Who can become a student worker?
In principle, the exemption from insurance as a working student only applies if the employment does not involve more than 20 hours per week. However, this limit can be increased up to 40 hours per week for a maximum of 26 weeks per year. However, exceeding the time limit must be carried out mainly on weekends, evenings and nights or during the period without lessons (semi-annual holidays).
In the following table we have listed again which characteristics a student worker must have and which are not sufficient for the activity of a student worker.
What legal rules are the same for student workers and full-time or part-time employees?
Student workers are generally treated like any other employee. The only difference is that its number of hours is more limited and it has one of the features marked «Yes» above.
This means that, like any employee, student workers have the right to:
- Vacation
- Continuation of salary payment in case of illness
- Protection against dismissal
- Maternity leave, parental leave
How does the student worker differ from other employees?
A big difference in the employment of student workers is the deductions from their salary. The following should be kept in mind here:
- pension insurance
- Payroll tax
- church tax, if applicable
- health insurance
pension insurance
If students earn more than 538 euros (as of 2024) a mini-job in their student worker job, they have to pay pension insurance. The pension insurance contribution is payable based on your income.
Salaries and ecclesiastical taxes
Unlike pension insurance, the limits for salary and church taxes are lower. Salary and ecclesiastical taxes are deducted from the salary but can be claimed back by the student worker in the tax return if the annual salary is less than the so-called basic tax exemption of €11,604 (starting from 2024).
health insurance
Health insurance as a working student is mandatory. However, working students do not have to pay any additional contributions to health and nursing insurance.
Basically, regarding social insurance, the student worker privilege applies, from which student workers and employers benefit. When employed as student workers, employees are largely excluded from social security, aside from the exceptions mentioned above.
Is there an income limit for working students?
No, there is no income limit for student worker jobs. Of course, the minimum hourly wage must be paid. There is no maximum limit, unlike a mini-job. May not exceed the limit of 20 hours per week.
Maintain an overview of the work pattern and maximum working hours using digital tools
To keep track of your employees’ different work relationships and keep an eye on usage and maximum working hours, we recommend clock in as a digital time recording app.
With clockin, your employees can easily record working hours using a mobile app. This is a great advantage, especially in flexible working relationships with the possibility of working from home.
The app also allows you to take into consideration different working time models or contract types. You can set the maximum number of hours stipulated in the employment contract individually for each employer and always have an overview of their workload.
By integrating interfaces with payroll systems, clockin automates invoicing and ensures compliance with all legal regulations, reducing administrative efforts and minimizing errors.
With clockin you can make informed decisions about working hours, costs and project times using real-time analytics and increase the productivity of your company.