Who can become a working student?
As a rule, exemption from social insurance as a working student only applies if the job involves no more than 20 hours a week. However, this limit can be raised to up to 40 hours a week for a maximum of 26 weeks a year. Work that exceeds the hours limit must, though, be carried out mainly at weekends, in the evening and night hours, or during the lecture-free period (semester break).
In the following table we have set out once more which criteria a working student has to meet, and which are not sufficient for working student status.
| Situation | Working student? |
|---|---|
| Enrolled at a university or university of applied sciences in Germany | Yes |
| Enrolled at a university or university of applied sciences abroad | Yes |
| Training at a state-recognised university of applied sciences | Yes |
| Students who, when switching universities, have a gap of no more than 1 month in which they are not enrolled | Yes |
| Part-time students, if the course takes up more than half the time of a full-time course | Yes |
| Doctoral students who write their dissertation before completing their master's degree, Diplom degree or state examination | Yes |
| Guest auditors | No |
| Participants in language courses | No |
| Participants in preparatory or introductory seminars | No |
| Students on a leave semester | No |
| Part-time students, if the course takes up less than half the time of a full-time course | No |
| Long-term students with more than 25 subject semesters (per degree programme) | No |
| Doctoral students who write their dissertation only after completing their master's degree, Diplom degree or state examination | No |
| People who remain enrolled at the university after graduating | No |
Which legal rules are the same for working students and full-time or part-time staff?
Working students are, in principle, treated just like any other employee. The only difference is that their number of hours is more tightly limited and that they meet one of the criteria marked “Yes” above.
This means that, like every employee, working students are entitled to:
- Vacation
- Continued pay in the event of illness
- Protection against dismissal
- Maternity protection, parental leave
How does a working student differ from other employees?
One major difference in employing working students is the deductions from pay. The following need to be taken into account here:
- Pension insurance
- Wage tax
- Church tax, where applicable
- Health insurance
Pension insurance
If students earn more in their working student job than the €538 (as of 2024) of a mini-job, they have to pay pension insurance. The pension insurance contribution is payable depending on income.
Wage tax and church tax
The thresholds for wage tax and church tax are lower than for pension insurance. Wage tax and church tax are deducted from pay, but working students can reclaim them in their tax return if their annual salary is below the so-called basic tax-free allowance (Grundfreibetrag) of €11,604 (as of 2024)
Health insurance
Health insurance is mandatory for working students. However, working students do not have to pay any additional health and long-term care insurance contributions.
With regard to social security contributions, the working student privilege (Werkstudentenprivileg) generally applies, and both working students and employers benefit from it. In a working student job, employees are largely excluded from social security contributions, apart from the exceptions mentioned above.
Is there an income limit for working students?
No, there is no income limit within a working student job. Of course, the minimum wage per hour has to be paid. There is no upper limit, unlike with a mini-job. The only thing is that they must not exceed the 20-hour limit per week.
Careful! Exception in family insurance
There is one important aspect you should not underestimate, though: under statutory family insurance, students may not earn more than the pay of a marginally employed person. So if a student did not opt for student health insurance at the start of their studies but stayed in their parents' family insurance, they may not earn more than €538 a month (as of 2024). If they exceed this amount, they have to take out their own insurance - retroactively as well!
Keep track of working models and maximum working hours with digital tools
To keep track of the different employment arrangements of your employees, and in particular to keep an eye on workload and maximum working hours, we recommend clockin as an app for digital time tracking.
With clockin, your employees can record their working hours easily on the go via the app. That is a big advantage especially in flexible working arrangements with the option of working from home.
The app also lets you take different working time models or contract types into account. You can set the maximum number of hours laid down in the employment contract individually for the employer and thus always have an overview of their workload.
By integrating with payroll systems, clockin automates your billing and makes sure that all statutory requirements are met, which reduces administrative effort and minimises errors.
With clockin you can make well-founded decisions based on real-time analytics of working hours, costs and project hours, and increase your company's productivity.
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