Secondment, direct employment or self-employment
Under the posting model, the carer remains employed by a foreign company and is temporarily assigned to a private household in Germany. The foreign employer must actually fulfil its employer obligations, i.e. it must be responsible for remuneration, the organisation of the assignment, annual leave and personnel management. The German agency may act as an intermediary and provide organisational support. However, if it makes its own service commitments or effectively manages the staff, its role may be assessed differently. The contract with the family should clearly specify who is responsible for providing the care, who the employer is, and who is responsible in the event of absence or complaints.
In the case of direct employment by the household, the family is the employer. It is then responsible for obligations relating to payroll, social security, the minimum wage, annual leave, continued payment of wages and, where applicable, health and safety at work. This model can be legally transparent, but requires a level of organisation that private households often underestimate. An agency can provide administrative support, but it must not obscure the employer’s decision through unclear contractual chains.
A care worker who is formally self-employed is only truly self-employed if they are engaged in entrepreneurial activity. According to Section 611a of the German Civil Code (BGB) and Section 7 of Book IV of the Social Code (SGB IV), personal dependence, instructions and integration are particularly decisive factors in this regard. Anyone who lives in a household for an extended period, adheres to fixed working hours, carries out personal instructions and must essentially provide the service themselves runs a considerable risk of being classified as an employee. A contractual title and multiple theoretical clients are not sufficient if the practical reality of the work is different.
