Assistants

The status of belonging to the group of regular students requires that a scientific education is pursued in a structured course of study with a specific professional goal, and that the student complies with an educational regulation related to or building upon the studies. Regular students include those enrolled (matriculated) at a university or a school aimed at professional education, and whose time and effort are predominantly dedicated to their studies. This is generally assumed if any additional employment does not exceed 20 hours per week.

Participants in dual study programs are not considered regular students in this sense but are subject to compulsory social insurance as employees in vocational training.

Source: DRV

The employee, when subject to mandatory pension insurance, voluntarily pays from their earnings the difference between the flat rate and the general contribution rate of 3.7% (⇒ 18.6% - 15%). This happens automatically if the employee does not object.

The employee can object to the mandatory pension insurance in writing by attaching the waiver form to the contract.

The waiver of mandatory pension insurance means ⇒ the employee has fewer deductions, resulting in a higher net payout.

At the University of Bremen, student assistants are allowed to work a maximum of 74 hours per month; otherwise, their student status may be revoked.

When limiting the working hours to 74 hours per month, all secondary employment must be taken into account.

Students are allowed to have multiple contracts; however, these must not exceed the general hour limit (42 hours or 74 hours).

One can have a minor employment contract in addition to a primary job. All additional minor contracts will be combined with the primary employment and are subject to full social security contributions.

A change notification must be created for any contract amendments that affect payments and sent exclusively to Department 05.

The following actions are taken:

- Adjustment of the central database
- Forwarding of the change notification to Performa Nord

Per contract, only one increase is allowed via a change notification. In such cases, the change notification must be submitted in writing or via email to Department 05 (current forms are available on our website). A reduction in the contract is possible at any time.

Please inform the students that they must notify the responsible department of any changes related to their contracts.

This includes:
- Change of address
- Change of health insurance
- Additional contracts

Note: These non-payment-related changes must be independently forwarded by the respective departments to PerformaNord.

The vacation entitlement is regulated by the Federal Vacation Act (cf. § 3 BUrlG from 20.04.2013).

According to the BUrlG, the entitlement is 24 days of vacation, but this applies to a 6-day workweek. For a 5-day workweek, the entitlement is proportionally reduced to 20 days per year. Since work at the University of Bremen is characterized by flexible working hours, the entitlement is converted into hours. Below you will find an explanation of the calculation and a table for determining the vacation entitlement:

Explanation of the Calculation

Calculation Table for Vacation Entitlement

The legislator has introduced a transition area for the low-wage sector to reduce the burden of high social security contributions compared to regular earners, which also applies to student assistant contracts.

Employment falls within the transition area if the salary ranges from €520.01 to €2,000 and the upper limit is not regularly exceeded.

Source: Deutsche Rentenversicherung

- The contracts must be signed by both contracting parties.
- All necessary forms and documents must be correctly and completely filled out.
- Contracts must be concluded for whole months! The contract must always start on the 1st of a month and end on the last day of the final contract month. Note for leap years: February 29, 2024.
- All contracts must have a unique contract number for better distinction and control. Contract numbers should not include areas or years in encoded form.

You can find a checklist for contract completeness here.

A significant change for international students since 2005 is that a residence permit according to § 16 (1) of the Residence Act is now automatically issued with a work permit.

This work permit allows employment under § 16 (3) of the Residence Act, limited to a total of 90 full days or 180 half days per year for secondary activities.

If the activities are "study-supportive" secondary activities (i.e., the activity must be related to the studies), these working days are not counted towards the 90/180 days. Our assistant contracts are always awarded for activities in teaching and research. The academic tasks are a prerequisite for the awarding of a student assistant contract. Therefore, the above rule does not apply here.

For non-student secondary activities, the 90/180-day rule must be observed.

Student assistants receive their remuneration (salaries) based on the average monthly hours on the 15th of the following month.

Since the payments are made on the 15th of the following month, great care is necessary with contract changes and conclusions. This means: all reports to Department 05 must be submitted before the end of the contract so that the last payment can be adjusted.

The timesheet is used to monitor working hours and is not for payment instructions. It remains in the responsible area for storage for 2 years.

The payroll statements are sent via internal mail to the respective departments or institutes through internal mailboxes.

The entire contract is charged to the finance department or the fund in the SAP system with its total amount in the first month of the contract.

Contracts that span multiple years are booked in two parts. The first part in the current year and the second part is booked accurately for the period (booking date 01.01.20xx) for the following year.

Total amount of the contract = hourly cost rate x total number of hours + (performance pay x contract duration).