Social Security Reporting for Employers in Germany: DEÜV Obligations at a Glance

Anyone who employs staff automatically becomes subject to social security reporting: applying for a company number, submitting registrations and deregistrations through the DEÜV procedure (the German electronic data transmission procedure for social security) and paying contributions on time are not optional extras but legal obligations.

In brief: Employers must register and deregister every employee subject to social security contributions through the DEÜV procedure, hold a company number and transfer the total social security contributions on the third-to-last banking day of the month. This affects anyone who employs even a single employee. Employers who fail to pay employee contributions commit a criminal offence under § 266a StGB (German Criminal Code); late payment also triggers late-payment surcharges.

Who is subject to the social security reporting duty?

Every employer who hires at least one employee subject to social security contributions is affected, regardless of legal form or company size. §§ 28a ff. SGB IV require you to hold a company number for your business and to transmit all reportable events to the competent collecting agency through the DEÜV procedure. Whether you are a sole proprietor, a GmbH or a freelancer with a single office assistant: as soon as an employment relationship subject to social security contributions exists, the reporting duties apply regardless of the company form. This applies equally to mini-jobbers, marginally employed persons and trainees, even though different contribution rates sometimes apply to them. A tool such as Company Audit shows which of these duties apply to your company in concrete terms.

What exactly do you have to do?

Social security reporting comprises five recurring tasks that you must carry out on an ongoing basis as an employer:

1. Apply for a company number from the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit).
2. Register and deregister employees on time (immediate notification in certain industries).
3. Prepare contribution statements and pay contributions on the third-to-last banking day.
4. Retrieve electronic certificates of incapacity for work (eAU).
5. Comply with annual reports and reports on changes (pay, switch of insurer).

All reports are submitted electronically through the DEÜV procedure and sent directly to the competent health insurance fund as the collecting agency; manual or paper-based reporting is not provided for in day-to-day operations. Without certified payroll software or a commissioned payroll bureau, this process can hardly be handled reliably in practice, especially when several employees with different start and end dates have to be reported at the same time.

By when must the contributions be paid?

The total social security contributions fall due at the latest on the third-to-last banking day of the current month at the competent health insurance fund acting as the collecting agency. Because the actual pay is often not yet finally determined at that point, practice frequently relies on an estimate based on the previous month; if this differs from the pay actually calculated, the difference is settled with the following contribution statement. The collecting agency then passes the contributions received on to the pension, long-term care, health and unemployment insurance schemes. In industries with particularly intensive controls, such as construction, hospitality or logistics, an immediate notification before the start of work is also mandatory, so that the employment can be proven from the very first working day.

How can reporting be organised reliably?

Social security reporting works most reliably when a payroll bureau or a certified payroll software monitors deadlines and reports automatically, instead of tracking dates manually in a calendar. Especially with changing employment relationships, periods of illness or entries and exits during the month, the error rate of purely manual administration rises considerably. A fixed internal reporting deadline a few days before the actual submission date, for example for personnel changes sent to payroll accounting, prevents individual reports from being lost. Because the timely payment of employee contributions is subject to criminal penalties under § 266a StGB, responsibility for it should also be clearly assigned to the management and not simply delegated to subordinate staff without anyone checking the execution.

What are the consequences of violations?

Employers who withhold employee contributions to social security commit a criminal offence under § 266a StGB, regardless of whether the non-payment is intentional or due to a liquidity shortage. In addition, late payment triggers late-payment surcharges. Audits by the pension insurance often uncover missed or incorrect reports only retrospectively, so that back payments for several months can be bundled and fall due all at once. A reliable reporting and payment system therefore protects not only the business against financial claims but also the management personally against criminal liability.

Frequently asked questions

When does the social security reporting duty apply?

From the first employee subject to social security contributions. Even businesses with only one employee or one mini-jobber need a company number and must submit their DEÜV reports on time.

What is the company number and where is it applied for?

The company number is the identifier under which an employer is registered in the social security system. It is applied for at the Federal Employment Agency and is a prerequisite for all further DEÜV reports.

What is the immediate notification and who has to submit it?

The immediate notification is a report made at the start of employment. In industries particularly prone to controls, such as construction, hospitality or logistics, it is required in addition to the regular registration, so that the employment can be proven from the start.

What does the eAU mean for employers?

Employers must retrieve the electronic certificate of incapacity for work (eAU) digitally from the health insurance funds instead of accepting the paper certificate from the employee. It is therefore a fixed part of the ongoing reporting processes.

What happens if contributions are not paid on time?

Late-payment surcharges apply. Employers who withhold employee contributions also commit a criminal offence under § 266a StGB, regardless of the size of the business.

Source: §§ 28a ff. SGB IV. This article is general information and does not replace legal advice in an individual case. As of: July 2026.