You can no longer top up AMS money with a small side job - unless you fall under one of the exceptions
Since 1 January 2026 it has generally not been possible to earn anything on the side while drawing Arbeitslosengeld or Notstandshilfe. Until the end of last year you could take home up to 551.10 euros gross a month from marginal employment without your payment being affected. Parliament removed that in the budget accompanying act, and the change is now in force.
There are exceptions, and whether you fall into one decides everything. If you already had a marginal side job for at least 26 weeks alongside a fully insured job before you became unemployed, you may keep it, with no time limit. If you have been receiving AMS money for 365 days or more, you may take marginal work once, for up to 26 weeks. If you are in that long-term group and are also over 50 or have a disability of at least 50 percent, the 26-week limit does not apply to you. If you are returning after at least 52 weeks of sickness, rehabilitation or retraining payments, you also get one 26-week window. Separately, if you are on an AMS training course lasting more than four months and covering more than 25 hours a week, you may earn on the side for the duration of the course, and the same applies to the care stipend.
The transitional deadlines have now passed. Anyone already in a marginal job at the start of the year had to end it by 31 January or risk the payment being withdrawn retroactively from 1 January. For the long-term unemployed and the post-illness group the deadline was 1 July.
Two practical points remain. You must report the start and the end of any marginal employment to the AMS. And if you do not meet an exception and take marginal work anyway, your payment is not merely reduced but interrupted for the days you are registered as working.
Around 28,120 people used the old allowance in 2024, roughly 9.5 percent of jobseekers. The government expects about 8,000 to qualify under the new rules.