The Voluntary Social Year in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and, in a much lesser dimension, in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populou ...

, is a

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

-funded voluntary work program particularly for young adults. It can last between six and eighteen months. It can also be spent abroad.

Germany

History

The voluntary social year (German: ''Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr / FSJ'') developed from the "diaconical year" organized by the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

the first time in 1954, the 100th anniversary of the Diakoniewerk in Germany. The appeal to volunteer was addressed to young women who would provide service to the sick and those in need of care. In 1962 the "Philadelphic Service" (German: ''Philadelphischen Dienst'') has been initiated by Gertrud Rückert. She wanted to offer a voluntary social year for female high school graduates before they start studying for personal and professional orientation. At that time it was a completely new concept and a forerunner of the voluntary social year, that was later legally anchored in Germany. On February 14, 1963, the government introduced a draft law to offer a voluntary social year in

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

, the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

. The law finally came into force on April 1, 1964. Until the suspension of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) requir ...

and therefore of the

alternative service Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious ...

in 2011 as well, the voluntary social year was also recognized as alternative to military service in Germany.

Legal basis

Duration

A duration to volunteer in the FSJ is between 6 and 18 months maximum. In exceptional cases the service can last up to 24 months, if this is justified by a special educational concept. If a voluntary social year is initially completed for less than 18 months, it can be extended to 15 months (in the case of a deployment in Germany), with the consent of the provider of the FSJ. The voluntary social year can also be completed abroad. The starting times are usually between August and October of each year. Some porters offer the option of lateral entry.

Training

The providers of a voluntary social year are obliged to provide the volunteers with at least 25 training days during a 12-month service. Depending on the time spent in the voluntary service, it is also possible to complete more or fewer training days. According to the Voluntary Service Act, volunteers are obliged to take part in the training days.

Social security and retirement provision

Volunteers of the FSJ receive full

social insurance Social insurance is a form of social welfare that provides insurance against economic risks. The insurance may be provided publicly or through the subsidizing of private insurance. In contrast to other forms of social assistance, individuals' ...

. According to Social Code IV, the agency (or the place of assignment) pays the full costs for social insurance (employee and employer shares). The time of the voluntary social year is taken into account for the pension fund (compulsory pension insurance) The volunteers have a similar legal status to

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

New legislation

Since June 1, 2008, the legal regulations have been merged with those of the Voluntary Ecological Year in a new bill for Youth Voluntary Services. FSJ Kultur rgb

Branches of the FSJ

There are different areas of operations. The services are divided into different branches: * FSJ im sozialen Bereich ''(FSJ for social caring)'' * FSJ in der Kulturoffizielle Seite zum FSJ-Kultur
/ref> ''(FSJ for cultural engagement)'' * FSJ im Sportoffizielle Seite zum FSJ-Sport
/ref> ''(FSJ for sports)'' * FSJ in der Politik: 20. Mai 2008
/ref> ttp://www.lkjnds.de/index.php?fsj_politik FSJ-Politik in Niedersachsen/ref>FSJ-Politik in Rheinland-Pfalz
/ref> ''(FSJ in politics)'' * FSJ in der Denkmalpflege (FJD) ''(FSJ for preservation of historical monuments)'' * FSJ Schule ''(FSJ for schools)''

Operational areas

The operational areas for FSJ-volunteers are all social, charitable or of public utility: * Services for people with disabilities * Hospitals * Nursing homes *Retirement homes * Foster homes * Preservation of historic monuments * Ambulatory services * Youth welfare services * Church communities * Emergency medical services * Children homes

Volunteers in the FSJ

The number of volunteers of the Voluntary Social Year:

Austria

The voluntary social year (the German terms: ''Freiwilliges Sozialjahr'' and ''Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr'' are in use) in Austria is very similar to the FSJ in Germany. Since 1968 the FSJ is organized by the “Association for the Promotion of Voluntary Social Services” (German: ''Verein zur Förderung freiwilliger sozialer Dienste'') and is legally regulated in the Volunteer bill. The association has its seat in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and its secretariat in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

. Regional offices are located in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

, Vienna,

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label= Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a ...

and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

Regular voluntary social year

Young people can volunteer in the FSJ for ten to twelve months in a social institution in Austria. The areas of responsibilities are assistance for people with disabilities, for old people, children or young people or working with homeless people respectively. The working time of the volunteers is 34 hours per week. While there were around 300-400 FSJ volunteers in 2012, in 2020 about 1,100 volunteers were registered. Due to the existing

for

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

service in the

Austrian Armed Forces The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of nati ...

, the voluntary social year is an substitute to the regular

, called ''

Zivildienst Zivildienst is the German denomination for the alternative civilian service for conscripted persons who are conscientious objectors to fulfill their national service, typically in the fields of social work (e.g. hospitals, retirement homes, eme ...

'', since 2016.

Special voluntary social year

Similar to the " Special Alternative Civilian Service" (German: ''Außerordentlicher Zivildienst''), during times of crisis or a state of emergency, men and women can again volunteer for a "special voluntary social year" (German: ''Außerordentliches Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr''), if they already have completed a regular voluntary social year. This special FSH can last for a period of one to nine months. The hours of work, positions, pocket money and insurance correspond to the conditions of the regular FSJ. In 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the "special FSJ" has been activated and will last until December 31, 2020.

References

External links

* http://www.pro-fsj.de/ {{Authority control Society of Germany Conscientious objection Society of Austria Volunteering