Social security clerk

The profession of social insurance specialist (SoFa) is a state-recognized training profession in the public-law training area of “statutory social insurance” in Germany according to the Vocational Training Act . Members of this professional group are civil servants who perform administrative activities (e.g. ascertaining insurance relationships, collecting contributions, granting benefits). The regular duration of training is 36 months with the usual options for shortening that are regulated in the Vocational Training Act.

The employers, in this case the German statutory social security agencies and public service institutions, require at least a good secondary school leaving certificate for the training. However, the majority of trainees have a high school diploma . There will usually be value on good grades in subjects such as B. Business administration / accounting (branch of secondary schools in some federal states in Germany), economics, social studies and German as well as good general education.

In 2019, 2,466 new training contracts were concluded in Germany. The apprenticeship occupation ranks 49th on the ranking list of apprenticeships after new degrees in Germany.

Subjects

The profession of social security clerk belongs to the office workers, whereby numerous employees of this professional group are also employed in the field service (private and corporate customers). There is no such thing as a mono job, with the exception of agricultural social insurance , a specialty must be chosen:

• General health insurance
• Statutory accident insurance
• Statutory pension insurance
• Miners' social security
• Agricultural social security

The training to become a social security clerk is the basic qualification for employees at the social security institutions .

Specialization and training

After completing their training, social security clerks can specialize in:

• Customer advisor in the office
• Customer advisor in the field
• Customer advisor in acquisition
• Clerk for corporate clients
• Clerk for private customers
• Sick pay manager

In addition, the social insurance institutions offer further training measures for employees who have a secondary education :

• Health insurance specialist
• Health insurance business economist
• Administrative specialist (public service)
• Insurance specialist
• Specialist in social and health care
• Specialist for office management

For social assistants with high school or secondary school there is still the possibility of a university of applied sciences:

• Degree in business administration (FH) - health management
• Graduate health economist (Uni and FH)
• Graduate health economist (FH)
• Graduate in Administration (FH)
• Diplom-Betriebswirt (FH) - Administration

employment

Social security clerks can also work outside of health insurers and public health companies. So z. B. as an employee in payroll accounting in larger companies in all matters, questions and processing of social security law or as an employee in tax advice and private insurance. Thanks to their experience in marketing and acquisition, they are also seen in companies in the private sector as internal and external sales staff or as administrative clerks in the public sector or in municipalities, cities and town halls. They can also take the place of normal office clerks in administration, payroll and payroll accounting.

According to the current collective bargaining agreement for the public service, for example at the Deutsche Rentenversicherung Rheinland, a social insurance specialist is usually classified in pay group 9a (formerly BAT 5c). Since the new collective bargaining agreement came into force, it is no longer possible to increase the grouping through probation promotion according to BAT 5 b (corresponds to pay group 9). By accepting further training opportunities such as B. the internal study "health insurance business economist" can increase the income.

education

The legal basis for the training is the Ordinance on Vocational Training for Social Insurance Specialists from December 18, 1996 (reference: Federal Law Gazette Part I)

An essential part of the training is dealing with German social law and its application in practice, in particular with the social code . Knowledge of administrative procedural law and civil law , labor law and income tax law are also part of the job, as are the basics of economics and business administration, as well as administrative enforcement and social justice .

The training is mainly carried out in vocational schools , vocational schools of the public service, educational institutions of the respective insurance carriers or associations and in the training company itself. The apprenticeship takes 3 years.

Web links

• Social insurance clerk in Berufenet the Federal Employment Agency
• Federal Institute for Vocational Training / Social Insurance Employee
• Federal Social Security Office - Information on social security employees

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ranking list of training occupations of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) 2019