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Support for Development Workers and Financial Settlement ◼ OE 6830 ◼ Date: January 1st, 2020

Benefits granted by GIZ for

development workers

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System of benefits for development

workers

• Basic living allowance EUR 850

• Oversea bonus for development advisors EUR 850

Supplement for spouse EUR 340

Supplement per child EUR 170

• The oversea bonus is paid to development workers from the contractually stipulated

outward relocation date.

• As a general rule, the oversea bonus is tax-free, even during periods spent in

Germany (outside the preparatory period).

• Development workers are entitled to claim the above supplements to the oversea

bonus for dependent family members even if those family members do not relocate

with them to the country of assignment.

Taxable!

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Income tax

As a general rule, the allowance is subject to income tax.

No residence in Germany Residence in Germany

Limited tax liability

with tax class 1

(Application submitted by GIZ)

Unlimited tax liability

based on current income tax details

(ELStAM)

Detailed information on tax liability in Germany, residence rules, double household status, joint tax assessment,

child benefit, etc. can be found on the intranet at:

Home → Services → Personnel → Foreign assignments → Current news: Task Force on taxes during

assignments outside Germany

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Cost of living adjustment

• Germany’s Federal Statistical Office uses a special basket of

goods for development workers to calculate inflation rates in

partner countries.

These inflation figures are used to calculate quarterly the living

adjustments.

• Only positive inflation figures are taken into account.

• The post adjustment is applied to 100% of the following

allowances: basic living allowance and oversea bonus

(including the family supplements for accompanying family

members).

• Avoidance of hardship rule: Any quarterly reduction will be

limited to 10%.

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Interest-free advanced payment

• Payment subject to application

• Cashflow support, e.g. to pay medical

expenses up front or provide a deposit

for accommodation

• Repayable at end of contract

Development

workers EUR 2,000

Accompanying

spouse 30%(even if spouse has own

contract)

EUR 600

Per child 20% EUR 400

Tax-free

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Rent allowance

Requirement

This allowance is payable only if you are invited to attend a preparatory

course at such short notice that you are unable to comply with the

cancellation notice period in your tenancy agreement or it is not possible

to find another tenant to cover the period in question on time.

• Rent allowance for your previous accommodation

(basic rent only for up to 3 months)

If you are an owner-occupier, the allowance is payable

up to the local rental value of the property.

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Equipment and furnishing allowance

• Term: 24 month

• Generally taxable

• (Partially) repayable if your

contract ends before the full term

(for whatever reason)

• Monthly allowance from the

25th project month

Development worker EUR 3,600

Accompanying spouse/civil

partner 30% (even if spouse

has his/her own contract)EUR 1,080

Per child 20% EUR 720

From the 25th project month:

Development worker

Accompanying spouse/civil

partner

Per child

EUR 100

EUR 30

EUR 20

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Lump-sum furniture storage allowance

• Generally taxable

• Monthly allowance starting on the relocation date

Development worker EUR 50

Accompanying

spouse/civil partnerEUR 15

Per child EUR 10

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Shipment costs for unaccompanied

luggage - outward and homeward

relocation

Based on vouched expenses (invoice) and three offers:

• for the development worker, accompanying spouse and children from the age of

13: 100 kg each

• for children up to the age of 12: 50 kg each

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Rent allowance in country of assignment

• If the project partner does not make accommodation available, the development worker will generally find his/her own rented accommodation.

• GIZ is required to provide advice and help the development worker find suitable accommodation.

• Rental expenses are reimbursed by the GIZ office in line with a rent index drawn up by GIZ for development workers.

• Supplements for accompanying family members:

− for the first family member: + 30%

− for each additional family member: + 10%

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Childcare, nursery and school costs

• Payable only if the development worker

is a single parent or if both spouses have

a development worker contract with GIZ

(alternatively development worker +

integrated expert)

• 92.5% of vouched expenses

• Max. EUR 300 per child per month

92.5% of the following costs are

reimbursable:

• nursery school fees from the age of one

• school fees, admission fees and

examination fees

• school bus (including local public

transport)

• distance learning school costs

Childcare costs for

children under the age of

14

Nursery school

and school costs

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• Unpaid supply trips (e.g. shopping, taking children to/from school, medical

appointments) may be made using your official vehicle if this arrangement is

approved by your program manager or the country director.

• Development workers are required to pay EUR 0.30 per kilometre for private

journeys made using an official vehicle. All private use of official cars must be

approved in advance by program manager, the country director or the GIZ office.

• If no permission is given to use an official car for unpaid supply trips, you will be

entitled to a monthly lump-sum, the mobility allowance instead: development

worker EUR 100; accompanying spouse EUR 20; per child EUR 10.

This allowance is paid together with your living allowance and is generally taxable.

Supply trips using an official

vehicle/Private journeys/Lump-sum

mobility allowance

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Leave

Depature leave

On completion of preparation in Germany

Eight working days (= bank opening days).

Special leave

In case of the death or a life-threatening illness of a close family member: Two days

for travel and up to four working days (plus reimbursement of flight costs).

Annual leave

Two-and-a-half or three days per full month, i.e.

30 days for a five-day week

36 days for a six-day week

Additional leave in certain countries (as per field staff).

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Monthly leave allowance/Visits (flights)

by non-accompanying children

• The development worker and each accompanying

dependent family member (spouse/civil partner and

children) are entitled to a monthly leave allowance

of EUR 40.00 from the contractually stipulated date

of commencement of project service. As a general

rule, the leave allowance is taxable.

• Provided that you have completed 24 months with the project, GIZ will

reimburse the cost of a return economy-class flight for non-accompanying

dependent children to visit you once during the contract period in the country of

assignment.

(This entitlement does not apply in CTO countries.)

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Own income of family members

• Any income in excess of EUR 450 (net) is deducted from the

corresponding family supplement to the oversea bonus.

• For any period in which the oversea bonus of a particular family

member is not paid due to the amount of income of that family

member, then that family member is not entitled to:

− reintegration allowance

− leave allowance

− free medical insurance.

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Resettlement allowance

The (tax-free) resettlement allowance is based on three levels

corresponding to the number of months of the DA´s contract

performed by the development worker. Qualifying months are all

project months completed with one of the development service

organisations recognised by the German Development Workers Act.

The monthly resettlement allowance is:

For development workers

Level 1: EUR 100 Level 2: EUR 200 Level 3: EUR 300

For accompanying spouses/civil partners

Level 1: EUR 42 Level 2: EUR 63 Level 3: EUR 84

Per accompanying child

Level 1: EUR 42 Level 2: EUR 63 Level 3: EUR 84

(Level 1: up to and including the 24th project month, level 2: from the

25th project month, level 3: from the 49th project month)

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Social security

Details of social security:

Group medical insurance policy (currently with EUROPA Versicherung AG)

Accident insurance policy with UVB (Unfallversicherung Bund und Bahn)

This policy provides additional medical cover and statutory accident insurance.

Long-term care insurance

Where applicable, cover is provided to allow for the suspension and subsequent

reinstatement of your medical and long-term care insurance on the same terms

(Anwartschaftsversicherung).

Pension scheme

Group accident insurance (only for accompanying family members)

Public liability insurance

Insurance for movable property (household effects and travel luggage)

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Group health insurance

• Development workers generally submit claims for medical treatment directly to EUROPA.

• The GIZ office will pay the bill up front (repayable on settlement of claim) if the costs of treatment by a doctor/hospital are more than 20% of the family maintenance allowance (basic maintenance allowance plus foreign service premium).

• Expenses over and above the benefits covered by Europa can be claimed under the UVB policy.

• All dependent and accompanying family members are covered with EUROPA.

• GIZ recommends that you request a suspension (Anwartschaftsversicherung) for your existing medical and long-term care insurance policies.

• Important note: Although the medical insurance policy with EUROPA is classed as private medical cover, the benefits are limited (e.g. no optional benefits such as a private room or treatment by a doctor in private practice).

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Group accident insurance

Group accident insurance

policy covering:

Death from

accidentInvalidity

Spouse/civil partner EUR 20,000 EUR 125,000

Children EUR 20,000 EUR 125,000

The 24-hour cover provided under the group accident insurance policy is

only available to the groups of people listed (N.B. accompanying persons

only).

However, development workers are covered by UVB’s statutory

accident insurance policy during working hours only. They are not

included in the above group accident insurance policy.

We therefore recommend that development workers obtain their own

additional private accident insurance policy with 24/7 cover for the duration

of the foreign assignment.

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Public liability insurance

• GIZ has purchased liability insurance on behalf

of development workers and their dependent

family members.

• The cover provided is in line with BMZ

conditions.

• The insurance cover is valid worldwide.

Personal injury and property damage Financial losses

EUR 3 million EUR 100,000

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Insurance of luggage and household items

• ‘Movable property’ insurance covers travel luggage and household effects.

Development workers can insure their movable property including their own

furniture. An application must be submitted to the Support for Development Workers

unit.

• GIZ recommends that you check your policy for completeness at the latest before

the return journey and submit a new application/obtain new insurance as required.

• Please note that there is a EUR 50 excess (deductible) for each case of damage.

Cover provided by GIZ Cost* Max. cover

Development worker up to EUR 3,400.00EUR

22.85/year

per EUR 1,000

sum insured

EUR 20,000.00Accompanying spouse/civil

partner up toEUR 3,400.00

Per accompanying child up

toEUR 1,000.00

* EUR 1,000 sum insured = EUR 22.85/year EUR 1.90/month

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Pension

contributions

• For development workers, the monthly notional earnings subject to mandatory contributions are at least 66.67% of the corresponding pension contribution assessment ceiling.

• In order to protect vested entitlements, an adjustment will be made if the development worker’s earnings that were subject to mandatory pension contributions were higher in his/her previous job in Germany.

• Contributions cannot be made to foreign pension plans.

• If you wish contributions to be made into a pension scheme for the liberal professions (berufsständisches Versorgungswerk), you must provide up-to-date confirmation from Deutsche Rentenversicherung that you have been released from the duty to make contributions for the duration of your assignment as a development worker.

Contribution

assessment

ceiling 2020

Assess

-ment

factor

Notional earnings

subject to compulsory

monthly contributions

Monthly

contribution

(GIZ pays

employer and

employee

contributions)

EUR 6,900.00 0.6667 EUR 4,600.23 EUR 855.60