Health insurance and contributions

As an employee, you are either a „compulsorily insured“ member or a „voluntarily insured“ member of the Deutsche Bank Health Insurance Fund. The difference lies in your income level and has no effect on BKK benefits.

If your salary regularly exceeds a certain Limit

If your salary regularly exceeds a certain Limit (annual income limit), you are no longer subject to compulsory insurance, but become a voluntary member of the BKK or can switch to a private health insurance scheme.

The contributions to the company health insurance fund (health and nursing care insurance) are calculated by the HR department and forwarded directly to us. You don‘t need to do anything. The same also applies to the pension and unemployment insurance contributions.

Family insurance

BKK also insures your spouse and children free of charge, provided they have no income or only a small income of their own. This applies to family members who live in Germany or in a country with which a health insurance agreement exists. Different age limits apply to children. If you wish your family members to be insured, please do not hesitate to contact us. More information can be found here:

Learn more about ''Non-contributory family insurance''

If your spouse is also employed in Germany, he/she can also take out insurance with the Deutsche Bank Health Insurance Fund – regardless of who his or her employer is. More information can be found here:

Learn more about ''Becoming a member''

Contribution level

Contributions are always based on the amount of gross salary derived from employment. Other income (e.g. from rental and leasing or investment income) is generally not taken into account. There is an upper limit for the obligation to pay contributions, referred to as the income ceiling for social-security contributions. Contributions are only charged up to this amount. This applies to all types of social security, however the limits vary.

The contribution rate for health insurance is the same across Germany at 14.6 percent. In addition, each health insurance fund can charge an individual additional contribution, which is just 1.6 percent in the case of BKK.

The total contribution of 16.2 percent is shared equally between employees and employers at 8.1 percent of the gross salary each. The total contribution will be forwarded to us as part of the payroll process by the Human Resources department.

The contribution for nursing care insurance is 3.05 percent. For childless individuals aged over 23 years an additional contribution of 0.25 percent is levied.

Salary calculation

Each month you will receive a salary statement from Deutsche Bank, which you can view using HR Connect. It shows you how your net salary – the amount you actually get paid – is calculated.

The net salary is lower than the gross salary mentioned in your em- ployment contract or collective wage agreement. That is because the employer deducts from this some contributions and taxes such as your share of the contributions for the various types of social security. Your employer will pay these contributions directly to the social security funds and your taxes to the tax office.

The following example will explain how to read your salary statement in Germany.

Explanation

1. Verdienstzeitraum (salary period)

The Verdienstzeitraum (salary period) indicates the month in which you earned the money. In HR Connect, you can always access your salary statements for the last 20 months.

2. Vergütungsbestandteile (remuneration components)

Remuneration components are all components of the remuneration that may be subject to taxes and social security contributions. In the example, these are the basic salary and contributions to capital formation.

3. Bruttoentgelte (gross pay)

The BRUTTOENTGELTE (GROSS PAY) section first shows the total gross monthly pay. This is the sum of all remuneration components. The lines below indicate which parts of the gross salary are subject to taxes and social security contributions.
The abbreviations SV, KV, PV, RV and AV stand for social insurance, health insurance, nursing care insurance, pension insurance and unemployment insurance. The annual totals are shown in the right hand column.

4. Gesetzliche Abzüge (statutory deductions) and sonstige Be-/Abzüge (other deductions)

Under GESETZLICHE ABZÜGE (STATUTORY DEDUCTIONS) and SONSTIGE BE-/ABZÜGE (OTHER DEDUCTIONS), you can see the amounts paid by your employer on your behalf as income tax, solidarity surcharge and social security.

5. Kirchensteuer (church tax)

The Protestant and Catholic Churches also collect taxes that are automatically deducted from the salary and passed on to the tax office if you belong to one of these denominations.

6. Lohnkonto und vermögenswirksames Sparkonto (salary account and capital- forming savings account)

The net amount is what the company transfers to your account. In our example, the largest part goes to the salary account and a smaller voluntary amount goes to a capital- forming savings account.

7. Steuerklasse (tax bracket)

The tax bracket (ST-Klasse) depends on the employee‘s marital status and determines the amount of tax to be paid.


Your contact for „health insurance and contributions“

Ihr persönlicher Ansprechpartner

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Veröffentlicht am: 19.05.2021 - Zuletzt geändert am: 09.08.2023