Income& secondary income during unemployment

Unemployment benefits alone are sometimes not enough to cover all expenses. Everything you need to know about extra income can be found on this page.

Unemployment benefit 1

Am I allowed to receive additional income to the unemployment benefit 1?
earn extra?

In addition to receiving unemployment benefit 1, you are entitled to be self-employed or to take on a secondary job. However, there are restrictions on the number of hours you can work per week:

The working hours of the secondary employment must be less than 15 hours per week. You are no longer considered unemployed if you work 15 hours or more, regardless of how much money you receive from this secondary employment.

In addition, the income (if you work less than 15 hours a week) will be counted towards your unemployment benefits. However, you have allowance in the amount of 165 €.

Important: Inform the employment agency immediately about any additional income, even if the income does not exceed the allowance of 165 €.

When taking into account secondary income, it is always the Net income. Contributions such as pension, health, nursing care insurance, wage tax or income tax will be deducted before recalculating your entitlement. You can also claim advertising and travel expenses.

Special features for further education
If, in addition to the secondary employment, you take part in further training for which you receive money from the current employer, the former employer or the further training provider, then this is taken into account in the calculation. You have a monthly allowance of 400 € for continuing education.

How do I inform the employment agency about the secondary employment??

If you take up a second job while receiving unemployment benefit 1, you must first provide the employment agency with an Notification of change send. You can get the form on site or as an online form.

However, the notification of change only shows that you have taken up an activity.

So that the employment agency can check to what extent this activity affects your entitlement to unemployment benefits, you must prove the income.

Information about income level and income duration
To prove your income, you must obtain from your employer an Certificate of additional income fill in. On the back of the form you can add income-related expenses or travel expenses. These will be taken into account in the recalculation of your unemployment benefit entitlement.

If the income remains the same every month, the employer only has to issue the certificate at the end of the first month. However, if the income varies, the agency may require either a quarterly or a monthly certificate (at the end of the month).

You can get the certificate of additional income on the spot at the employment agency as well as in the online form area.

Special features in the case of self-employment
If you receive your additional income from a self-employed activity, you must instead of the secondary income certificate a Fill out special declaration and when submitting proof of income (z.B. Add the following amounts to your income tax return.

This is how you notify the employment agency of your secondary employment:

1. Fill in and submit the notification of change
2. Have the employer fill out a certificate of income
3. Income certificate handed over to employment agency

What happens if I do not declare the additional income??

Any gainful employment, whether self-employed or employed, you must receive inform the employment agency without being asked at the latest on the day on which the activity begins. This also applies if the employer tells you that he will inform the employment agency about the side job.

If you do not inform the Jobcenter about your additional income or if you inform them too late, this can have the following negative consequences:

• Benefits paid too much you must pay, including social security contributions, to the employment agency pay back, z.B. in cases where the declaration was made too late and it was not possible to check/recalculate in time.
• The agency checks whether you have committed an administrative offense due to the missing declaration and whether fines are to be paid.

unemployment benefit 2

How much money can I earn in addition?

It is yours basically allowed, in addition to the receipt of unemployment benefit 2 earn a secondary income. However, you must calculate the additional income report it immediately, as it will be counted towards your basic income support.

Allowances
If you have a second job, your entire income will not be taken into account.

There is a basic allowance of 100 € and proportional allowances between 100 € and 1.000 € respectively. over 1.000 € income. For the calculation the Jobcenter uses the gross amounts in each case.

If you earn between 100 € and 1.000 € remain for you 20 % of your gross income as an allowance (in addition to the basic allowance i.H.v. 100 €).

From 1.000 € up to the upper earnings limit of 1.200 € (1.500 € for beneficiaries with one child) will be 10 % counted as an allowance.

Remember, however: Additional income must always be reported to the Jobcenter, even if it does not exceed the basic allowance!

An example of calculation
You are childless and have an earned income of 950 €. 750 € left after deduction of social security contributions and taxes.

What happens if I do not declare an income?

You must both fill out the application for
Unemployment Benefit 2 as well as in the case of a new "source of income" during the grant period, you must truthfully provide the Jobcenter with the following information. The information on income is regularly checked with the help of automated data reconciliation.

In concrete terms this means:
The job center can use your personal data (name, address, insurance number) in order to z.B. with the data from the pension insurance agency, the Federal Central Tax Office or the population register.

If you conceal income, you commit a Administrative offense and have to expect fines.