A piggy bank hung with a colorful string of lights
Finance & Law
27.10.2025 Sabrina Ludwig 19936

How to protect your Christmas bonus from garnishment!

If you have financial problems and debts and have already had your wages or salary garnished, you can still look forward to receiving your employer's Christmas bonus. This is because the Christmas bonus is protected from garnishment up to 780 euros.
 

In summary: Protect your Christmas bonus from garnishment

Christmas bonus has been protected against garnishment up to 780 euros since July 2025. Employers pay out the protected amount automatically.

In the case of account seizures, the seizure protection on the P-account must be increased by application. Special payments at the end of the year are also protected if they are paid between November and January.

How high is the garnishment protection for Christmas bonuses?

The regulations are clear: Christmas bonuses are unattachable up to half of the monthly allowance in accordance with section 850c (1) no. 3 ZPO in conjunction with section 850c (4) no. 1 ZPO. Since July 1, 2025, this amount has been a maximum of EUR 780 (section 850c (1) no. 3 ZPO in conjunction with section 850c (4) no. 1 ZPO).

Note tax deductions for Christmas bonuses

You must bear this in mind: Taxes and social security contributions are deducted from the 780 euros.

Automatic payout and garnishment protection - what employers need to do

The employer must determine how much of the Christmas bonus is non-garnishable and transfer it to the employee with the salary. This happens automatically and the employee does not need to worry about anything.

If this does not happen automatically, the person concerned must initiate a clarifying discussion with their employer.

Do you have an account seizure? Then do so:

However, if you have an account attachment, you should urgently increase the amount that cannot be attached to the attachment protection account (P account) by the amount of the Christmas bonus.

Just because you have a P-account does not mean that the garnishment-free Christmas bonus is protected.

"This is because the protected basic amount and other already certified allowances will generally not be enough to secure the extra Christmas bonus," the consumer advice center points out on its website.

For this purpose, the debtor must file a corresponding application with the enforcement court of the place of residence, which is a division of the local court.

Sample letter: Additional release of the Christmas bonus for a P-account

A sample letter (additional release of the Christmas bonus for a P-account) can be easily downloaded from the consumer advice center:

Sample letter: Additional release of the Christmas bonus

When does garnishment protection also apply to special payments?

Important: The special remuneration paid out at the end of the year does not necessarily have to be called Christmas bonus or Christmas gratuity in order to receive the additional attachment protection. It is sufficient if the payment is made in connection with Christmas - i.e. between mid-November and mid-January of the following year.

Tips for those affected - act quickly!

Those affected should take action quickly, as the Christmas bonus is usually paid out with the November salary.

Help and contacts:in

If you have any questions or need assistance, affected employees whose company is a customer of pme Familienservice are welcome to contact the

pme income and budget counseling team
Angelika Heede
(specialist advisor)

Sources:

Consumer advice center

zero New offer: referral to psychotherapeutic care

Woman is afraid
Offer
06.09.2024 Sabrina Ludwig 7505

New: Referral to psychotherapeutic care

Psychosocial counseling or coaching often helps to overcome a difficult life situation or conflict. For people with mental illnesses, however, this offer falls short. This is why the pme specialist counseling service refers its clients to initial therapeutic counseling, psychosomatic clinics or health insurance-financed psychotherapy if required.

Anyone looking for therapy needs two things above all: time and patience. Psychotherapy is hard to come by. On average, it takes up to six months to find a suitable psychotherapist. The waiting lists are long, and those looking can usually only reach the answering machines of the practices. The frustration threshold is quickly reached.

Tackling this hurdle is particularly difficult or even impossible if you are mentally ill yourself and suffer from depression, for example. "Then even the simplest things in everyday life are incredibly difficult. People with depression don't pick up the phone and spend months looking for a place in therapy," says Jutta Dreyer, Product Manager for Life Situation Coaching and pme Assistance. "That's why we want to provide support here and have put together a team that will start the search for a suitable place in therapy exclusively for pme customers."

Range of services (depending on the contractual agreement):

1. initial consultation/crisis intervention 24/7

2. referral to psychiatric care

3. anamnesis and discharge interviews by a psychological psychotherapist

4. placement in psychotherapy financed by health insurance (up to 8 hours of research)

5th consultation hour at the Schön Kliniken

6. shortened admission to the Schön Klinik Bad Arolsen (specialist clinic for psychosomatics)

7. online psychotherapy via MindDoc (online psychotherapy)

8. ongoing group coaching (type of self-help group to provide support and stability in difficult times)
 

Frequently requested counseling topics for mental illness/crisis are:

  • Dealing with employees who are mentally very stressed and ill (by managers)
  • Overburdened teams due to long-term absences
  • Crises and suicidal tendencies
  • Mentally ill employees who are desperately looking for psychotherapeutic care (hours of fruitless phone calls, waiting list, etc.)

Initial consultation with a psychological psychotherapist

Before a place in therapy or psychiatry can be arranged, it is often helpful for clients to have an initial consultation with a psychotherapist. During this consultation, the therapist clarifies, among other things, whether a mental illness is present and which treatment is the right one.

"The initial consultation is very important. Sometimes clients ask for psychotherapy. However, after we have talked to them in detail about their condition and medical history, addiction counseling or family counseling turns out to be suitable. Here, too, we start looking for a place".

Jutta Dreyer, family therapist, pme Familienservice

Focus of content:

1. anamnesis

2. psychoeducation about the disorder

3. joint development of an individual explanatory model for the problem

4. use of psychotherapeutic interventions

5. assistance with the problem

Note: The anamnesis is conducted by a psychological psychotherapist permanently employed by the pme Familienservice .

Good to know: 52 percent increase in days absent due to mental illness

Depression, anxiety, burnout: mental illness has a major impact on employee absenteeism and reached a new high in 2023. This is shown by the current DAK-Gesundheit mental health report based on the sick notes of 2.39 million DAK-insured employees. Across all occupational groups. DAK-insured employees had a total of 323 days of incapacity to work per 100 insured persons.



​​​​​​​The statistics show the development of days of incapacity for work (AU days) due to mental illness (F00-F99) in Germany from 2013 to 2023 (source: Statista).
 

Life coaching: Counseling and coaching for conflicts and crises

In our consultations and coaching sessions, we work according to the approach of solution-oriented consulting and support your employees in professional and private crises such as conflicts at work, psychological stress, parenting issues, addiction problems, financial emergencies and much more.

In recent years, the pme Familienservice has continued to develop its range of services in order to find suitable solutions for employees and companies.