Recipients of ALG-I and ALG-II who would like to earn some extra money on the side are also eligible for temporary jobs. We list the most important limits on additional earnings for the unemployed.
If temporary work occurs in your company? For this purpose, you can also hire recipients of unemployment benefits who want to earn some extra money. Often unemployed persons are even particularly motivated. Finally, the temporary job offers you at least temporarily the chance to remain professionally active, to get in touch with people and to escape from the four walls at home.
Generally permitted: temporary workers who receive unemployment benefits at the same time
In principle, recipients of both unemployment benefit I and unemployment benefit II are allowed to have a second job without automatically losing their entitlement to the social benefits.
However, the question arises as to how much the ALG I or ALG II recipient who is employed by you as a temporary employee may earn in addition without losing his or her entitlement to benefits. As an employer, you should also be aware of these additional earnings limits in order to avoid conflicts.
What applies to ALG-I recipients?
If your temporary employee is receiving unemployment benefit I and at the same time works for you as a temporary employee, the following rules apply:
- The working time must be less than 15 hours per week: If the temporary worker works 15 hours per week or more, he or she is no longer available to the labor market from the perspective of the employment agency, loses unemployment status and thus the basis for entitlement. You can therefore employ an ALG-I recipient for a maximum of 14 hours and 59 minutes per working week without acutely endangering his ALG-I benefits.
- Allowance of 165 euros per month: 165 euros of the net income of a temporary worker receiving ALG I at the same time is not deducted from the additional income. Income in excess of this amount will be deducted from the unemployment benefit, d. h. the amount of state benefits is reduced accordingly.
- Increased allowance, if there was already a secondary employment before: If the temporary worker has already had a secondary job (less than 15 hours per week) for at least 12 months in the 18 months prior to receiving ALG I, the average monthly income from this job can remain exempt if continued during unemployment, but at least €165. This point is important if someone works for you on the side as a temporary employee and then becomes unemployed in his or her main job (§ 138 Para. 3 SGB III).
Conclusion: If your temp receives unemployment benefit I, the side job must remain under the limit of 15 hours per workweek. At least 165 euros of the net income remain free of charge.
What you must bear in mind for ALG II recipients?
If the temporary worker receives ALG-II or is a top-up recipient, no time limit applies, in contrast to ALG-I recipients. ALG-II recipients therefore lend themselves to temporary jobs that at least occasionally require more than 15 hours of work per week.
The following rule applies to the offsetting of secondary income against benefits:
- Regular allowance of 100 euros per month: 100 euros of the net income from employment are generally exempt from deductions.
- Additional allowances depending on gross income: In addition to these 100 euros, further amounts can remain free of charge. The amount depends on the actual gross wage.
- The gross wage from 101 to 1.000 Euro remains 20 percent free of charge. The gross wage of 1.001 to 1.200 euros (for needy persons with at least one child: up to 1.500 euros) is 10 percent exempt from deductions. Contributions in excess of this amount are taken into account in full.
Example: You hire an ALG-II-recipient with a 450-Euro-Job. Of this amount, he initially receives 100 euros. From the remaining 350 euro 20 per cent are added to its tax-free amount, i.e. h. 70 euros. In total, 170 euros of the mini-jobber’s wages remain free of charge, 280 euros are credited to his ALG II benefits.
Short-term deregistration from unemployment as an alternative
An alternative to secondary employment while receiving ALG-I is temporary deregistration from unemployment. This variant is particularly suitable if the need for temporary help is only for a short time, but cannot be covered in 15 hours per week, or if the payment for it is so high that a credit against ALG-I is not interesting.
If the temporary interruption of unemployment does not exceed the period of six weeks, the temporary worker can subsequently register as unemployed again and will then receive the benefits already granted again without having to file a new application. If, on the other hand, the temporary activity and thus the deregistration lasts longer than six weeks, a new application is required. This can have a negative effect on the amount of unemployment benefits, since the ALG-I benefit depends on the net pay of the last months before the unemployment.
There are no specifications for how often such interruptions are permissible. However, your temp should note the maximum approval period and the possible expiration of all claims after four years at the latest. For this reason alone, the ALG recipient should discuss the deregistration with his case worker, with whom he must register the secondary employment anyway.
Important: During the interruption of unemployment, the insurance coverage provided through the employment agency also ceases to apply. If the temporary employment with you during this time is not subject to compulsory insurance, the temporary employee may have to take out voluntary health insurance.