About FUNKT

The offer of the holiday care FUNKT is open to children of students and employees of the UdS and external children alike.
FUNKT is aimed at primary school children, i.e. children who have already started school at the time of the event.
An exception is made for pre-school children who start school after the summer holidays; they can take part in the FUNKT offer during the summer holidays if there would otherwise be a gap in childcare.
A maximum of 20 children can take part in a FUNKT week.

The dates for holiday care are set taking into account the respective semester dates with the aim of ensuring the best possible coverage of lecture and examination times.
In 2024, a total of four school holiday weeks can be covered by FUNKT events.
Please note: The respective FUNKT week will only take place if at least eight binding registrations have been received 14 days before the start of the event.

The participation fees listed below apply per child and week of the event.
In addition to childcare, the participation fee also includes a communal lunch and drinks (water and tea).
Participation fees vary depending on the number of days of care covered.

Reduction for UdS members:

For the children of students and employees, the UdS assumes part of the costs incurred, so that members of the UdS benefit from a reduced participation fee. This subsidy has already been deducted from the participation fees shown for children of UdS members. Please note the information on pecuniary advantage.

Reduction for students and persons in special life situations:

Parents who are studying or are in a special life situation can apply to the Family Office to have the participation fee covered if necessary. For needs and questions, please contact the Family Office at: familie(at)uni-saarland.de. Students must prove their student status by providing a certificate of enrolment for the current semester.

Discount for siblings:

All parents benefit from a discount for siblings. If two or more siblings take part in the same FUNKT week, parents pay the full participation fee for the first child and a 20% reduction for each additional child.

Pecuniary advantage

Saarland University offers a holiday programme for primary school children on several weeks in order to improve the compatibility of work and family life and assumes part of the costs The use of holiday care for school-age children may be regarded as a benefit in kind provided by the employer in addition to wages. Such a benefit in kind constitutes a pecuniary advantage and is therefore taken into account both in the determination of your social security contributions and the wage tax calculation in the wage/salary statement.

The benefit in kind increases your taxable gross remuneration and, if the monthly exemption limit (currently € 50 per person and month) is exceeded, is fully included in the tax calculation depending on your individual income tax class. Your gross amount subject to social insurance contributions is increased by the benefit in kind. The respective employer and employee contributions are then calculated from this basis. Please consult a tax advisor for detailed information.

Status: March 2024

Registrations will be considered on a first come, first served basis. In the event of capacity bottlenecks, the children of UdS members will be given priority in the allocation of places. Immediately after sending your registration, you will first receive an automatic confirmation of receipt. Shortly after receipt of your registration (usually within one to two working days), you will be informed by e-mail whether your child can take part in the holiday care (booking confirmation) or whether it is on a waiting list due to high demand.

Please note: Your booking is binding after the booking confirmation has been sent to the mail address you provided. With the registration and acceptance by the Family Office of Saarland University, the person placing the order becomes liable to pay.

In the case of a booking confirmation, you will be informed in a separate e-mail of our bank details, the purpose of payment and the date for the transfer of the participation fee. The invoice amount is to be transferred to the bank account specified in accordance with the payment deadline and without deductions.

In case of high demand, we keep children on a waiting list - should your child not be able to take up his or her place, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can offer the place to another child.

Please note: If you cancel your child's registration after we have confirmed the place with our booking confirmation, 50% of the participation fee can be refunded. If you cancel your child's registration within the last two weeks before the start of the event, but no later than the Thursday before the start of the event, 20% of the participation fee can be refunded. There will be no refund in the event of non-attendance..

Should your child not be able to participate in the holiday care for reasons of illness, a refund of the participation fee is possible upon presentation of a medical certificate up to two days before the start of the event. In case of illness or cancellation during the holiday week, the participation fee cannot be refunded.

If an event week is cancelled completely, you will receive a refund of the participation fee paid.

Before the start of the holiday care, we will send you our feedback form, which you should fill in and hand in on the first day of the event before it starts. In our feedback form, we ask for selected information about your child's health, vaccinations and medical care. The information is intended to help our carers to act quickly and correctly.
We would like to know if your child regularly takes medication and if he/she is aware of any allergies or food or medication intolerances. In order to be able to ensure adequate medical care in case of need, we ask for the name of the attending family doctor, the name of the health insurance company, the health insurance number and the name of the person through whom the child is insured.
In this context, we also ask for information on your child's vaccination status. Firstly, we ask you to voluntarily state when the last booster vaccination against tetanus was given. The background to this is that due to spending time in nature, situations may arise in which acute injuries need to be treated. In order to be able to react as quickly as possible, we would like to know when the last vaccination was given.
Please note: Due to the law on compulsory measles vaccination, which has been in force since 1 March 2020, we are, on the other hand, obliged to check and document proof of vaccination or sufficient measles immunity before the respective child is allowed to be looked after. As our holiday care is also open to pre-school children who only start school after the holidays and whose previous care status is unknown to us, we require proof of this. Proof of vaccination protection can be provided in accordance with § 20 Para. 9 Infektionsschutzgesetz (IfSG) by presenting the vaccination certificate or a medical certificate of vaccination protection or measles immunity. In the case of a medical contraindication that speaks against vaccination, an appropriate medical certificate can be presented instead.
You are welcome to present the certificate after making an appointment at the family office or at the latest on the first day of the event before the childcare begins. Alternatively, you can send a copy of the certificate to familie(at)uni-saarland.de in advance of the holiday care.