Nearly three quarters of Berlin’s music school teachers are in danger of becoming unemployed, Tagesspiegel reported.
The musician in Germany (Musiker) often works as a private entrepreneur. The main source of income is teaching children to play musical instruments and playing in orchestras and bands. Thousands of hours of lessons at a music school or university gives the opportunity to work under the special status of Freiberufler – as a free labourer, which leads to minor tax benefits.
As of today, the 2022 court judgement places approximately three quarters of Berlin’s music school teachers at risk of unemployment. The State Youth Council is fed up and is urging a demonstration on 24 June under the slogan “Don’t let the music schools have the final say!”
The initiators want to hold a demonstration in front of the Berlin House of Representatives from 12:30 to 13:45 local time. On the same day, the culture committee meets for the last time before the mandatory summer holidays.
The judgement dates back to June 2022 and concerns the employment relationship of a freelance music school teacher from Baden-Württemberg. In this precedent, the Federal Social Court concluded that self-employment was out of the question due to the integration into school activities and the lack of freedom of enterprise.
Particularly threatened are freelance teachers at neighbourhood music schools. The initiative supports the demands of the schools and wants freelance teachers permanently employed.
As a result, in the summer of 2023 the German pension insurance tightened the criteria for distinguishing between salaried and freelance work. Hence, additional payments to the insurance company are also possible if paid workers are classed as pseudo-employed.
