HR-Glossar
Werkstudent (working student)
When the German working student exemption applies, which hours limit governs, which exceptions exist and what payroll has to watch.
1. What is Werkstudent (working student)?
A Werkstudent is someone who works alongside proper studies and can claim the working student exemption: freedom from contributions to health, long-term care and unemployment insurance (Section 6(1) no. 3 SGB V, Section 27(4) SGB III). Pension insurance liability remains – which is regularly overlooked.
The condition is that study stays the main activity and the employment the secondary one – pension liability, by contrast, follows the general rule in Section 1 SGB VI. The statute fixes this by a rule: no more than 20 hours per week during lecture periods.
There are exceptions to that limit, and they are what actually comes up in practice:
- During lecture-free periods more may be worked. - Evening, night and weekend work can remain exempt above 20 hours where studies are not impaired by it. - Anyone exceeding the limit over a longer period loses the exemption – the general rules then apply.
Among those not covered are employees on a dual study programme, on a leave semester or after deregistration from the university.
2. Origin and development
The exemption rests on a simple idea: students are covered through student health insurance or family insurance and should not be burdened twice. Their employment is secondary – hence the exception.
The 20-hour limit is the practical expression of that idea. It is not an arbitrary figure but the yardstick for whether study is still in the foreground. That is precisely why it has exceptions for periods in which no lectures take place.
3. Core principles and how it works
Study in the foreground
That is the substantive condition. The hours limit is its indicator, not its substitute.
20 hours during lecture periods
The standard limit. Exceeded regularly, the exemption falls away – with contribution liability in every branch.
Pension insurance remains
The exemption covers health, long-term care and unemployment insurance. Pension contributions arise, for both sides.
Exceptions for peripheral hours
Work in the evening, at night and at weekends can exceed the limit so long as studies do not suffer.
Check the status every semester
Enrolment, semester of study, leave semester – the status changes and with it the contribution liability.
4. Who is Werkstudent (working student) relevant for?
- Students – for them the exemption means noticeably more net pay. - Businesses with student assistants – IT, engineering, retail, research. - Payroll teams – checking status and monitoring the limit is ongoing work. - Businesses with dual study programmes – for them the exemption precisely does not apply.
5. How it differs from related terms
- Working student and marginal employment – marginal employment is defined by pay and carries flat-rate charges; the working student exemption turns on status and hours. - Working student and internship – compulsory internships during studies follow their own rules; voluntary internships are regularly treated as normal employment. - Working student and dual study programme – on a dual programme there is full insurance liability; the exemption does not apply. - Working student and a thesis written at the company – depending on the arrangement, employment or not; that belongs checked in the individual case.
6. Variants and adaptations
- Employment during lecture periods – up to 20 hours per week.
- Employment in lecture-free periods – possible above the limit.
- Evening, night and weekend work – an exception to the limit where studies are unimpaired.
- Several jobs – the hours are added together.
- Temporary excess – harmless within narrow limits; a permanent excess is not.
7. Advantages and challenges
Advantages
- Considerably lower charges for both sides than with regular employment
- Businesses gain qualified staff and a channel for later hiring
- Students gain practical experience in their own field
- Flexible deployment that can follow the rhythm of the semester
Challenges
- The limit has to be monitored continuously, not checked once
- A lost exemption takes effect retrospectively and produces contribution demands
- The semester rhythm means fluctuating availability
- The status changes every semester and must be kept up to date
- Dual study programmes and leave semesters are regularly handled wrongly
8. Best practices for implementation
Obtain a certificate of enrolment each semester
Not once at hiring. The status is the basis of the exemption and changes on a schedule.
Monitor hours continuously
Not the agreed hours but the actual ones. The limit attaches to reality – and where somebody works for two companies in the same group, the hours add up across them.
Record the lecture periods
Without them the exception for lecture-free periods cannot be evidenced.
Clarify special cases in advance
Dual study programmes, leave semesters, doctorates and theses each have their own assessment. A ruling from the collection agency creates certainty.
9. Tips for employers and employees
For employers
- **Pension contributions arise** – the exemption does not cover them
- **Track status each semester** – a leave semester ends the exemption
- **Check actual hours** – not the agreed ones
- **Dual students are not working students** – full insurance liability applies there
For employees
- **Keep an eye on the 20-hour limit** – including across several employers
- **Check student finance and family insurance limits separately** – they follow different rules from this exemption
- **Pension contributions are not a loss** – they build entitlements
- **Report a leave semester** – the status changes the contribution liability
10. Conclusion
The working student exemption is one of the few genuine reliefs in German social security – and it hangs on a condition that has to be checked continuously: study must remain the main activity. The 20-hour limit is the yardstick for that, with exceptions for lecture-free periods and peripheral hours. Two things are regularly got wrong: pension insurance liability is overlooked, and the status is checked once at hiring instead of every semester. Both lead to retrospective demands.
For an international group two further points are worth carrying over. Hours are added together across employers, so a student working for two companies in the same group can lose the exemption without either payroll noticing. And a former working student cannot later be given a fixed-term contract without an objective reason, because the earlier employment triggers the prior employment bar – the graduate hiring route many groups use runs straight into it.
A note on sources: SGB V has an official English version, cited below. SGB III and SGB VI do not (checked on 2026-09-27); their German texts govern.
Sources
- Section 6 SGB V – Exemption from insurance, the working student rule (official English version) (opens in a new tab)
- Section 27 SGB III – Employment exempt from insurance (German original; no official English version) (opens in a new tab)
- Section 1 SGB VI – Compulsory insurance of employees (German original) (opens in a new tab)
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