SER Regulations working

Students in Germany may work up to 20 hours per week during lecture periods in order to be considered as students within the social security system. The 140 full (8 hours) and 280 half workdays (4 hours) without permit are not affected by mandatory internships or the completion of theses at a company (see below for more info).

Please be aware that it is usually not possible to finance your whole studies with a student job. Try to find jobs during the lecture-free periods so that working does not affect your studies. We recommend that students work no more than 10-15 hours per week to ensure that there is enough time for studying.

Students in Germany can generally earn up to €538 per month tax-free. If you earn more than this you will have automatic tax deductions from your salary. Student contributions are normally lower than the usual ones.

Even if you work, you are insured as a student, not as an employee. That means that you pay the reduced student tariff (this applies to students up to the age of 30/until the 14th subject-related semester).  If you work more than 20 hours per week, you may have to pay different health insurance contributions. Please clarify this with your employer before signing a contract.

For working during lecture-free periods, there are different regulations. If a job is limited to the lecture-free period, students are allowed to work more than 20 hours per week. Short-term jobs are usually (up to 3 months or 70 working days) exempted from social security contributions (or students get back the taxes they have paid at the end of the year via the income tax return). Student Services can issue a confirmation about the lecture-free period if needed. For jobs that are limited for the lecture-free period students do not have to pay any additional health insurance contributions, even if they work more than 20 hours a week.

Anyone who works more than 20 hours per week during the lecture periods will be considered as an employee under social security law and then would have to pay contributions to health, pension and unemployment insurance schemes.

Students  from  the  EU enjoy freedom  of  movement  and  may  work  self-employed  or  for  an  employer without restrictions. Citizens of member states of the European Union or the European Economic Area are treated as equivalent to Germans.

Please note that there was a change in the law on the employment of students from EU/EWR countries in regard to the health insurance:

If a student in Germany has either a minor employment, has a contract as a working student or starts a paid internship (even if the internship is a mandatory part of the study and examination regulations) it is no longer possible to keep the health insurance of an EU home country.

As soon as students with a health insurance from their EU home country take up an employment, self-employment or paid internship, even if it is less than 20 hours per week, the insurance of the EU home country becomes invalid. In such cases, the student must now take out insurance as a student with a German statutory health insurance company. This regulation apparently came into force on 1.1.2018.

Under certain conditions, international students are allowed to work in Germany. This also may be necessary for additional funding. For  students  from  non-EU  countries  the  residence  permit  for  purposes  of  study  states:  “Employment  up  to  120  days  or  240  half-days  per  year  and  part-time  on-campus  student  work  is  allowed.” That means international students may work up to 120 days in one calendar year without needing the approval of the Employment Agency. Exception: If you take a job as a student assistant or research assistant at the university, this is usually not counted in your limit. However, you must notify the Alien Registration Office if you take up this type of work. In any case your employment may be divided up into individual sections.

The amount of your income is irrelevant. Regardless of whether you earn 400 or 1000 euros per month you only have to ensure that you do not exceed the time limit.

The 120 full and 240 half workdays without permit are not affected by mandatory internships or the completion of theses at a company. That means they may be used in addition. Without approval, you can take up your thesis with a company as part of your studies if you are explicitly employed by the company to do the final paper. Kindly note that this only applies if no further (work) services are included in the employment. In case of any doubts please get in touch with the Hamburg Welcome Center (or the immigration office where you have applied for your residence permit).

You need a tax ID number (Steuernummer) for working in Germany. These number is used to administer all tax-related issues. Once you registered your place of residence in Germany, the tax ID number will automatically be send to your home address (please find more information below).

Please note that non-EU students are not permitted to work in a self-employed or freelance capacity.

In Germany different types of social contribution as well as taxes are deducted from your earnings. The rules for students are, however, often generous. You pay either lower contributions or none at all. If you have a so called "mini-job" earning max. 450 Euro per month, you do not have to pay taxes at all.

If you earn less than 8,130 Euro a year you will get back the taxes you have paid at the end of the year – of course only if you submit an income tax return to the tax authorities.

Your tax number will be sent to you automatically some weeks after your registration. You will receive a letter (in German) from the authorities which states your German tax number. Keep this letter in your files even if you do not plan to work whilst being a student in Germany.

Tax number

If you cannot find a letter with the tax identification number in your files, please contact the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern).

There are three ways to request the tax identification number:

-          You fill in the form Notification of the tax identification number on the website of the Federal Central Tax Office.

-          You write an e-mail to  info@identifikationsmerkmal.de and ask for your tax identification number to be communicated to you again.

-           You send a letter to the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern, Referat St II 3, 53221 Bonn.

You must send the following information in order to receive the tax ID again:

- Name
- First name
- Address
- Place of birth
- Date of birth

The social security number is an important document that is generally required by employers in Germany. As a working student paying the statutory social security payments, you are entitled to being protected against the biggest risks, including illness, workplace accidents, unemployment, or retirement. Your employer must have your social insurance number before he can pay you, since the company contribute into the public pension scheme in your name.

In case you are still insured in your home country, you need to check with the company if they will do the registration of a Sozialversicherungsnummer and Sozialversicherungsausweis instead with no action on your part. If not: The social security number (Sozialversicherungsnummer) can also be obtained from the State Pension Fund Office (Deutsche Rentenversicherung). In order to receive your social security number, you need to present the following documents to the office at the Deutsche Rentenversicherung:

- a valid passport and
- a confirmation of registration (documents that you have received after registering your address in Hamburg).