In Germany, fellowship holders do not receive a salary in the sense of § 14 of Book IV of the German Social Code, hence no social security contributions are payable.

This may not be the case in other countries, so inform yourself about any costs or deductions you may incur while on your fellowship. Often, requirements such as health insurance will be made. Depending on the country, you might be able to access public health insurance while financing your stay with a fellowship, but this might not be the case everywhere.  

If you are going to work abroad on the basis of a German employment contract you are not exempt from statutory social security. In general, if your stay abroad is within the scope of a secondment abroad and you remain in an employment relationship in Germany, you continue to be subject to German laws. If you begin a new employment relationship abroad, the social security regulations of the host country normally apply.

Should you have an employment relationship in Germany and abroad, it is necessary to clarify the focus of activity when checking in which country you have to be insured with (indicators may include: integration into the corporate organisation, the requirement to observe instructions as well as the location where salary payments are made).

Problems may arise in the event of temporary stays abroad due to these aspects (e.g. in the form of gaps in payments into a pension scheme). To avoid this, the German legislator has passed § 4 SGB IV that provides for extension of the German Social Code to secondments abroad.

European legislation has an equivalent effect and takes precedence over the German laws during secondments within the European Union. With regard to countries outside of the EU, it must be established in each instance whether a bilateral agreement exists with the country of destination, in which case, the regulations of this agreement will then apply.

A tripartite validation structure, which is rather difficult for most people to understand, consequently exists to determine the applicable social laws in the event of employment within a different social law system.

In a first step, it must be verified whether the legislation of the European Union (specifically Regulations (EC) 883/2004 and 987/2009) applies. In this case, the applicable national social insurance legislation can be determined. If this is not the case, it must be determined in the next step whether an applicable bilateral agreement exists from which the applicability of the social legislation of an agreement country can be determined.

If no applicable agreement exists, the regulations on transmission of the German Social Code set out in § 4 SGB IV will apply.

For citizens of the Member States of the EU, citizens of EEA States and Switzerland, Regulation (EC) 883/04 and the supplementary Regulation (EC) 987/2009 apply. This means that the principles of social coordination are fully applicable.

For citizens of third countries, Regulation (EC) 1231/2010 forms the basis. Regulations (EC) 883/2004 and (EC) 987/2009 apply accordingly to nationals of third countries not already covered by the aforementioned regulations solely on the basis of their nationality as well as for the members of their family and their survivors, provided they are legally resident in the territory of a member state and are in a situation which is not confined in all respects within a single member state.. In particular, Regulation (EC) 883/2004 regulates which countries are entitled to social security contributions.

Section 11 contains two basic rules:

1. You are insured in the country in which you exercise your professional activity.
2. You are subject to the legislation of only one Member State at a time.

For other countries, relevant basic principles apply if and insofar as a there is a bilateral Social Security Agreement("Sozialversicherungsabkommen") between Germany and a non-European country. You need to check whether a Social Security Agreement exists between Germany and your target country and which branches of insurance are covered by them.

The German Liaison Office for Health Insurance Abroad can provide you with further information.