Employment of working students – what to bear in mind

For employers as well as for students, a working student contract is an interesting thing. Employers have fewer ancillary wage costs, and students have more net left over from the gross of their salary.

To do everything right from a tax perspective, employers need to pay attention to some important issues.

Read more about the necessary evidence and specifications for working hours.


Working student contract – what needs to be considered?

The requirement for the employment of a working student (f/m/x) is that the person belongs to the so-called “regular students”.

  • This means that the working student must be enrolled at an institution of higher education and that the studies predominantly (more than 20 hours per week) take up the student’s time and labor.
  • When employing a student worker, employers must request all enrollment certificates for each semester from the beginning of employment and keep them on file.
  • These verifications must be submitted for each Social Security audit.

What applies with regard to working hours?

  • A regular student may work a maximum of 20 hours per week and is thereby only subject to social insurance in the pension insurance.
  • If the weekly working time of 20 hours is exceeded – except in the lecture-free period – the characteristic as an employee comes to the fore and has social insurance liability in all branches as a result.
  • Employment with more than 20 hours of weekly working time may not be exceeded in the course of a year on more than 26 weeks (182 calendar days).

When and how does the working student status end?

  • Working student status ends in the month in which the student was officially notified of the overall exam score.
  • In order to be able to prove the termination of the course of study, the employer must request the provisional certificate or the information about the possibility of collecting the certificate,
  • Time is the receipt of the letter or e-mail with the information to the student and not the day of delivery of the certificate.

What happens if certificates are missing?

If enrollment certificates are missing, working students also become liable for social insurance for the period without proof in the health, long-term care and unemployment insurance.

What happens upon exmatriculation?

If a student is exmatriculated or takes a leave of absence in one or more semesters, the student also loses the status of a regular student and must be compulsorily accounted for in all branches of social security.

Do you have questions about the working student contract?

Pia Lösch

Pia Lösch

Head of Wage and Salary Department

Service Phone
+49 89 547143
or by E-Mail
p.loesch@acconsis.de