DThese days, thousands of students across Germany are in the stress of high school, learning or writing exams. But many of them are already thinking about how to continue after graduation. Go straight to university or an apprenticeship? Or would you prefer a gap year, i.e. do something else first?
One option for the time right after school is the voluntary service, through which young people can get involved in charitable causes. This can be done through the Federal Volunteer Service (BFD), but also through a Voluntary Social or Ecological Year (FSJ/FÖJ).
Advertisement
Step by step to your desired salary. Start the StepStone salary planner now
In the best case, this is an arrangement from which everyone involved benefits. The volunteers gain important life experience and get to know professional fields.
The institutions in which they work receive personal support. But again and again it happens that FSJler and BFDler are seen as cheap labor and the learning factor recedes into the background. The young people then receive hardly any guidance and support. There are no official figures for such complaints.
When asked, the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks (BAFZA), which is responsible for the BFD, spoke of a few individual cases in which there were “disagreements and an inappropriate use of the volunteers”. Experts dealing with the topic also speak of a small fraction who feel exploited.
However, the statistics do not help the individual anyway if he is involved in one of these problematic cases. Potential FSJ or BFD applicants should therefore think about what they expect from their voluntary service and look for appropriate positions. And if you are still unlucky, you should complain, because a change is usually possible in the system.
Advertisement
Step by step to your desired salary. Start the StepStone salary planner now
The legal basis
FSJ/FÖJ and BFD are not identical. The BFD was introduced in 2011 as the successor to the civilian service that was abolished together with conscription, whereas volunteer years have existed for many decades, for example through church organizations such as Diakonie and Caritas.
The services are based on different legal bases. The general conditions of the BFD are laid down in the law on the federal voluntary service (BFDG), those of the voluntary years in the law on the promotion of youth voluntary services (JFDG).
Both ways are open to people after they have completed compulsory schooling. They usually last between six and 18 months, depending on the volunteer’s wishes. For this time he receives monthly pocket money (currently up to 438 euros) and possibly food allowances and accommodation. In addition, the volunteer is comprehensively socially insured, like a normal employee.
However, there are two main differences: FSJ and FÖJ can only be completed up to the age of 27, the BFD is also open to older people. The federal government is responsible for the BFD, represented by the BAFZA, which checks the placement sites and also enters into the contract with the volunteers.
In the case of the volunteer year, these are “recognized institutions of independent welfare”, i.e. in particular the AWO, Caritas, Diakonie and the German Red Cross. They also monitor the deployment sites and conclude the contract with the participants.
Advertisement
StepStone
Step by step to your desired salary
The accredited placement agencies must deploy the volunteers in areas that serve the common good, and they need practical and educational guidance. Simple handyman services are not ruled out across the board, but should only be an exception. The assignment sites also take care of pocket money payments and social security.
detect abuse
Anyone who has found their supposed dream job can also be disappointed. Susanne Huth knows the classic reasons for complaints. The social scientist has been involved with voluntary services for 20 years and works at the Institute for Vocational Training, Labor Market and Social Policy (Involas) with its headquarters in Offenbach.
“Dissatisfaction can arise, for example, from monotonous activities or from the feeling of not being given responsibility,” she says. Young people who get involved would look for jobs that offer variety, responsibility and team integration.
“An easily accessible contact person is also important,” explains Huth. If these points are not met, trouble can quickly arise.
Advertisement
Step by step to your desired salary. Start the StepStone salary planner now
Only: it is not always easy to say when the limit for exploitation has been exceeded. Susanne Huth also emphasizes the importance of expectation management: “Voluntary services are assignments under real conditions.” That means: Those who do their voluntary service in nursing, for example, will occasionally experience stress.
And of course some tasks are repeated over the course of a year. Accordingly, you should take a close look in advance at which tasks await you at the deployment site. Those who keep their expectations realistic will not be disappointed.
Procedure in case of dissatisfaction
But what can volunteers do if they are dissatisfied and convinced that their place of assignment is not complying with regulations? First of all, they should contact the providers, i.e. either the BAFZA or the welfare institutions.
“The Federal Office’s inspectors, who are distributed throughout Germany, regularly carry out on-site inspections,” explains the BAFZA. BAFZA auditors talk to the facility and the volunteers, and receipts and evidence are checked.
Such checks are carried out routinely, but also in response to specific suspicious activity reports. “When investigating and sanctioning abuse, the Federal Office is of course very dependent on such individual cases being reported with a clear description of the complaint,” explains a spokesman.
Susanne Huth also recommends, if in doubt, to seek talks with the deployment site and the carrier. “You can look for a solution before it comes to the extreme, i.e. a demolition,” she says. Apart from that, volunteers always have the opportunity to change jobs.
However, the scientist also emphasizes that according to her findings, volunteers are more likely to end their engagement prematurely for other reasons. “Most quit because they got a place at university,” she says.
Advertisement
Step by step to your desired salary. Start the StepStone salary planner now
Personal reasons that have nothing to do with the service also played a role. Those who stick with it despite problems can also be an instructive experience: “Perseverance is one of the skills that can best be developed through voluntary service – in addition to the ability to work in a team and independence.”
“Everything on shares” is the daily stock exchange shot from the WELT business editorial team. Every morning from 5 a.m. with the financial journalists from WELT. For stock market experts and beginners. Subscribe to the podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music and Deezer. Or directly by RSS-Feed.