Voluntary continued insurance against unemployment
The volunteers continued insurance against unemployment in Germany since 1 February 2006, certain groups of people offers the opportunity to volunteer in the unemployment insurance to insure. The voluntary continued insurance was initially limited to December 31, 2010. It is regulated in § 28a SGB III. In the Employment Opportunities Act, which came into force on January 1, 2011, voluntary continued insurance for the self-employed and employees (in future compulsory insurance) has been extended. Since 2011 there has been the possibility of “compulsory insurance on application”.
Authorized groups of people
- Caregivers who care for relatives for at least 14 hours a week
- Self-employed who work at least 15 hours a week
- Foreign employees who are employed outside the European Union or associated countries
Requirements and deadlines
The prerequisite for entitlement to continued insurance when starting self-employed work / care work is twelve months of compulsory unemployment insurance within the last two years before the application was submitted.
The requirement is also met if the applicant was entitled to compensation under SGB III immediately before starting self-employment / care work (e.g. unemployment benefit I, but not unemployment benefit II).
The application must be submitted to the local employment agency within the first three months of self-employment. Since 2011, it has been possible to claim a maximum of two times, after which voluntary insurance is no longer possible.
Contributions
A transitional regulation was in place until 2010, which provided for a reduction to a tenth or a quarter. Thereafter, the contribution rate was increased in two steps, in 2011 to half, in 2012 to the full reference value. The reason for the increase was the fairness of contributions as well as a predicted income / expenditure equality, which was not given according to the old status (based on the figures in the draft law). The nursing subsidy was justified on the basis of its social relevance; the special regulation for carers therefore remained in place. There is also an exception for start-ups in the so-called start-up phase. A reduced rate of 50% applies in the year of self-employment and in the following calendar year.
year | Self-employed | Entrepreneur *) | Caregivers | Foreign workers | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
west | east | west | east | west | east | West + East | |
2009 | € 17.64 | € 14.95 | - | - | € 7.06 | € 5.99 | € 17.64 |
2010 | € 17.89 | € 15.19 | - | - | € 7.15 | € 6.08 | € 17.98 |
2011 | € 38.33 | € 33.60 | € 19.17 | 16.80 € | € 7.67 | € 6.72 | € 38.33 |
2012 | € 78.75 | € 67.20 | € 39.38 | € 33.60 | € 7.88 | € 6.72 | € 78.75 |
2013 | € 80.85 | € 68.25 | € 40.43 | € 34.13 | € 8.09 | € 6.83 | € 80.85 |
2014 | € 82.95 | € 70.35 | € 41.48 | € 35.18 | € 8.30 | € 7.04 | € 82.95 |
2015 | |||||||
2016 | € 87.15 | € 75.60 | € 43.58 | € 37.80 | € 8.72 | € 7.56 | € 87.15 |
2017 | |||||||
2018 | |||||||
2019 | € 38.94 | € 35.88 | € 77.88 |
*) in the year in which self-employment started and in the following calendar year.
Due to the doubling or quadrupling of the contributions for the same benefit, insured persons were able to terminate the compulsory insurance on application by March 31, 2011 by means of a written declaration to the Federal Agency with retroactive effect to December 31, 2010 . In addition, the insurance relationship can be properly terminated by the insured person with a notice period of three months to the end of the calendar month, but for the first time after five years. The mandatory insurance relationship ends according to Section 28a (5) SGB III also if the insured person notifies you of a change that they no longer meet the requirements of Section 28a (1) SGB III (e.g. if self-employment is given up or regularly takes less than 15 hours in of the week) or if the insurance premiums are not paid for more than three months.
Services
The benefit is calculated according to qualification levels and tax class .
Calculation example 1: Monthly benefit in tax class III / without child (ren) (as of 2014)
- University of Applied Sciences (Q group 1): € 1,389.30 (West) and € 1,222.20 (East)
- Fachschule / Meister (Q group 2): € 1,206.90 (West) and € 1,061.70 (East)
- Completed training occupation (Q group 3): € 1,013.10 (West) and € 882.90 (East)
- No training (Q group 4): € 786.30 (west) and € 666.90 (east)
Calculation example 2: Monthly benefit in tax class III / with child (ren) (as of 2012)
- University of Applied Sciences (Q group 1): € 1,442.90 (West)
- Technical school / master craftsman (Q group 2): € 1,257.00 (West)
- Completed training occupation (Q group 3): € 1,050.90 (West)
- No training (Q group 4): € 810.90 (West)
Calculation example 3: Monthly benefit for tax class I / without child (ren) (as of 2012)
- University of Applied Sciences (Q group 1): € 1,141.50 (West)
- Technical school / master craftsman (Q group 2): 985.80 € (West)
- Completed training occupation (Q group 3): € 822.30 (West)
- No training (Q group 4): € 654.90 (West)
Calculation example 4: Monthly benefit for tax class I / with child (ren) (as of 2012)
- University of Applied Sciences (Q group 1): € 1,274.40 (West)
- Technical school / master craftsman (Q group 2): € 1,101.00 (West)
- Completed training occupation (Q group 3): € 918.30 (West)
- No training (Q group 4): € 811.20 (West)
The duration of the benefit depends on the duration of the payment and the age.
People under 50 can receive ALG I for a maximum of 12 months, people over 58 for 24 months. A claim arises only after twelve contributions have been paid, i. H. Contributions have to be paid for one year in order to be entitled to benefits at all. Or the insured person was already employed subject to social security contributions before becoming self-employed. Then these times are also taken into account.
Deposit / withdrawal ratio
While voluntary unemployment insurance was quite attractive until 2010, this is at least questionable from 2012 at the latest due to the changed regulations. There is no deterioration in care activities; For all other areas a new cost / benefit calculation is recommended.
Q1 West, self-employed | Q4 West, self-employed | Q1 West, care | Q4 West, care | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | 69 | 40 | 174 | 98 |
2012 | 16 | 9 | 174 | 98 |
Web links
- PDF information sheet from the employment agency
- Bundes-Drucksache 17/2635 page 4, question 6: Assessment of the increase by the federal government (PDF; 123 kB)
- Federal printed matter 225/10: Draft law and reasons (PDF; 166 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Source: Federal Employment Agency , accessed on July 14, 2014.
- ↑ § 434w Paragraph 1 SGB III in the version of the Employment Opportunities Act of October 24, 2010, Federal Law Gazette 2010 I p. 1417, 1420 , since April 1, 2012 § 442 Paragraph 1 SGB III