany needed like-for-like cover for a senior legal counsel going on parental leave. Selected profiles were available within 48 hours; the company and Alpinum agreed the start date together. The assignment ran through staff leasing at 100 % and lasted nine months, including one month of overlap.

The cover reported to the head of legal and handled day-to-day advice, contract management and support for the operating business. The legal department stayed fully operational, and external legal fees fell by around 40–50 %. The parental leave cover case study has the details.

Limits and risks

The cover works to your priorities. Without a clear matter register and approval rules, gaps appear that only surface on the employee's return.
Formal functions such as a data protection officer, a Swiss data protection adviser, a money laundering reporting officer or a Swiss AML compliance unit need a separate review, because appointment and notification requirements may apply.
In Switzerland, in-house lawyers employed by an employer that is not itself on the bar register cannot be entered in the register (Art. 8(1)(d) BGFA). Whether a leased professional can rely on the in-house legal department's right to refuse cooperation in civil proceedings (Art. 167a ZPO) has not been settled by the courts. Address confidentiality expressly in the contract.
Alpinum provides professionals and is not a law firm. Professional responsibility for the work stays with the legal department.

Frequently asked questions about parental and maternity leave cover in legal teams

How early should I look for parental or maternity leave cover?

Plan about 12 weeks before the first day of absence. That is enough for briefing, selection, contracts and two to four weeks of overlap. In Germany, the absence usually starts with maternity protection 6 weeks before the birth (§ 3 MuSchG); in Switzerland, with the birth or holidays taken beforehand. A fixed-term hire of your own needs more lead time, because new hires often have a notice period.

How long does cover typically last?

In Switzerland, the statutory minimum is 14 weeks of maternity leave (Art. 329f OR); with overlap, holidays and a staggered return, cover often runs for around six months. In Germany, the range is from a few months to several years, because Elternzeit can last until the child's third birthday (§ 15 BEEG). The binding two-year notification is the best guide there.

What happens if parental leave is extended or cut short?

The cover then needs to be adjusted. Agree from the outset how much notice is needed to extend or end it. If Elternzeit in Germany ends early without the employer's consent, § 21(4) BEEG allows a fixed-term cover contract to be terminated with at least 3 weeks' notice. In staff leasing, the contractual notice periods apply, and in Switzerland also the minimum periods under Art. 19(4) AVG.

Does a fixed-term cover contract in Germany need an objective reason?

Covering maternity protection and Elternzeit is expressly an objective reason for a fixed term under § 21(1) BEEG, including parts of that period and induction time; the term must be fixed by date or follow from its purpose. Without an objective reason, a fixed term by date is allowed for up to two years, but not if the person has previously worked for the same employer (§ 14(2) TzBfG). The fixed term must be agreed in writing (§ 14(4) TzBfG).

Does the Swiss staff leasing collective agreement apply to lawyers?

It depends on salary. The declaration of general applicability of the collective agreement for staff leasing (GAV Personalverleih) runs until 31 December 2027 and excludes employees earning more than the maximum insured earnings under Swiss accident insurance, which is CHF 148,200 a year in 2026 (Art. 22(1) UVV). Many experienced legal counsel earn more. The AVG and the Code of Obligations apply in every case.

Can the cover start part-time?

Yes. Both staff leasing and freelancing are available part-time. A part-time start makes sense if the absent employee already works reduced hours or only some tasks must continue. Often the workload rises after the overlap and falls again during a staggered return.

Next step

Tell us the length of absence, the tasks and the workload you need. Selected profiles are usually available within 48 hours; the company and Alpinum agree the start date together.

Last updated: 30 October 2026.

Planning parental and maternity leave in the legal department: cover in Switzerland and Germany