All new employees are not allowed to take vacation three-months from the beginning of their contract.

You should also check with the personnel administrators in the PolSoz department or in the human resources department how much regular leave you are granted per year.

• The current calendar year's leave request form can be downloaded from the FB PolSoz administration website:
  https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/verwaltung/urlaub/index.html
  There are different forms for employees and for student assistants.
  The same form is always valid for one calendar year. It circulates back and forth throughout the year between the person requesting leave, their supervisor, and the leave PolSoz department for leave processing.
  
  

• After making the entries in the header of the form and requesting your leave from.... to... you have to generate your electronic signature in the field "Signature of applicant". To do so, simply click on the orange arrow, then a menu will automatically appear where you can follow the instructions for creating the signature.
  Please note: Once you have created your electronic signature, you can use it again for other forms too!

• The filled out form with the signature is then saved and sent to the supervising professor. The professor has to fill in his / her signature in the column "Approved by" and will send it back to the applicant.

• The applicant sends the completed form signed by the supervisor to the FB PolSoz to Ms. Jargstorf, email: Urlaub-AU@polsoz.fu-berlin.de . The Secretariat I must always be put in cc, email: sozkultanth@polsoz.fu-berlin.de , because the leave applications are collected there for overview as well. 

• PolSoz also signs the form and sends it back to the applicant.
  The applicant has to save and use the form again the next time he/she requests for leave.

Notice:

Please inform yourself about current regulations regarding company annual closure on the website of the Human Resources Department.

Information about last year change 2022/2023:

https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/abt-1/news/20220909_Betriebsurlaub.html

In case you are unsure or have any problems, you may contact:
- Secretariat I of the IfSKA, email: sozkultanth@polsoz.fu-berlin.de
- Leave department at FB PolSoz, email: Urlaub-AU@polsoz.fu-berlin.de

In case of illness you need to send a short notice by email to the department administration PolSoz (Ms. Jargstorf): e-mail: Urlaub-AU@polsoz.fu-berlin.de.

Since the secretariat office must be informed, you should include in cc field sozkultanth@polsoz.fu-berlin.de, together with the email address of your superior professor and, given the case, the email address of the person who will take over your partial representation.

Here is a sample you can use for this notice:

"Dear Ms. Jargstorf, I would like to inform you that I am sick from ../../... (date).

Kind regards
First name Name"

After three days of absence from work, you need to present a medical certificate. You can send the certificate in advance as a scanned email attachment to the above mentioned email addresses. In any case, you must send the original of the certificate to FB PolSoz to following address:

Freie Universität Berlin
FB Politik und Sozialwissenschaften
Abteilung Krankmeldungen
Ihnestr. 21
14195 Berlin

This also applies to any follow-up certificates, health report on the day you return to work, you must send an email with the subject “health report” to the above email addresses. Sample text:

"Dear Ms. Jargstorf,

After reporting me sick on.., I resumed work on ../../... (date).

Kind regards,

First name Name"

Note: It is absolutely necessary to inform the department that you are healthy again, otherwise you will continue to be considered sick and there will be corresponding inquiries from the PolSoz department.

(updated: 18.07.2023)

How Can I Apply for an Advance Payment for an Authorized Trip?

 If you need an advance payment to purchase your flight tickets for a business trip, you can receive an advance payment.

This advance payment amounts to a maximum of 80% of the costs incurred, and can also be submitted before the trip is approved (if the business trip application is still being processed).

You can find the corresponding application form following this link:

https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/abt-1/formulare/05dienstreisen

Under the first heading field “Formulare für die Beantragung und Abrechnung von Dienstreisen “ (="Forms for the application and settlement of business trips") you will find the form „Antrag auf Abschlagzahlung für eine zu erwartende Reisekostenvergütung“ (="Application for advance payment for an expected travel allowance") in the third last item.

Please download this form and fill it out with your staff number, your contact details as well as your bank details.

Calculate the amounts (max. 80%) based on the costs indicated.

Date and sign the form.

Let the form be signed by the person responsible for the cost centre (professor or project manager).

Add the receipts and collect this file in a bundled PDF file.

Send this file to dienstreisen@polsoz.fu-berlin.de

After approval, a payment order will be placed on the specified account by the secretary office. You will receive payment within one week.

IMPORTANT: Please fill in the form on the computer/digital. This will prevent problems in processing the order (for example due to unreadable handwriting/characters).

(updated: 18.07.2023)

FU employees must apply for a business trip in order to participate in external workshops, conferences, meetings, as well as to conduct field research and, if necessary, to be reimbursed for related expenses. This also applies if no expenses are to be reimbursed.

The application form for business trips, as well as information useful in connection with business trips, can be downloaded from the website of the Administration PolSoz, Department for Business Trips:

https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/verwaltung/dienstreisen/index.html

The business trip application must be submitted with substantiation of the reason for the business trip, e.g. the program of a workshop, a conference or its invitation; or documents showing that one is giving a guest lecture at an external colloquium, etc.

A business trip application may be submitted WITH or WITHOUT reimbursement of travel expenses. In the first case, the expenses must be listed in the form or as an attachment.

As the applicant, you sign the form at the bottom left and submit it to the director or vice-director to sign the application in the field on the bottom right.Thereafter, the application and its attachments will be forwarded to the administration of the PolSoz, Department for Business Travel.

The departmental administration will send the authorized application back to the applicant.

Important notice:
For business trips lasting longer than 6 weeks, e.g. for long-term field research, the application is not submitted as a "business trip application" but as an application for secondment. For further information, please refer to the FAQ chapter on secondment.

4 to 6 weeks before you travel, you will have to:

1. Fill in the form "Business trip application" (=Dienstreiseantrag). Since you have to indicate funding, ask your PI to give you the account number of your project (="Fonds") as well as the corresponding cost unit (=”Kostenstelle”).

Follow this link to download the form: https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/abt-1/formulare/05dienstreisen

(Click on „Formulare für die Beantragung und Abrechnung von Dienstreisen“; and then: “Antrag auf Genehmigung einer Dienstreise (PDF, englische Version)“)

2. After filling out the form, get it signed by your PI – don´t forget to sign and date it yourself!
3. Gather the following additional documents:

• A letter of explanation for the trip (why you are going there, what you will be doing there, etc.), dated and signed. Your supervisor must also sign it!
• A letter of invitation, if any.
• A program of the conference/ workshop.
• Notification from the German Foreign Office about the Covid situation in the country.
  • Confirmation from the funding organisation (if you have third-party funding).

4. Bundle all these documents into a single PDF document. Title it: MyName_DR Application_MyDestination_Time   Period. Send your application to the person in charge of business trips in your department (NOT the central administration!

5. Wait for confirmation and approval.

 Only after you have received confirmation of your application can you travel - and have the costs reimbursed.

(updated: 18.07.2023)

How do I Apply for Reimbursement of my Expenses?

In the case of a business trip as well as a secondment, the form for reimbursement of travel expenses (="travel expense statement") must be submitted within 6 months after the return.

STEP 1: Fill in the form

You can download the form here:

https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/abt-1/formulare/05dienstreisen

Click on the first heading " Formulare für die Beantragung und Abrechnung von Dienstreisen” (=“Forms for Requesting and Settling Business Travel"), then on “Formular für die Abrechnung der Reisekosten” (="Form for Settling Travel Expenses"). English and German available.

If you had only one destination, the document is called "Annex 3" / If you had several destinations, it is "Annex 1".

Download the document and fill it out:

• On the first page with the details of your trip, as you did when you applied for business travel.

• On the second page, list the total expenses for which you are claiming reimbursement. This is then your "Table of Costs / Expenses". Please leave the amount in the original currency (do not convert to EUR). If you no longer have a receipt for a particular invoice, note it clearly.

It is REQUIRED that you keep all your receipts in the original and scan them.

It is ESSENTIAL that you provide proof of payment (e.g. bank statement) for each invoice (including train tickets!).

If you have more than 10 receipts:

• Create a file with a new table explaining which receipt is in which place in the cost table.

• Arrange the receipts by date.

• Number each receipt/ or the page on which you scanned the receipt.

• Have each receipt clearly correspond to the cost table listed.

 

STEP 2: Find approved mission/ secondment

If you apply for reimbursement, it means that your mission/expedition has been approved IN ADVANCE.

How do you know this? You (or the secretariat, at your request) sent the completed travel request form to the Travel Office of your Department on time. The departmental travel office has returned the form to you with the signature of the departmental finance department.

Attention. The professor's signature does NOT constitute approval of a business trip!

STEP 3: Collect proof of payment

Since you are claiming a refund, you must first prove that you actually paid these amounts. To do this, you need proof of payment for each amount indicated in the cost table.

 

STEP 4: Classify receipts and supporting documents

Match each receipt to its proof of payment.

 

STEP 5: Create a single PDF file

This PDF file should contain the following elements:

1.Travel Expense Report form (=Appendix 3 or 1).

2.Approved business trip

3.Receipts and their proof of payment, ORDERED

(if applicable: add your form to the approved advance payment)

STEPT 6: Send all forms AND canned receipts to the department's business travel office

To apply for reimbursement of costs, please submit a single PDF file to the business travel office of the department.

Name your file "Travel expense report_your name_your business trip location_your business trip date"

Send your documents (by Fachpost if it is a large statement) to:

Business travel matters / excursions

Address

Ihnestraße 21
Raum 211
14195 Berlin

E-Mail

Dienstreisen@PolSoz.FU-Berlin.de

https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/verwaltung/dienstreisen/index.html

 

(Updated: 18.07.2023)

SECONDMENT

If you need more than 6 weeks for your fieldwork abroad, you must apply for a (research) secondment. Less than 6 weeks is a regular business trip.

Be fully aware that the processing of the secondment will take at least 8 weeks. No exceptions can be made, it is up to you to plan accordingly.

For a research secondment, you will need the following documents:

1.An application form for a “business trip” (“Antrag auf Dienstreise”)

This form is actually used for short business trips (Dienstreise). There is no actual form for secondments: the administration uses the one for short trips as a start. The form is to be found on the faculty PolSoz website:
 https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/sites/abt-1/formulare/index.html .
Among “Application Forms Business Travel” you will find “Application for Approval of Business Travel”. This is the one you have to fill in.
-Tick the box “Business Trip” on the top left of page 1.
There is no problem if you don't know your exact travel dates yet. The application form essentially serves as a base to start the process.
Don’t forget to specify the financing information, and to sign (on the bottom left corner)! Your supervisor also has to sign the form (on the bottom right corner)
-Leave page 2 blank

 2. A detailed itinerary (when and where you will be staying). If you have already made some arrangements (for hotels or invitations), indicate this in the plan and give the name and address of your hosts. If not, please indicate in which region/city you will be staying or for what purpose and for how long.

3. A justification letter for this secondment. Here you must explain thoroughly why you need to stay longer than 6 weeks. (= in that case it would be considered as "a short trip"); why you go there (=e.g. field research). Sign it, don´t forget the date. And let your supervisor sign it too.

4. A copy of your travel health insurance. You can submit it immediately if you already have one. If not, because the processing time is so long, the insurance can often be submitted later. (Be careful of the providers in Germany! Many only offer cover for 56 days a year - so be especially careful to take out insurance for "longer stays")

 5. Also non-EU citizens can clasify for a  secondment. In some cases it can last longer because you will have to obtain a visa for research purposes first. But start the application now, the processing of an application takes a minimum of 8-9 weeks. In the meantime, prepare all documents for your visa application (if required!)

Once you have prepared all that, the person in charge (Third Party Funding Officer) will send your application to the administration of the department first, then it will go the central administration.

You will eventually be contacted by HR to finalise your application and sign your secondment contract. You will have to attend an interview in Berlin with a member of HR, and finally sign your contract.