Unemployment Insurance in EU->Germany

Unemployment insurance in Germany

Type of scheme

How to join? Compulsory Unemployment Insurance. You will automatically be enrolled in unemployment insurance when you start working in Germany.

Contribution: Contributions are paid 50% by the employer and 50% by the employee.

Who is covered? All employees (including trainees).
Persons who are self-employed, have parental leave (for a child over 3 years old), undergoing continuing vocational training or work outside the EU/EEA, have the option, under certain conditions, to voluntarily pay contributions and thus be covered by the scheme.

Benefit amount: Earnings-related. Benefit is higher if you have dependent children. Duration of benefit increases for 50+.

Requirements for entitlement

In order to be entitled to unemployment benefit, you must meet the following requirements:

• You are unemployed, but can work for at least 15 hours per week in employment that requires insurance.
• You have registered as unemployed online via Bundesagentur für Arbeit's digital service or in person at your employment agency.
• You are looking for a job that requires insurance. You will work with your employment agency.
• You must have been compulsorily insured for at least 12 months during the last 30 months. Periods where you have raised a child in Germany (up to the age of 3), have received sickness benefit, have done voluntary military service, and periods where the self-employed were voluntarily insured by unemployment insurance will be included.
• You are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, or you possess a valid settlement permit or a work permit that is not tied to a certain job.

You have been employed multiple times with fixed-short-term contracts

If you were often employed on a fixed-term basis (shorter than 14 weeks) you may be entitled to unemployment benefits if you have had at least 6 months of periods subject to insurance (employment or additional periods subject to insurance) in the last 30 months.

Quarantine if you are self-inflicted unemployed

The Unemployment benefits will be suspended for up to 12 weeks if you terminate the job yourself without a good reason, or if your employer have dismissed you for behavioral reasons.

Are there special rules for new graduates?

No, new graduates must meet the same requirements.

Determination of benefit

The basis on which your unemployment benefit is calculated is your gross earnings (salary) for the past 12 months divided by 365.
From this, the wage tax, if applicable the solidarity surcharge and a flat rate amount for social security of 20 percent are deducted.
The result is your net pay per day, from which you can get 60% or 67% if you have at least one dependent child.

The monthly ceilings are 60 and 67 % of EUR 7,300 (West Germany) and 7,100 (East Germany) monthly gross earnings, respectively.
Hence, the maximum monthly benefit amount is EUR 3,172.50 (West Germany) and EUR 3,104.10 (East Germany). No minimum amount applies.

You can calculate yourself how much you can get in unemployment benefit in this online calculator.

The benefit rate is the same throughout the period in which you can receive benefit (see below).

Tax treatment

Unemployment benefits in Germany is a net benefit, and hence not taxable.

Benefit duration

For people up to 50 years old the period is between 6 and 12 months depending on the duration of compulsory insurance coverage within the last 5 years. From the age of 50, the period of entitlement increases in several steps up to 24 months.

Aggregation of insurance periods from other EU/EEA countries

Periods of insurance and work from another EEA country which are confirmed in a PD U1 document or exchanged electronically by the authorities via EESSI in SED U002 can be used to meet the qualifying period, if you have worked in a job covered by compulsory insurance after arriving in Germany.

In case of using PD U1 / SED U002 the Unemployment benefit is calculated on the basis of income you have had while working in Germany.

How to apply for unemployment benefit

It's a 3-step process to apply for unemployment benefits in Germany.
At the website of the Federal Employment Agency ("Bundesagentur für Arbeit") you must:

• Register as a jobseeker
• Register as unemployed
• Apply for unemployment benefit

If you do not meet the requirements

Individuals who do not meet the above mentioned requirements for unemployment benefits, may have the option to apply for Citizen's benefit ("Bürgergeld").

German words

Unemployment Insurance = Arbeitslosenversicherung

Unemployment benefit = Arbeitslosengeld

This page was last updated on November 14, 2023.