{"id":4466,"date":"2026-07-06T10:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T08:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/?page_id=4466"},"modified":"2026-07-06T14:53:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:53:45","slug":"soka-bau","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/knowledge-base\/soka-bau\/","title":{"rendered":"SOKA-BAU: contributions and refunds for foreign companies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"progress\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n\n<header>\n  <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <a href=\"\/en\/\" class=\"brand\" aria-label=\"BWLAW\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/bwlaw-child-1\/assets\/img\/logo-bw.png\" alt=\"BWLAW\" width=\"42\" height=\"28\"><\/a>\n    <nav aria-label=\"Main navigation\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/practice-areas\/construction-law\/\">Construction law<\/a>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/practice-areas\/debt-collection\/\">Debt collection<\/a>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/practice-areas\/company-formation\/\">Corporate law<\/a>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/practice-areas\/employment-law\/\">Employment law<\/a>\n      <a href=\"\/en\/defective-car-from-germany\/\">Cars<\/a>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/knowledge-base\/\" class=\"active\">Knowledge base<\/a>\n      <a href=\"\/en\/#zespol\">Team<\/a>\n    <\/nav>\n    <a href=\"\/en\/#kontakt\" class=\"btn\">Contact a lawyer <span class=\"arr\">\u2192<\/span><\/a>\n    <button class=\"burger\" aria-label=\"Menu\">\u2630<\/button>\n  <\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n<section class=\"shero\" style=\"padding-bottom:3.5rem\">\n  <div class=\"glow\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"wrap\" style=\"grid-template-columns:1fr\">\n    <div>\n      <nav class=\"crumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumbs\"><a href=\"\/en\/\">Home<\/a><span>\/<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/knowledge-base\/\">Knowledge base<\/a><span>\/<\/span><b>Construction<\/b><\/nav>\n      <span class=\"eyebrow\">Construction<\/span>\n      <h1 style=\"max-width:24ch\">SOKA-BAU: contributions and refunds for foreign companies<\/h1>\n      <p class=\"lead\">A letter from Wiesbaden demanding contributions surprises many foreign construction companies. The SOKA-BAU system covers them too \u2014 but contributions are matched by benefits worth claiming.<\/p>\n      <div class=\"art-meta\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/bwlaw-child-1\/assets\/img\/dr-artur-barczewski.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Artur Barczewski\" width=\"46\" height=\"46\" loading=\"lazy\">\n        <div><b>Dr. Artur Barczewski<\/b>Rechtsanwalt \u00b7 attorney-at-law<\/div>\n        <div style=\"margin-left:1rem;border-left:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.25);padding-left:1rem\">\u2248 6 min read<br>updated: July 2026<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<article class=\"sec\">\n  <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <div class=\"prose rv\" style=\"font-size:1.02rem\">\n      <h3 style=\"font-size:1.35rem;margin-top:2.2rem\">What SOKA-BAU is \u2014 and who it covers<\/h3>\n      <p>SOKA-BAU are the joint social funds of the German construction industry, financing above all construction workers&#8217; holiday entitlements. The obligation follows from universally binding collective agreements and covers businesses performing construction work in Germany \u2014 including foreign posting companies.<\/p>\n      <p>The decisive and often contested question: does your business fall under the collective agreements at all (do &#8220;construction services&#8221; predominate)? The validity of the claims depends on it.<\/p>\n      <h3 style=\"font-size:1.35rem;margin-top:2.2rem\">Contributions and what you get back<\/h3>\n      <p>For posted workers a holiday fund contribution is paid on gross wages. In return workers acquire holiday claims against the fund, and the company can under conditions obtain refunds (e.g. where it paid the holiday remuneration itself). Many foreign companies pay in but never claim back what they are owed \u2014 the procedures are formalised and German-language.<\/p>\n      <h3 style=\"font-size:1.35rem;margin-top:2.2rem\">Disputes with SOKA-BAU<\/h3>\n      <p>SOKA-BAU consistently sues for arrears \u2014 before a specialised labour court in Wiesbaden. We defend on two tracks: challenging coverage by the collective agreements where there are grounds, and clean accounting plus refund applications where the obligation exists.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"hl rv\" style=\"max-width:760px\">\n      <span class=\"eyebrow\">Do not ignore the letters<\/span>\n      <h3>Silence works against you<\/h3>\n      <p>Unanswered SOKA-BAU letters end in default judgments and enforcement \u2014 including abroad. Reply within the deadlines, ideally after legal review.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"mini-cta rv\"><b>Does this affect you?<\/b><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft);font-size:.92rem\">Describe your case \u2014 we reply concretely and quickly.<\/span><a href=\"\/en\/#kontakt\" class=\"btn\">Contact a lawyer <span class=\"arr\">\u2192<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n    <div class=\"prose rv\" style=\"margin-top:1.5rem\">\n      <h3 style=\"font-size:1.1rem\">Related topics<\/h3>\n      <div class=\"chips\" style=\"margin-top:.8rem\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/practice-areas\/construction-law\/\">Construction law in Germany \u2192<\/a>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/knowledge-base\/foreign-construction-companies-germany\/\">Rules for construction companies \u2192<\/a>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/knowledge-base\/posting-workers-germany\/\">Posting workers \u2192<\/a>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n\n<section class=\"sec alt\">\n  <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <div class=\"lawyer rv\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/bwlaw-child-1\/assets\/img\/dr-artur-barczewski.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Artur Barczewski\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\" loading=\"lazy\">\n      <div>\n        <b>Dr. Artur Barczewski<\/b>\n        <div class=\"role\">Rechtsanwalt \u00b7 attorney-at-law<\/div>\n        <p>Author of this article. Represents clients before courts across Germany. <a href=\"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/team\/artur-barczewski\/\">View profile \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <p style=\"font-size:.78rem;color:var(--ink-soft);margin-top:1.2rem;max-width:70ch\">This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice. The law may change \u2014 consult a lawyer about your individual case.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section class=\"cta-end\">\n  <div class=\"glow\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <span class=\"eyebrow rv\">Contact<\/span>\n    <h2 class=\"rv d1\">Does your situation look similar?<\/h2>\n    <p class=\"rv d2\">Every case has details that change the outcome. 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The SOKA-BAU system covers them too \u2014 but contributions are matched by benefits worth claiming. Dr. Artur [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4417,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-bwlaw-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":"","rank_math_title":"SOKA-BAU: contributions and refunds | BWLAW","rank_math_description":"Who SOKA-BAU covers, how contributions for posted workers are calculated and how companies claim refunds \u2014 explained by a lawyer.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"SOKA-BAU contributions refunds foreign company","rank_math_robots":[]},"class_list":["post-4466","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"bwlaw_import":{"lang":"en","template":"template-bwlaw-page.php"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4466"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4861,"href":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4466\/revisions\/4861"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bwlaw.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}