For most students, a part-time job is simply part of the job to finance their living expenses and leisure activities. Temporary jobs in supermarkets, typing offices and waiter jobs in bars are at the top of the list. But there is another way, namely as a working student. Not only do you earn money, but you also gain experience for your future professional life. A work-study course is also a door opener into a company. In practice you will develop your soft skills, such as dealing with colleagues and customers, stress and criticism.
Privilege of a working student
The working student privilege ensures that you have more net left over from the gross. Unlike a normal employee, as a working student you do not have to pay contributions to health, nursing care or unemployment insurance . This regulation applies regardless of how much you earn. The employer even takes over accident insurance for you. Only statutory health insurance companies are a small exception. Whether and how much you have to pay for pension insurance depends on your level of income. For less than 450 euros you can be completely exempt from health insurance. Up to 850 euros, depending on income level and federal state, it is between 4 and 9.3 percent of gross salary.
Working student and taxes?
Unfortunately, only social insurance is affected by the working student privilege. From a tax perspective, a working student is nothing more than a part-time worker and must therefore pay wage tax and pension insurance contributions. These taxes depend on the amount of remuneration. For example, due to various flat-rate amounts and the basic allowance, wage tax only applies from gross wages of 989.00 euros. You can find a more detailed list in this article on working student salaries.
Vacation entitlement for working students
Your vacation entitlement is not a game of chance like at Casino777 Switzerland , but is anchored in law. As already stated, as a working student you are part-time. So you have the same vacation entitlement. The amount depends on how many days you work for the company.
- 5 days per week, then you have 20 vacation days per year
- 4 days per week results in 16 days of vacation per year
- 3 days per week equals 12 days of vacation per year
- 2 days per week and you get 8 vacation days per year
- 1 day a week is still 4 days a year
Advantage of a work-study course
As a working student, you usually have the advantage of being able to organize your working hours flexibly in the company, as long as you don't neglect your studies. During the semester break, working students can often even work full-time, which saves you from having to take on an additional part-time job.
Under certain conditions, you can have all or at least part of your time in the company credited as a compulsory internship. This saves you from having to do an additional internship outside of your lecture-free period. This option often goes unmentioned, even though many students would like this approach. It will certainly be more pleasant for you to write your final thesis as part of your work-study program in the company.
Typical tasks
Companies in all sectors specifically employ working students in areas that are to be developed in the long term by their own staff. Typically, companies entrust you with project work that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with an area of your field of study. You not only learn how the hierarchies work together, but you also train your teamwork and communication skills. In any case, after studying, your chances of getting a job in the same company, but also with other employers, increase.
Earn money, study and gain useful practical experience? You can do this as a working student.
