Agricultural Social Law (Germany)
The Agricultural Social Law referred in Germany the sum of all state standards, which the independent sickness, accident, disability and death deal with the protection in agriculture and forestry workers and their families against risks of life such. As farmers , in terms of the agricultural social security legislation, are here in the agriculture and forestry - full-time self-designated workers - including horticulture, fish and aquaculture, inland fishing, beekeeping.
Structuring of agricultural social security
The outstanding features of agricultural social law are the compulsory insurance for the self-employed, the granting of operational aid in the event of illness and the regulatory / agricultural policy performance requirements for old-age security (farm tax).
Laws on old-age insurance , health insurance , long-term care insurance and the accident insurance of farmers regulate the structure of agricultural social law in Germany.
The practical implementation took place by December 31, 2012 by the agricultural social insurance carriers . These were the nine regional agricultural employers' liability insurance associations , to which (organizationally, not legally) an agricultural health and care insurance fund , as well as an agricultural old-age insurance fund were assigned. Since January 1, 2013, the tasks are carried out by the social insurance for agriculture, forestry and horticulture .
While the benefits of agricultural health, long-term care and accident insurance are largely identical to those of general social insurance, the law on old-age insurance for farmers contains a benefit right that is separate from the law on pension insurance.
The supplementary insurance for employees in agriculture and forestry is also included in agricultural social law. This is partly regulated by law, partly by collective bargaining agreement and occurs in addition to the general pension insurance benefits to be drawn by this group of people.
History of agrarian social security in Germany
Development of the branches of agricultural social insurance
Agricultural trade associations
The history of state agricultural social security begins in Germany with the promulgation of the “Reich Law on Accident and Health Insurance for Persons Employed in Agriculture and Forestry” on May 5, 1886. All workers in agriculture and forestry receive protection under this law the “company officials” (e.g. estate managers, dairy managers, forest managers) who earn no more than DM 2,000 a year. Although the law does not provide for insurance protection for the entrepreneurial family, voluntary or statutory insurance is possible even then.
All over Germany - a total of 48 - regional agricultural professional associations are being formed. Which merged in 1919 to form the Association of German Agricultural Professional Associations.
Agricultural pension funds
In the course of the 1957 pension reform , farmers were also included in the statutory pension insurance through the "Law on Old Age Assistance for Farmers" (GAL) . After modest beginnings, the benefits of the farmers' old-age insurance became more and more similar to those of the general pension insurance.
Agricultural health insurance companies
Despite the social achievements created up to that point, the health of the rural rural population was alarmingly poor until the introduction of agricultural health insurance and the associated establishment of agricultural health insurance funds. The reason for this was that insurance against the risk of illness was only possible on a voluntary basis, primarily with the rural health insurance funds of the time. The contributions for this had to be "deducted" from the farm, whose economic situation often did not allow this. In particular, due to inadequate health care, serious illnesses in the family sometimes led to life-threatening consequences for the farms. In many cases, many former farmers, so-called retirees , were particularly dependent on social assistance benefits .
Mainly because the profession had had positive experiences with the benefits of the old-age insurance scheme introduced in 1957 for farmers - especially farm assistance - the way was paved for professional health insurance for farmers. With the law on the further development of the law of statutory health insurance (Law on the Health Insurance of Farmers - KVLG), the establishment of the agricultural social security system was completed on October 1, 1972.
Agricultural care funds
In the course of the introduction of long-term care insurance in 1995, an agricultural long-term care fund was added to the agricultural health insurance funds .
The social security of farmers through the ages
As a result of the structural change in agriculture, the contribution burden for agricultural entrepreneurs was reduced with funds from the federal budget as early as 1963. Along with the decline in the number of full-time agricultural entrepreneurs, the agrarian social security system was financed by the federal government from tax revenues with a steadily increasing participation.
This development was flanked by a progressive association of agricultural social insurance carriers. Of the original 48 agricultural professional associations, 8 regional LBGs and the horticultural professional association - with their associated agricultural old-age and health / care insurance funds - remained.
On January 1, 2013, these nine administrative communities were merged into the newly formed social insurance for agriculture, forestry and horticulture ( SVLFG ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ ' Law on old-age security for farmers, ALG
- ^ Second law on the health insurance of farmers, KVLG 1989
- ↑ Book 11 of the Social Code, Long-Term Care Insurance
- ^ Seventh Book of the Social Code, Accident Insurance
- ↑ Supplementary pension scheme for employees in agriculture and forestry
- ↑ Christiane Adam Wintjen: 125 years of agricultural trade association . In: Social Security in Agriculture (SDL) . No. 1 , 2011, p. 151 ff . ( PDF [accessed on February 26, 2012]).
- ^ Christian Wirth: 50 years of old-age security for farmers . In: Social Security in Agriculture (SDL) . No. 2 , 2007, p. 96 ff . ( PDF [accessed on February 22, 2012]).
- ^ Bernhard Schmidt: Agricultural health insurance - future-proof special system or discontinued model? In: Social Security in Agriculture (SDL) . No. 2 , 2007, p. 103 ff . ( PDF [accessed on February 22, 2012]).
- ↑ Information material from the BMELV on the reorganization of agricultural social insurance ( Memento from January 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
