Allowance
A bonus is generally a remuneration that is paid for special services or specific workloads over and above the usual remuneration.
Employment Law
The allowance is generally a form of pay differentiation that is based on the personal circumstances of an employee and results in an increase in the basic pay . With the exception of the performance bonus, it is generally not based on the employee's personal behavior , but on the employee's environmental status . Specifically, it is in labor to wages that the employer outside the collective agreement the workers in addition to the fare paid for special work performance or specific workloads are paid. These are benefits promised in an employment contract which, according to their subject matter, are linked to collectively agreed benefits. In addition to the collective wage, the allowance is a regular service that has a special purpose. This is intended to refine and supplement the collective bargaining system, which only guarantees the collective minimum income and which is only intended to compensate for the normal performance of employees.
The pensionability of the allowances depends on whether they are paid regularly and are irrevocable, as is the case with the official allowance ( Section 42 (2 ) BBesG ). One-off or revocable benefits such as job allowances, performance bonuses and performance bonuses, on the other hand, are not pensionable ( Section 42a (2) BBesG).
- species
A distinction must be made between the unnamed and the named allowance. Named allowances reward above-average performance that is provided over a longer period of time or remuneration for significant workloads of the employee ( noise , dirt , heat , cold allowance ); they are part of the employment contract. The unnamed allowance , on the other hand, is not part of the employment contract and is intended to reward the specific work performance higher than the tariff stipulated.
The following are important:
- Construction : the construction allowance is a component of the wages for special workloads; There are similar bonuses for other groups of workers such as forest workers and miners ;
- Industry : performance bonuses , shift bonuses , danger bonuses , dirt bonuses or productivity bonuses ;
- Public service : Difficulty allowances according to the Difficulty Allowance Ordinance (EZulV), which are granted in accordance with Section 42a EZulV for work at unfavorable times if employees with more than five hours in a calendar month are required to work at unfavorable times. Are regulated in BBesG the post allowances (about Ministerialzulage ) and duty allowances (about prosecutor ). The bush allowance or Berlin allowance are specifics of the German situation.
- Subsidies such as the employee savings allowance and the investment allowance ;
- When executives there because of the particular responsibility often a functional allowance ;
- an expatriation allowance get into overseas dispatched employees in addition to their regular pay;
- Allowance for skydivers .
Many allowances are granted permanently, while bonuses as the anniversary bonus paid once at a particular occasion.
Tax law
The tax law speaks generally of the grant or donation when the state as under financial funding provides financial assistance available. Exceptionally, however, the Riester pension is referred to as the supplementary pension , because the law mentions the old-age provision supplement in Section 79 of the Income Tax Act . In addition, there are social benefits linked to special requirements, such as the home ownership allowance (earlier), child allowance or child allowance .
Demarcation
The two terms “allowance” and “premium” cannot always be clearly distinguished from one another and are handled inconsistently. In the public service, in accordance with Section 42a (1) BBesG, performance bonuses are one-off payments, while performance bonuses are regularly paid but are limited in time; In the event of a drop in performance, a revocation is even possible. There is also a surcharge, for example as a surcharge for Sunday, public holiday and night work . The night supplement is the only type of supplement that is cumulative. If night work is performed on Sundays and public holidays, a night work supplement can be granted in addition to the public holiday, in some cases tax-free. At Deutsche Bahn , an additional fee is charged for the use of particularly fast or comfortable train types , which is called surcharge .