Credit time

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As crediting period (AZ) is known in Germany a pension law time that - in contrast to the (actually verbeitragten ) contribution periods and the so-called consideration times - a contributory time is.

It can lead to increasing pension entitlements, both in terms of reason and amount.

Legal basis

For the calculation of pensions in Germany, this is regulated in Sections 58 , 252 , 252a and 253 of Book Six of the Social Code (SGB VI).

Credit periods are times in which the insured person was prevented from paying contributions for personal reasons. Credit periods can be recognized for the following facts according to § 58 SGB ​​VI:

  • Inability to work (including rehabilitation) (see Section 58 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 No. 1 SGB VI)
  • Illness between the ages of 17 and 25 (see Section 58 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 No. 1a SGB VI)
  • Pregnancy / maternity protection (Section 58 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 No. 2 SGB VI)
  • Unemployment (see § 58 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 No. 3 SGB VI)
  • Training search (see Section 58 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 No. 3a SGB VI)
  • Attendance at school, technical college and university (see Section 58 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 No. 4 SGB VI)
  • Pension drawing before the age of 55 (see Section 58 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 No. 5 SGB VI)
  • from January 1, 2011 the receipt of unemployment benefit II (see § 58 Abs. 1 S. 1 Nr. 6 SGB VI)

There are still transitional regulations and old cases for which credit periods can still be recognized for further facts, but these are no longer relevant in practice.

Administrative implementation

The pension insurance institutions decide on the recognition of a credit period through an administrative act , i. H. by a public law notification . Credit periods are usually reported to the pension insurance institution by the health insurance company (in the event of incapacity for work, school attendance and pregnancy) or the employment agency (unemployment). If there are other accounting time facts or if the report has not been carried out, the facts that lead to recognition of the accounting time must be proven.

A credit period cannot be recognized if social benefits are paid for the same fact. This is a common reason for exclusion, especially in the case of incapacity for work and unemployment.

Credit times cannot be credited even though the facts are met. This is the case if, in the event of incapacity for work, pregnancy or unemployment, insured employment / activity is not interrupted (exception: the offense is completed between the ages of 17 and 25). There is also an interruption if there is a gap of <1 calendar month between the end of the insured employment / activity and the start of the offsetting period. It is possible to close a gap that is too large by means of so-called “bridging facts”. This is especially necessary if two credit periods follow one another. As a bridging event, all simple credit-time events or a period of consideration (e.g. due to raising children) apply here.

Overall performance evaluation

Credit periods can have a pension-increasing effect on the overall performance assessment or are assessed themselves. In addition, the entitlement to a disability pension can be retained (entitlement maintenance period). When calculating pensions, the credit periods are assessed very differently. When calculating pensions, a distinction must be made between school and university education and a technical college.

School attendance, illness and pregnancy / maternity leave can be taken into account if they were completed abroad.

Credit times for school, technical college and university education

Since the beginning of the 1990s, there has been a gradual reduction in the credit periods for school, technical college and university training (hereinafter referred to as training periods ) when calculating the pension amount.

With a retirement beginning by the end of 1991, training periods from the 16th birthday to successful completion at a university or technical college could be taken into account, up to a maximum of 13 years, provided that contributions were paid for at least half of the entire insurance period.

If you retire before 1996, training periods of up to a maximum of seven years could be taken into account to increase your pension.

When retirement began in 2002, the pension-increasing crediting of training periods was limited to a maximum of three years after the age of 17, and they were still credited with up to 75% of the average income.

If you retire in 2009 or later, training periods are no longer counted as credit-increasing periods. Training periods from the 17th birthday onwards are only taken into account for a maximum of 8 years ( Section 58 ) as a credit period for fulfilling the waiting period for the old-age pension for severely disabled people and for the old-age pension for long-term insured persons.

Attending a technical school and participating in vocational training measures have the effect of increasing pensions.

Reasons and Effects

The cuts, which put university graduates in a worse position than they used to be, were justified by the principle of wage and contribution relatedness. In the key issues paper on the pension reform of 2003 it was stated that against the background of increasing demographic burdens on the old-age security system, it could no longer be the task of the insured community to compensate for training periods without contributions under pension law.

The reduction in the crediting of school and university periods for the amount of pensions, in combination with other factors such as the increase in precarious employment relationships and the gradually increasing tax burden due to the Retirement Income Act , is seen as a risk of increasing old-age poverty, including among university graduates.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Berrit Gräber: From 2005 losses for new pensioners. Federal government is canceling credit periods for training years. Berliner Zeitung www.berlinonline.de, October 22, 2003, archived from the original on November 3, 2015 ; Retrieved February 7, 2013 .
  2. ↑ a b Berrit Gräber: Many academics are threatened with old-age poverty. Focus-Online, August 18, 2010, accessed on August 18, 2010 .
  3. ↑ Marcus Kleinlein: Apprenticeship periods are valued lower for the pension. Retrieved August 14, 2010 .