Ægteskabudengrænser.dk

Hello. I am an MSc student and since April 2015 I am working 10 hours per week (Fridays and Saturdays). Last week they sent me a letter that I have to give them all my SU back because I am working 40 hours per month, while I should work 43.3 hours per month ON AVERAGE (52 weeks/ 12months)! I sent them a letter explaining that 10 hours per week does not mean 40 hours per month. It depends on the month, but the AVERAGE is 43.3h. I also had an excel table showing that! My contract (which I sent them) states 10 hours per week and my salary, and also the law they are referring to says 10-12 hours per week, not 43.3 hours per month. They claim that this information came from SKAT but in my SKAT documentation I don't see the working hours per month!

Will they get the simple maths or am I in trouble, without even being illegal??

It is not just the hours you work that are important, it is perhaps even more important how much you earn.

You are allowed to make about 11.000 DKk/month (2015) in months where you get SU, and about 18.000 DKK in months where you don't get SU.

I presume, you are an EU-citizen, who have been granted the right to SU, because you were a worker? The interpretation of this is strict, because the danish government is really not happy about having to pay out the high danish SU to students from other EU-countries.

You can take your case to SU-Ankenævnet, and if you lose it there, you can take it to court. It might then become a job for the EU-court to determine, if the Danish interpretation is to narrow or not.

Please be aware, that the relevant point here is not only, how many hours you work, but also your salary. Your income must not be a "marginal supplement". We have seen a case, where someone was asked to pay back SU, even he worked more than 50 hours pr. month, because his salary as a dishwasher was only 65 kroner / hour.

You might have a good case depending on the curcumstances. But you must be aware, that the Danish government is willing to take, what they call "a processual risk" on this. Meaning that they dont really mind so much, if they eventually will lose a case at the EU-court.

The reason is, that this takes years. And in the meantime they will have been able to limit the expenses to SU to students from other EU-countries as much as possible. The best advice really is to not get involved in this "fight" by not searching for the limits of the rules. Work 15 hours pr. week consistently, so there is no uncertainty or discussion.

Please note that even if you were not entitled to SU until now, you might become it going forward, if you work enough. So this advice is still relevant for you, even though its to late to regret, that you did not work more until now. If you are going to pay back all that money, you will presumably need some serious income anyway.