PhD Handbook

16 4 BEYOND THE PHD – SOCIAL SECURITY AND DUTIES Being paid a taxable income (if you are not getting a scholar- ship), you will face some national social regulations, tasks and benefits beyond your PhD: you will have to have particular insurance cover, you will have to pay taxes to the German government, and, in reverse, obtain support in particular situations, e.g., support when founding a family. Some regulations, e.g., covering certain compulsory insurances, also apply to scholarship holders. In this chapter, we try to present the most important topics. 4.1 THE GERMAN SOCIAL INSURANCE SYSTEM The German social insurance is a statutory insurance system, which plays a predominant role in Germany‘s overall social security. Based on the solidarity of the community of the insured, it provides effective financial protection against the major life risks and their consequences, including: • Unemployment, • Old age, • Illness, • Occupational accidents and • Need for long-term care. Social insurance guarantees (or: should guarantee) a stable standard of living for every individual. Coverage encompasses the following branches, referred to as insurance funds or fund. The branches of social insurance 1. Unemployment insurance (“Arbeitslosenversicherung”): insures employees’ livelihood in case of unemployment. Please note: To obtain unemployment benefit, you must have completed the qualifying period and you must have registered as unemployed in person at the latest three months before finishing an employment relationship. If there are less than three months between knowledge of and the actual end of the employment relationship, the registration must be made within three days after knowledge of the end date. 2. Pension insurance (“Rentenversicherung”): insures members in old age as well as in case of reduced earning capacity and upon an employees’ death insures his/ her surviving dependents as well. 3. Health insurance (“Krankenversicherung”): compulsory - supports maintenance and restoration of good health and eases the financial consequences of illness; a health insurance company has to be chosen individually. 4. Occupational accident insurance (“Berufsunfallversicherung”): helps an employee regain his earning ability after a (work- related) accident; financed exclusively through employers‘ contributions. 5. Long-term care insurance (“Pflegeversicherung”) provides financial support for those dependent on care and assistance from others; affiliated to the health insurance (but is an extra fund). Who is statutorily insured? Employees above a certain gross income level (>400 to 4350 €/month) are as a rule automatically compulsorily insured. The social insurance funds are generally financed by contribu- tions from insured fund members and their employers. The contributions roughly amount to 31-33 % of the employees‘ gross income (“Bruttoeinkommen”). JUN HELMHOLTZ JUNIORS l 4 BEYOND THE PHD - SOCIAL SECURITY AND DUTIES

Seitenübersicht