Undeclared work is illegal. Full stop.

Undeclared work in private households in Germany

The official registration of private household help is required by law. You as a private employer are obliged to register your household help, regardless of the amount of the salary, no later than 6 weeks after the start of employment.

In Germany, 3.6 million households still employed their domestic help illegally in 2022. Unfortunately, this leads to the fact that employees do not receive a correct and fair employment relationship. They are not covered by social and accident insurance, and have no right to paid vacation or continued payment of wages in case of illness or maternity. Due to the lack of pension insurance, employees are directly endangered by old-age poverty. They have no chance to contribute to society and thus to be part of it. For most, these benefits of legal employment are not taken for granted. For private employers and employees, the situation is different.

You stand for legal employment, but your household help does not?

It is often employees who do not want to officially be registered. They are frequently afraid of the bureaucratic effort or high payroll taxes. Moreover, there is often ignorance about the risks of illegal work, but also about the many advantages of registration.

Therefore, we would like to encourage you as an employer to emphasize already when looking for a household help that only an official employment, for the safety of both sides, comes into question. In another article you will find some arguments to convince your household help to register: “My domestic helper does not want to register – how do I convince with quitt?”

The full ownership always lies with the employer

Only you as an employer can create a legal and fair working relationship with your household help. As a small reward, there are tax benefits of up to 510€ / year for Mini-jobs and 4.000 € / year for Midi-jobs and part- or fulltime jobs. You are covered in case of accidents at work and enjoy a right to reimbursement in case of absence due to illness or pregnancy, thanks to the employer’s insurance.

Protect yourself against high fines, retroactive payments of social security contributions or, in the worst case, even medical costs of your household help in case of a work accident. But most importantly, become part of the movement against undeclared work! This is the only way we can ensure fair working conditions in private households.