Financing your studies, gaining work experience or simply filling up your wallet: for many, part-time jobs are part of student life. What to watch out for.
Berlin (dpa / tmn) - If you are short of cash as a student, you can help yourself with part-time jobs. However, the legislation provides a certain framework for this. Answers to the most important questions.
In which areas are there part-time jobs for students?
Office workers, babysitters and call center employees - there is a wide range of options for students looking for a job. Hourly wages may be higher in product promotion or as a tutor.
Jobs as service personnel, bartenders or barista are classic. The work is worth it if there is a good tip. If you like to tackle things, you will find a job in trade fair construction or events - for example, due to the Corona crisis, these sectors are currently at a standstill.
According to Achim Meyer auf der Heide from the Deutsches Studentenwerk, around a third of all job students are employed as student assistants. This provides an opportunity to get an insight into research and teaching.
Will it be more difficult to get side jobs in the Corona crisis?
During the Corona crisis, many jobs were lost in the mini-job sector. This also affects the student age group, explains Wolfgang Buschfort from the mini-job center of the German Pension Insurance. The decline is less noticeable in the private household sector than recently in the hospitality industry: cleaning, washing, shopping or gardening seem to be crisis-proof jobs.
Achim Meyer auf der Heide explains that there is also a need for reinforcement in those sectors that are declared systemically important, for example in health care or agriculture.
Where do students find jobs?
In addition to the usual job portals, there are placement platforms tailored specifically to students such as Zenjob, Studentjob or Studitemps. In addition to the online job exchanges, Achim Meyer on Heide recommends paying attention to bulletin boards and social media ads. Fellow students, friends, acquaintances or parents can also be used as a network. Last but not least, your own university is an employer. You can also get help from the social counseling services of the Studentenwerk or from the employment office.
Which forms of work are suitable for students?
Student jobs are usually offered as working student positions or as mini jobs. Working students count as normal employees, but can be employed without social security, explains Nathalie Oberthür, specialist lawyer for labor law. However, you should not work more than 20 hours during the semester and you are obliged to continue your studies.
Those who work more are billed as social workers, not as students, but as employees. The semester vacation job is an exception: it allows full-time work for up to 70 days a year.
The mini job is an activity whose wages must not exceed the 450 euro limit. No taxes have to be paid below this de minimis limit. What goes beyond this can still be considered a so-called midi job up to a monthly income of 1300 euros. Then reduced social security contributions have to be paid, which are shared between employees and employers.
A promotional license may be required for promotional jobs, which must be applied for at the tax office. For artists or journalists, registration as a freelancer is also an option.
Does a student job affect the Bafög?
As long as you do not earn more than 450 euros a month (or 5400 euros a year) with one or more student jobs, the Bafög rate remains unaffected. If you exceed this allowance, the difference between earnings and allowance, calculated over 12 months, will be deducted from the Bafög.
What do students need to know about taxes?
Taxes are generally not a problem for students, explains Berlin lawyer Peter Deutschmann from the German Lawyers' Association. As long as students are only marginally employed, they generally do not get over the annual tax exemption of 9408 euros.
However, there can always be special cases. An example: bogus self-employment in promotion jobs. Here the tax office could question whether you are really self-employed or still a full-time student.
In the worst case, health insurance contributions would then have to be paid. This can be avoided by getting advice, for example from student counseling, social insurance, the tax office, income tax relief associations or tax advisors.