Help & answers
35 answers about Sunworker — on professionals’ self-employment, credentials, payment via escrow, cancellations, reviews, insurance and tax.
Sunworker is a marketplace for self-employed hospitality professionals. Venues find chefs, waiting staff, bartenders, kitchen porters and kitchen assistants here for individual shifts — from a single evening to a whole season.
For restaurants, hotels, bars, staff canteens and caterers who need to fill a gap in the rota at short notice, and for private individuals looking for a professional for a private occasion. And for self-employed professionals who want to decide for themselves when they work and at what hourly rate.
Sunworker only arranges the match. The contract for the shift is concluded exclusively between the client — venue or private person — and the professional; Sunworker does not become a party and is not liable for the fee. What has been collected from the client is paid out: if an additional charge fails, the remainder stays a claim of the professional against the client, and anyone who leaves it outstanding for more than 7 days cannot request new shifts.
Yes — for a private occasion such as a party at home, a wedding or a dinner with friends. Private individuals request a professional at their hourly rate, name a fixed price for a described service package, or post the job: professionals apply, and the private individual chooses. Prices are shown including VAT; there is no service fee.
Nothing. Neither venues nor private individuals nor professionals pay for an account, a profile or a request. Money only changes hands once a shift has actually been agreed.
No. Sunworker does not lend out or employ anyone — the professionals are self-employed and contract for the shift directly with the client, whether venue or private person. Sunworker brokers the contact, handles the payment and charges a commission for doing so, plus a service fee for venues.
The professional. They enter it in their profile, and it appears on every search result before anyone sends a request. Sunworker neither sets a rate nor negotiates one.
Professionals set their own hourly rate, decide on every individual request and work for several venues. These three features are the key distinctions from dependent employment. The final assessment in any individual case rests with the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung), not the platform.
Sunworker suspends the accounts involved. Anyone who builds a de facto employment relationship through repeated one-off bookings is engaging in temporary agency work without a licence — that is prohibited, and the venue itself is the first to suffer.
Only as far as working together on site requires: which station, which menu, which hygiene rules. Rotas, holiday approval or fixed working hours beyond the shift are hallmarks of an employment relationship and have no place in a shift booked through Sunworker.
Yes. Anyone working self-employed in hospitality usually registers a trade (Gewerbe) and needs a tax number. Without these details no invoice can be prepared, and so no shift can be settled.
It is the briefing by the public health office under § 43 of the German Infection Protection Act, which everyone handling food commercially needs. The health office gives the initial briefing; after that, the employer or venue repeats it every year. Without this certificate, no one may work with food in the kitchen or front of house.
Yes. An uploaded document only counts once it has been checked, and only until its expiry date. That is why a profile shows not just a tick but the date until which the credential is valid.
Hygiene training, allergen training, HACCP, first aid, a licence to serve alcohol, and vocational qualifications as a chef or restaurant specialist. The venue decides which of these a shift requires — the search can be narrowed down to a specific credential.
It loses its validity and is marked as expired on the profile rather than disappearing. The professional is reminded beforehand and can upload the new document.
Immediately, as soon as the shift is agreed: on confirmation, the full amount is collected from the stored payment method. The money is held in escrow on the platform account until completion and only then goes to the professional.
Between booking and completion, the amount sits in the platform’s account and belongs to neither the venue nor the professional during that time. The professional therefore knows before the shift that the money is there; the venue is not paying blind. It is processed via Stripe.
The clearing period begins after the shift. It lasts 72 hours, the same on all levels; the payout follows as soon as the invoice for the shift is available. There is no faster payout for a fee.
It is 15% of the pay and is deducted from the professional’s payout. From Level 2 it is 10%, from Level 3 8%. The commission is borne by the professional alone; what venues pay is explained under “service fee”. For orders from private individuals, the actual fee of the payment provider Stripe is added and offset against the payout.
A service fee of 15% of the order value — the professional’s net pay including surcharges, excluding travel. It is collected with the order and invoiced separately by Sunworkers Ltd., without VAT under the reverse charge. Private individuals pay no service fee. The service fee also covers the cost of payment processing – there is no surcharge for card or direct debit.
Sunworker suggests 25% for night work, 50% for Sundays and 100% for public holidays. What was agreed for the shift is binding — the professional is self-employed and can agree different terms.
The professional reports the extra hours, the client approves them, and the actual time is billed. The additional amount is charged to the stored payment method after the shift; if the shift was shorter, the difference is refunded.
Cancelling more than 48 hours before the start is free. Between 24 and 48 hours, 25% is due; under 24 hours, 50%; after the start or in the event of a no-show, 100%. This is the standard scale; what counts is the scale in the professional’s conditions, recorded with the request. For shifts over several days it applies per day, measured from the start of that day; days already worked are invoiced normally.
The venue pays nothing: the amount already collected is refunded in full; only days of a shift already under way that have been worked are invoiced. A cancellation does not count against the professional’s level. Only a confirmed no-show after accepting can, if repeated, lead to a suspension, which a person decides on.
As long as the money is held in escrow, a dispute can be opened. Sunworker reviews check-in times, messages and both sides’ accounts and can split the amount. Any payout is put on hold until the matter is resolved.
Only those who worked together — the venue reviews the professional and the professional reviews the venue. A review is always tied to a completed shift; without a shift there is no review. We only show an average from three reviews.
Not because someone dislikes it. The reviewed side may reply publicly, and the reply appears directly below the review. We only remove reviews for the reasons listed under “How we check reviews” — such as insults, third-party data, paid reviews or no connection to the shift.
The professional works on their own account and is responsible for their own insurance cover; business liability insurance is strongly recommended. The venue is liable for its premises and equipment, just as it would be towards any other service provider. Sunworker is the intermediary and not a party to the shift contract.
The self-employed are not covered by the venue’s statutory accident insurance; depending on the role, however, compulsory insurance with the relevant employers’ liability insurance association (Berufsgenossenschaft) may apply. Sunworker recommends that every professional clarifies this with the responsible association before their first shift.
The professional. They are self-employed, pay tax on their own income and register themselves for health and pension insurance. Sunworker does not deduct payroll tax and is not an employer.
Sunworker prepares the invoice in the name and on behalf of the professional (invoice issued by a third party, § 14(2) sentence 4 of the German VAT Act, UStG) – or the professional uploads their own invoice. The payout is released as soon as the invoice is available. Each shift comes with the professional's invoice to the client and the commission invoice to the professional; venues also receive the document for the service fee.
Anyone using the small-business scheme does not charge VAT; the invoice is then prepared without tax and with the note under § 19 UStG. This belongs in the profile, because it determines what every document looks like.
As short-notice as someone accepts — a professional dropping out on the same evening is exactly the situation Sunworker was built for. The search can be narrowed down to a specific day and only shows who is available that day.
Yes, but the professional sets it — three hours is typical. It is shown on the profile so that nobody sends a request for 45 minutes that would be declined anyway.
Yes, each shift is requested and settled individually. A recurring shift at always the same venue would, however, be a warning sign of bogus self-employment — and Sunworker watches for that.
Write to us — we will answer and add the question here if it comes up more often.
Already have an account? Sign in
Credentials and a check of your details may be required at a later stage.
By registering, you agree to Sunworker's terms of use and to receiving emails from us. Please read our privacy policy to find out how we use your personal data.
