j_hih1

benefits section in work contract

Hello,

I have a question about the part of a work contract that i am considering to sign. This part is written under „Other benefits“ section.

– The employer does not currently maintain an employer-funded occupational pension scheme. The employee may request participation in a company pension scheme by way of deferred compensation within the framework of the statutory entitlements (§ 1a BetrAVG).

Does this mean that company is not paying the pension (social insurance including health insurance, rentenversicherung, arbeitslosenversicherung, and pflegeversicherung) automatically? then should I request them additionally to pay the pension from my gross salary before signing this contract ?

Thank you for your work and support in advance..!

5 Comments

Reply (5)

My__Community_Managerin

Welcome to our forum, and thank you for your question, @j_hih1!
Congratulations on your job offer!

In Germany, it is mandatory to contribute to statutory social insurance (health insurance, pension insurance, and unemployment insurance). These contributions are shared equally between the employer and the employee, with half being paid by your employer and the other half will automatically deducted from your gross salary. Here, you can find more information about social insurance and what is covered.

The clause refers to an employer-funded occupational pension, which is an additional retirement scheme. Usually you can voluntary sign in on such a scheme but not mandatory. Your future employer is simply informing you that they do not offer such an additional pension scheme.
Faire Integration offers counseling and helps with all questions about work and do also look through work contracts. You can check their website to check if one is in your area. @Faire__Integration_in_Schleswig-Holstein might have some additional information to share here as well.

I hope this clears up your concerns, and I wish you a great start to your new job! Please let me know if you have further questions.

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j_hih1

Updated:

@My_Community Managerin thank you for your detailed answer! it helped me to understand this. I have two related questions with my new work contract.

1) I have a work permit 18B Abs. 1, which started with my previous full-time employment from November 2021 and is valid until November 2025.

my previous work contract finished by September 2024 and i informed ausländerbehörde about this. They replied me (see this below), and i understood that i don't need their additional permission for a new work contract but i just need to inform them about my new employer by sending my work contract once I sign the new contract. Am i understanding this situation correctly?

2) Do you know if I can also request anything else when I send them the work contract documents — specifically, to update my Aufenthaltstitel to remove the binding to my previous employer (since I worked at this company for more than two years), and possibly renew/extend the validity of my current work permit?

Also, do you think it would be better to ask them if I can apply for permanent residency (settlement permit) already instead of renewing my work permit? (i satisfied 36 months condition by November 2024).

reply from ausländerbehörde:

Nach Aktenlage ist die Ihnen zuletzt erteilte Aufenthaltserlaubnis noch bis zum 14.11.2025 gültig. Da Sie Ihrer Tätigkeit als <POSITION> bei der Firma <PREVIOUS COMPANY> nachgingen und folglich über zwei Jahre einer versicherungspflichtigen Beschäftigung nachgingen, ist Ihnen die Ausübung jeder Beschäftigung erlaubt.

Bitte teilen Sie mir mit, ob Sie zwischenzeitlich bereits eine neue Beschäftigung gefunden haben. In diesem Fall bitte ich um Einreichung entsprechender Nachweise (Arbeitsvertrag und Verdienstnachweise).

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My__Community_Managerin

Updated:

Happy to hear that!
Let me answer your questions in order:

You understood that correctly. Please send them your new work contract and payslips. I assume payslips are only necessary if applicable. If you are sending your contract before you start your job, you won’t have any payslips yet.
You can request a new appointment to extend your residence permit. Depending on where you live and how the immigration office handles appointments, it would be good to request an appointment as soon as possible.
This is especially important if you are considering applying for permanent residency, as processing times are often very long.

You should consider whether you want to apply for a permanent residence, as you already meet some of the requirements. Additional requirements are

Language certificate (B1)
Sufficient living space
Basic knowledge of the legal and social system and way of life in Germany, usually proven by the Living in Germany test.

A permanent residency removes restrictions and the need of a purpose for your stay in Germany and offers further benefits. You can read more about the permanent residence permit on Handbook Germany.

Please let me know if you have any further questions!

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Faire__Integration_in_Schleswig-Holstein

Dear j_hih1, I can only confirm what the Community Manager wrote. Social security contributions (including pension) are mandatory and therefore paid by your employer (your contribution is deducted from your salary). Your employer only states that the company does not offer any additional retirement provision. However, if you want to pay into an additional pension insurance, you can ask your employer to contribute to it. In this case, please check the law referred to in the contract. Best Regards, Noha (Faire Integration in Schleswig Holstein)