Self-employed vs. "Scheinselbstständigkeit"

I'm really hoping somenody can shed some light on this for me...
I have been working for a British Organisation with charity status in Berlin for just over a year. Two thirds of my monthly income come from this organisation. I am supposedly 'Self Employed' but they set my hourly wage, the days and times I can or can't work I even have to use their invoice template to bill them. I have to use their materials and believe that the work I do is not freelance but ongoing and a important part of their business.
Would I therefore be considered 'Scheinselbstständigkeit' and how would I go about proving this? I believe the organisation is purposely avoiding having to pay social benefits for a number of 'self employed' workers.

This Freelancer vs. self-employed should be of some help. However since you earn less than 80% of your total income from this company it appears you will be termed as a freelancer although I am sure some "employers" say the people doing work for them are "self employed/freelance" to avoid paying tax and benefits.

There's no hard and fast rule, but if you have one-third of your income from other sources then you should be ok.

If during any investigation the Finanzamt come to the same opinion then they would be in (big) trouble, particularly if they have other "freelancers" who are not so lucky as you and don't have other customers.

sparrow: I am not sure about the direction of your question yet... if you want to make sure that you will not get into trouble as a "Scheinselbstständiger", the hints above should be helping you to see that your situation is relatively safe as you describe it. If, however, you want to get your employer by the balls and want to get yourself into some form of employment forced upon the company by the governement because they treated you badly or cheated you for some money etc. you should inform the Bundesversicherungsanstallt für Angestellte (BfA) about your suspicion that the company/foundation is using "Scheinselbstständige" in order to avoid bearing social welfare costs. Having said that: you need to prepare yourself to bear the consequences of such an act too; the result might be that your and other people contract's get cancelled eventually for lack of funds...

Cheerio

Firstly thank you all for the fast informative responses.
As background this all came about due to my second job. I work as a sales assistant in a small Bag Shop 1 day a week. Initially this was on a self employed basis where I gave them an invoice at the end of the month. However after a visit from the owners accountant it was advised that I become an employee to avoid any later charges due to 'Scheinselbststandigkeit'.
This lead me to think that my other job which is perhaps 2 days a week is also running the risk. I'm at a loss to see how I'm not an employee. If this tiny shop can pay my minimal social costs, then really out of principle the other organsiation should be making some sort of payment towards it too?
I'm no freelance IT consultant. I'm regulary working for this company, have recieved training from them, have to wear their T-shirt etc.
The notifing the authorites line does look daunting. But it may be for the best. They may not invite us back for work but they will continue to need people to carry out the work who may be given employee status.
I just wanted to get my facts straight on what constitutes 'Scheinselbststandigkeit' before I go blowing any whisltles!

Sparrow,

Roughly put, Finanzamt defines "Scheinselbstständigkeit" as you becoming a freelancer to benefit from the advantages of that status and continuing to work for a single company(e.g. your former employer) just like an employee . In such a case, the Finanzamt MIGHT step in and treat it as a tax evasion scheme. But if you work for more than one company and are able to document it, this already fits the definition of a normal freelancer and you should be safe. Also, the fact that you are already working for two completely unrelated companies does not mean that the second job "is running a risk" as you put it, but rather makes the first one even safer.

On a related note, the question of "Scheinselbstständigkeit" usually arises in your first year as a freelancer. But once the Finanzamt is convinced that you are indeed working normally (even in the case of working for a single company as a freelancer), you will be spared future agony )

In my experience this does seem to be the case.

Although I indeed have two jobs with separate employers some of my colleagues don't and are solely dependent on this company. I have found a local community group in my area that offers a free consulation with a employment lawyer. I'm going to pop along on the 6th Dec and will of course relay back any usefull information. It appears that being 'Scheinselbststandigkeit' has a lot of grey areas.
Once again thanks for all the responses
sparrow