Preparation of the stay
Insurance
Anyone who spends a research stay in Germany as part of an employment relationship has to pay social security contributions. Social contributions include contributions to insurance for pensions, health care, unemployment benefits and long-term care. These are compulsory insurance policies.
Chapter overview
Health insurance
A health insurance is mandatory in Germany, also for your family members. The insurance has at least to cover medical treatment in case of acute illness and accidents. A health insurance certificate is needed, among other things, for an employment contract and for the issuance of a residence permit.
There are statutory and private health insurance companies. Employees are obliged to be insured in the statutory health insurance. Employees with a gross income of 66,600 euros per year can also choose a private health insurance. If you start a position as professorship at MHH and become a civil servant (also on a temporary basis), you can also choose between private and statutory health insurance. For civil servants, there may be financial advantages with a private health insurance compared to a statutory one. A comparison is always worthwhile.
The contribution rate for statutory health insurance is 14.6 percent of gross wages. There are different additional contributions depending on the health insurance company. In the case of salaried employees, the employer and employee each share the health insurance contribution equally. The employer’s share being deducted directly from the gross salary. Further information can be found here:
Insurance for pension, unemployment benefits and long-term care
For salaried employees contributions to the German pension insurance are also mandatory – regardless of the nationality. These contributions are calculated as a percentage of the gross income; the employer pays 50 percent. As soon as you start your job, the steps required to register for a pension insurance are automatically taken care of for you.
You can find more information about your pension here:
The same applies for unemployment benefits and long-term care. Contributions to accident insurance are borne solely by the employer.
Further insurance
Further insurances are not obligatory. However, it is highly recommended to have a personal liability insurance! Almost every person or family has such an insurance. The insurance is importand for situations where you or your children cause damage to the property of others or injure someone in a private context. Without a personal liability insurance, you are usually liable for all costs incurred – regardless or whether the damage was caused intentionally or accidentally.