Hi people,

I got an offer last Friday from a company in München which would like to employ me but as "Freiberuflich".
They called me 10 minutes ago telling me that it could be difficult to employ a GC as Freiberuflich.
Is there some Freiberuflich GC here or does any of you know one who works as Freiberuflich because we need to see with him how things have been done for him to get employ like that.

Regards,

D.

Hi Nobody,

I am sorry to tell you, that you are not allowed to work as a freelancer. You should call me, for the details.

Best regards
Detlef

There are workarounds, depending on the details of the contract, depending on which country you're from and whether you are prepared to bend the rules and take some risk. The possibilities range from 100% legal to clearly illegal. If you aim to permanently live in Germany none of these models will be any good for you but some will suit you if your primary goal is to earn some money here and now.

A word of warning: There are three potential reasons for discussing freelance work.

1. the company you're talking to is in the business of hiring and subcontracting out freelancers to their clients, in which case you're not really close to a contract anyway, unless you have been introduced and personally met the client yet.

2. the company is a bit dodgy and while they really want an employee at the same time are looking to cut their costs for social insurance and their business risk, without paying you a typical freelancer rate. Note: Nowadays hourly rates for most freelancers are in the 40 to 70 Euro bracket and it's common to bill the actual hours worked. I.e. you'd be aiming to bill roughly 60k - 120k p.a. Most small companys are usually not willing to pay decent rates.

3. the company offers a genuine opportunity for a freelancer because they have a limited amount of work for a short time or because they have only enough work for a few hours or days per week. In this case it is rather dodgy to approach applicants for permanent jobs and try to make them go freelance. There is no reason to do so either, because there are many freelancers available in the market, who could pick up the work without having to start a new freelance business.

Be careful.

Marc

Legally we are not allowed to work as Freiberuflich with GC. The only work around is to be employed by a Freiberuflicher or a consultant company for whom you work as GC. I am now working for a Freiberuflicher as a GC employee.

Regards

I know GC'ers who changed their status from GC to 'freelancer' at NRW and Hessen. That is not impossible and based upon your application to the german authorities, your skills and a series of investigation about your assets.

It is of course not accepted when you go to Ausländerbehörde and just tell that you want to change your status from GC to 'freelancer'.

Regards.

Hi there,

I'm working in a company as part-time student and will be finishing my studies by December. Initially, the company had interest in employing me as full-time employee, but since I told them I may not be longer in Germany, they are asking me to work as a Freelancer.

In my opinion they are looking for students to work and I think they wanted me to work as Freelancer to cut their costs and since its a small company I also think that they would not pay much. I told them I will be working atleast for 6 months to 1 year, but they are asking me to look for the options to work as a Freelancer, if possible.

Any suggessions and advices? Is there anyone from India who has worked as Freelancer?

Thanks in Advance,
Shafeer.