Working hours for international students in Germany: university job plus a second job

If you hold a German student residence permit, the number that decides this is 140. Section 16b (3) of the Residence Act gives the permit a working day account of up to 140 working days per year, states that student jobs are not counted against that account, and then sets two ways of counting part time work, applied for each calendar week in whichever way is better for you. So a small job at your university and a flexible job at a warehouse are not counted the same way, and normally only the second one fills the account.

The working day account in plain numbers

Section 16b (3) says three things, and the order matters.

1. The permit entitles you to employment of up to a total of 140 working days per year. The law calls this the working day account (Arbeitstagekonto).
2. Student jobs are not counted. The German text of the same sentence reads: Studentische Nebentätigkeiten werden nicht angerechnet.
3. Part time employment is counted in the way most favourable for you, by one of two methods.

Method one counts days. Every day on which your working time does not exceed four hours may be counted as one half working day, and any longer day counts as one full working day.

Method two counts weeks. During the semester, a calendar week in which you work a maximum of 20 hours counts as two and a half working days. Outside the semester, a calendar week counts as two and a half working days no matter how the hours are spread inside it.

The choice between the methods is not made once for the year. The law says the favourability check is done separately for each calendar week, which means a week of short shifts can be counted one way and a week of long shifts the other way.

What 20 hours a week actually costs you

Take the case of a steady 20 hours a week during the semester. Method two charges that week two and a half working days. Over 52 calendar weeks that is 130 working days, which stays under the 140 in the account. This is arithmetic on the numbers in Section 16b (3), not a separate rule, and it only holds while every week really stays at or below 20 hours.

Method one can be worse or the same for the same 20 hours. Twenty hours spread over five days of four hours is five half days, which is also two and a half days. Twenty hours spread over three shifts of six to seven hours is three full days, which is more. That is exactly why the law lets you take the better of the two for each week separately, and why your own record of dates and hours matters more than a monthly total.

Weeks outside the semester are the ones worth planning. There, the week costs two and a half working days regardless of how the hours sit, so a full time week in the break costs the same as a light one.

Where a university job sits

The sentence that most often decides a case like this is the short one: student jobs are not counted. Neither the official English translation nor the German text of Section 16b (3) defines in that sentence which contracts qualify, and the counting rules that follow are written for the employment that does count.

That leaves one practical step rather than a guess. Before you sign the second contract, ask your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in writing for two answers: whether your university contract counts as a student job under Section 16b (3), and whether its hours count toward the 20 hour week threshold in method two. The office that issued your permit is the office that decides your case, and a written answer is what protects you at the next extension. If you move, you also need to register your new address.

Country specifics

Three details are specific to Germany and easy to get wrong.

The semester and the break are your own university's calendar, not a national one. Method two treats a week during the semester and a week outside it differently, so the dates you apply are the dates your university publishes for your own programme.

Health insurance is a separate system with separate rules. Section 6 (1) no. 3 of the Social Code Book V exempts people who are employed for pay while enrolled as regular students at a university from compulsory health insurance. The statute names no hour figure in that provision, so the boundary that insurers apply in practice is a question for your own health insurance fund, asked before the second job starts and not after.

Students who are citizens of an EU or EEA country or of Switzerland are in a different position altogether. The EURES country page for Germany states that nationals of EU member states enjoy unlimited freedom of movement for workers and are not subject to restrictions as regards work permits, and that EEA and Swiss nationals share that status. The working day account belongs to the residence permit under the Residence Act, so a student who does not need that permit does not carry that account either.

Before you sign the second contract

• Ask the Ausländerbehörde in writing about the university job and about the 20 hour threshold, and keep the answer.
• Keep a week by week record of dates and hours for every job. The favourability check is per calendar week, so a record by month cannot prove anything.
• Watch the weeks in the semester break separately, because a light week there costs the same two and a half days as a heavy one.
• Ask your health insurance fund what a second job does to your status as an enrolled student.
• Check your enrolment is unbroken. The permit rests on full time study, and the working day account is attached to that permit. After graduation, see switching from the job-seeker permit to a Blue Card.

Read next

• Switch from the job-seeker permit to an EU Blue Card in Germany early?
• Wohnungsgeberbestätigung: who signs it for your Anmeldung
• Changing jobs in Germany on a residence permit: when you need the immigration office

FAQ

Does a five hour university job use up my 140 days?

Section 16b (3) says student jobs are not counted against the working day account. It does not define in that sentence which contracts qualify, so the binding answer for your contract comes from your Ausländerbehörde in writing.

How is a 20 hour week counted during the semester?

As two and a half working days, under method two of Section 16b (3), provided the week stays at a maximum of 20 hours.

What is counted as a full day and what as a half day?

Under method one, a day on which your working time does not exceed four hours may count as half a working day. A longer day counts as a full working day.

Can I work more hours during the semester break?

Outside the semester a calendar week counts as two and a half working days independently of how the working time is distributed, so long weeks there cost the same as short ones. The 140 day account still applies for the year.

Do EU and EEA students have a working day account?

No. The account comes from the student residence permit under the Residence Act. The EURES page for Germany states that EU nationals have unlimited freedom of movement for workers and no work permit restrictions, and that EEA and Swiss nationals share that status.

What happens to my health insurance if I add a second job?

Section 6 (1) no. 3 of Social Code Book V exempts people employed for pay while enrolled as regular students from compulsory health insurance. The provision itself sets no hour limit, so ask your own insurer what your second job does to that status.

Who gives the binding answer on my case?

The immigration office that issued your permit. A forum answer, including this page, is a map of the rules, not a decision on your file.

How Jobsy fits

We build Jobsy, a job search service for Europe. You describe the work you want, and it looks for employers and recruitment agencies and prepares the applications for you. It does not give immigration advice and it cannot raise anyone's working day account. What it can do is narrow the search to work that fits the hours you are allowed to work.

Sources

• Residence Act (AufenthG), Section 16b, official English translation: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_aufenthg/englisch_aufenthg.html
• Residence Act (AufenthG), Section 16b, German text: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthg_2004/__16b.html
• Social Code Book V (SGB V), Section 6, exemption from compulsory insurance: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_5/__6.html
• EURES, Living and working conditions in Germany: https://eures.europa.eu/living-and-working/living-and-working-conditions/living-and-working-conditions-germany_en