Social security obligations of lecturers – Case law of the German Federal Social Court and transitional regulation of Section 127 of the German Social Security Code IV

In accordance to Section 7 (1) of the German Social Security Code IV, employment is not self-employed if it is carried out in accordance with instructions and is integrated into the work organisation of the employer. Employees working in this way are subject to pension insurance in accordance to Section 1 of the German Social Security Code VI, with the insured person and employer generally paying half of the contributions. Self-employed teachers are also subject to pension insurance in accordance to Section 2 sentence 1 no. 1 of the German Security Code VI, but they pay their contributions themselves.

In its decision of November 5, 2024 (case no. B 12 BA 3/23 R), the German Federal Social Court had to clarify the legal question of the criteria under which teachers are self-employed or not self-employed.

In the case in dispute, the adult education centre offered, among other things, seminars to prepare for the secondary school leaving certificate via the second educational pathway. It agreed corresponding courses with the lecturer for the years in dispute, 2017 and 2018. The German Federal Pension Insurance determined that the lecturer was subject to social insurance on the basis of employment, which was confirmed by the German Federal Social Court. This was because the agreed framework did not allow the lecturer to act as a self-employed entrepreneur with the corresponding opportunities and risks. According to the general contractual conditions of the adult education centre, the lecturer was responsible for the methodological and didactic implementation and independent organisation of the lessons, he regularly submitted an assessment of the performance of the individual students to the head of the department and the adult education centre had no right to issue instructions. Nevertheless, the German Federal Social Court did not consider the lecturer to be sufficiently entrepreneurial. This was because the teaching activities were characterised by externally determined processes in a concept for which the adult education centre was responsible and without any significant entrepreneurial freedom. Above all, the adult education centre provided the classrooms and coordinated the teaching times to ensure the overall course offering. In addition, remuneration was paid by the adult education centre for lessons actually held after submission of participant lists or for participation in course conferences.

The German Federal Social Court also disagreed with the lower courts in their view that there had been a decisive supreme court ruling prior to June 2022, according to which a teaching activity as a lecturer would always be regarded as self-employed if agreed accordingly. In this respect, there is no protection of legitimate expectations due to a supposed change in case law. Decisions on the existence of employment subject to social security contributions are always based on a case-by-case assessment in accordance with the determination of status subject to social security contributions.