The shared layer: for 2026, on gross pay up to the ceilings, the employer's halves of the four branches are RV 9.3% (pension), AV 1.3% (unemployment), KV 7.3% plus half the Krankenkasse's Zusatzbeitrag (1.45% at the assumed 2026 average of 2.9%), and PV 1.8% (long-term care — 1.3% in Saxony). That's roughly 21% on top of gross.
The employer-only layer (never deducted from pay): the U2 maternity levy (all employers; 0.22% at the Minijob-Zentrale for 2026), the Insolvenzgeldumlage (0.15% for 2026), U1 sick-pay levy if you have up to 30 employees (0.8% at the Minijob-Zentrale for 2026), and accident insurance (UV) via your Berufsgenossenschaft — employer-financed, no national rate.
The read: at those illustrative rates, €1,000 gross costs the employer ≈ €1,223 before accident insurance — about 22% on top. Above the ceilings (2026: €69,750/yr for KV/PV, €101,400/yr for RV/AV) the euro amounts stop growing.
Two layers on top of gross pay
Every employer-side euro in a German pay run belongs to one of two layers: the halves of the shared social contributions, and the levies only the employer carries. The employee never sees the second layer on a payslip — which is exactly why foreign operators underbudget it.
| Item (2026) | Employer pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pension insurance (RV) | 9.3% | Half of 18.6%; capped at €8,450/month |
| Unemployment insurance (AV) | 1.3% | Half of 2.6%; capped at €8,450/month |
| Health insurance (KV) | 7.3% + half the Zusatzbeitrag | General rate 14.6% halved, plus half the Kasse's own supplementary rate (2026 average: 2.9% → 1.45%); capped at €5,812.50/month |
| Long-term care insurance (PV) | 1.8% — Saxony: 1.3% | Total rate 3.6%; capped at €5,812.50/month; employee-side modifiers don't change the employer share |
| U1 sick-pay levy | 0.8% (Minijob-Zentrale rate, 2026) | Employer-only; only employers with ≤30 employees; rate is fund-specific (kassenindividuell) |
| U2 maternity levy | 0.22% (Minijob-Zentrale rate, 2026) | Employer-only; all employers; fund-specific |
| Insolvenzgeldumlage | 0.15% (2026) | Employer-only; all insolvency-capable employers; one-off payments count |
| Accident insurance (UV) | No national rate | Employer-only; pay × Gefahrklasse × Beitragsfuß ÷ 1,000, levied retrospectively by the Berufsgenossenschaft |
The practical read: the payslip's deduction block belongs to the employee's side of the wedge — Lohnsteuer, any Solidaritätszuschlag and church tax, and the employee halves of the four branches. The employer's true cost is gross pay plus everything in the table above.
The shared branches: your half of KV · PV · RV · AV (2026)
The base rule is symmetry. The Deutsche Rentenversicherung states it in one sentence: "Die Beiträge zur Kranken-, Pflege-, Renten- und Arbeitslosenversicherung für versicherungspflichtige Beschäftigte werden grundsätzlich vom Arbeitgeber und vom Arbeitnehmer je zur Hälfte getragen" — "contributions to health, long-term care, pension and unemployment insurance for compulsorily insured employees are, as a rule, borne half by the employer and half by the employee" (our translation). The employer withholds the employee's half and remits the whole amount to the employee's Krankenkasse as collection point. Branch by branch, für 2026:
- RV (pension): 18.6% total, employer 9.3%. Unchanged for 2026 per the DRV's Rechengrößen announcement.
- AV (unemployment): 2.6% total, employer 1.3%. In force since 1 January 2024.
- KV (health): 14.6% general rate, employer 7.3% — plus half the Zusatzbeitrag. Each Krankenkasse levies its own supplementary rate (kassenindividueller Zusatzbeitrag) on top, likewise split half/half. The officially assumed average for 2026 is 2.9% (→ 1.45% employer), but the average is irrelevant for any individual employee: payroll must use their Kasse's actual rate.
- PV (long-term care): 3.6% federal uniform rate, employer 1.8% — except in Saxony (next paragraph). The employee-side modifiers — the +0.6% childless surcharge from age 23, and the −0.25%-per-child reduction for the second to fifth child under 25 — change only the employee's share; the employer share stays put.
The Saxony exception sits on the employer's side. Per the DRV: "Im Bundesland Sachsen beläuft sich der Arbeitgeberanteil an den Beiträgen zur Pflegeversicherung abweichend vom übrigen Bundesgebiet auf 1,3 Prozent und der Arbeitnehmeranteil auf 2,3 Prozent" — "in the Land of Saxony the employer share of long-term care contributions is, deviating from the rest of the federal territory, 1.3 percent, and the employee share 2.3 percent" (our translation). Same 3.6% total, different split: an employee in Dresden is 0.5 percentage points cheaper to insure for care — and takes home correspondingly less.
The KV Zusatzbeitrag is a per-Kasse parameter, not a national number — and each Kasse can move it, at year-end or otherwise. A cost model built on the 2.9% average will be wrong for almost every actual employee. Parameterise per Krankenkasse, and re-check when an employee switches Kasse.
The ceilings: where the euro amounts stop growing
None of the percentages above run on unlimited pay. Each branch charges contributions only up to its Beitragsbemessungsgrenze (BBG), set each year by the Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung. Für 2026:
- KV and PV: €69,750/year = €5,812.50/month (2025: €66,150).
- RV and AV: €101,400/year = €8,450/month (2025: €96,600) — now federally uniform.
Above a ceiling, the pay slice beyond it simply attracts no contribution in that branch. For a monthly salary of €10,000, the employer's KV/PV halves are computed on €5,812.50 and the RV/AV halves on €8,450 — not on €10,000. Two consequences for costing:
- The marginal cost of a raise falls at each ceiling. Once pay clears €8,450/month, an extra euro of salary carries no extra social-insurance cost at all (the Umlagen bases are also tied to contributory pay).
- The ceilings move every 1 January — carried forward with the prior year's wage growth (the 2026 values follow 2024's 5.16%). A high salary that was fully above the ceiling this year may be partly below it next year, so the employer's euro cost creeps up even when the salary doesn't.
The employer-only layer: U1, U2, the insolvency levy, and the Berufsgenossenschaft
Four items are levied on the employer alone. They never appear in the payslip's deduction block, and none of them is optional.
- U1 — the sick-pay levy (small employers only). Employers with up to 30 employees participate in the U1 scheme: they pay the levy and in return get 80% of continued-wage costs refunded when staff are off sick. The rate is fund-specific; at the Minijob-Zentrale (Knappschaft-Bahn-See) it was cut from 1.1% to 0.8% on 1 January 2026 because of surpluses. For regular employees, each Krankenkasse sets its own U1 rate — there is no single national number.
- U2 — the maternity levy (all employers). Every employer participates, including those with more than 30 employees, regardless of U1 participation. It funds 100% refunds of maternity costs (Mutterschutzlohn, the Zuschuss zum Mutterschaftsgeld). The base is the RV-liable pay of all employees, one-off payments excluded; the rate is likewise kassenindividuell — 0.22% at the Minijob-Zentrale for 2026.
- Insolvenzgeldumlage — 0.15% for 2026. All insolvency-capable employers fund the Insolvenzgeld via this monthly levy, regardless of size; public-sector employers, private households and homeowner associations are exempt. The rate has been 0.15% since 1 January 2025 (it was 0.06% in 2023–24 by regulation) and is unchanged for 2026. Unlike U1/U2, one-off payments count toward its base. It's paid together with the total social-insurance contribution to the collection point.
- UV — statutory accident insurance. Financed solely by employers: per the DGUV, "Die Mittel der Berufsgenossenschaften werden allein durch die Beiträge der Unternehmen aufgebracht" — "the funds of the Berufsgenossenschaften are raised solely from the contributions of the enterprises" (our translation). There is no national rate: the contribution is (Arbeitsentgelt × Gefahrklasse × Beitragsfuß) ÷ 1,000, where the Gefahrklasse comes from your BG's risk tariff for your trade and the Beitragsfuß is set annually by the BG's board to cover its needs — levied retrospectively for the past year. An office business and a scaffolding firm pay very different rates; get yours from your Berufsgenossenschaft before you budget it.
The U1 and U2 figures above are the Minijob-Zentrale's (Knappschaft-Bahn-See) 2026 rates — the collection point for minijobs. For your regular employees, U1 and U2 are set by each employee's Krankenkasse and vary by fund (U1 usually also by the chosen refund level). Treat them as per-Kasse parameters, like the Zusatzbeitrag.
Worked example: what €1,000 of gross pay costs the employer (2026)
This illustration is our synthesis — composed from the individually verified 2026 figures above; no official page publishes this total. Inputs: a regular employee, pay below all ceilings, outside Saxony; the Krankenkasse charging exactly the assumed 2026 average Zusatzbeitrag of 2.9%; U1/U2 at the Minijob-Zentrale's 2026 rates; employer with ≤30 employees (so U1 applies); accident insurance excluded (no national rate exists).
| Employer-side line (2026) | Rate | On €1,000 gross |
|---|---|---|
| KV employer half (7.3% + 1.45% Zusatzbeitrag half) | 8.75% | €87.50 |
| PV employer half (non-Saxony) | 1.80% | €18.00 |
| RV employer half | 9.30% | €93.00 |
| AV employer half | 1.30% | €13.00 |
| Subtotal: shared-branch halves | 21.15% | €211.50 |
| U1 (≤30 employees; Minijob-Zentrale rate) | 0.80% | €8.00 |
| U2 (Minijob-Zentrale rate) | 0.22% | €2.20 |
| Insolvenzgeldumlage | 0.15% | €1.50 |
| Total employer cost | ≈ 122.3% | ≈ €1,223.20 |
So €1,000 gross costs this employer ≈ €1,223 — about 22.3% on top — before accident insurance. Drop U1 (more than 30 employees) and it's ≈ €1,215. Move the employee to Saxony and the PV half falls to 1.3%, saving €5 per €1,000. Every one of those deltas is a parameter, not a constant: the Zusatzbeitrag, U1 and U2 move per Kasse, and UV depends on your Gefahrklasse.
The employee's deductions are a different list. From the same €1,000 slice come their own halves of the four branches — symmetrical at 21.15% under the example's inputs, except that PV modifiers hit only the employee: +0.6% if childless from age 23, −0.25% per child for the second to fifth child under 25, and 2.3% instead of 1.8% in Saxony. On top of that sits Lohnsteuer, computed from the employee's ELStAM (tax class I–VI and more) per the BMF's Programmablaufplan — für 2026 with a basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag) of €12,348 — plus Solidaritätszuschlag at 5.5%, but only above the 2026 exemption threshold of €20,350 (most wage levels attract none), and church tax at the Land rate (currently 8% or 9%) for registered members. Employer cost minus employee net: that's the full wedge an operator should quote against.
The minijob contrast: a flat-rate employer stack
For a commercial minijob — earnings up to €603/month in 2026 — the architecture flips. The employee pays no regular social contributions; instead the employer pays flat-rate charges on the earnings: 15% pension + 13% health + typically 2% flat tax = 30%, plus the Umlagen (U1 0.8%, U2 0.22%, Insolvenzgeldumlage 0.15% für 2026). The minijobber by default pays only the 3.6% pension top-up (the gap between the employer's flat 15% and the full 18.6%), with an opt-out right. In private households the flat rates are 5% + 5% + 2%.
Percentage for percentage, a minijob costs the employer more per euro than regular employment — the flat 30%+ against roughly 22% — the trade is the employee's near-deduction-free payslip, not employer savings. From €603.01 to €2,000/month the midijob (Übergangsbereich) rules phase regular contributions back in. The thresholds, the flat rates and the traps are covered in Minijobs & midijobs.
When these numbers change
The master cadence is the 1 January cycle: the ceilings come from the Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung (cabinet-decided each October, effective 1 January), and the BMF publishes the following year's wage-tax Programmablaufplan each November. But the employer-side parameters do not all wait for January: the kassenindividuellen rates (Zusatzbeitrag, U1, U2) can move per Kasse at any time — the Minijob-Zentrale's U1 was cut from 1.1% to 0.8% on 1 January 2026 — the Insolvenzgeldumlage has been varied by regulation (0.06% in 2023–24, 0.15% since 2025), the PV rates changed mid-year on 1 July 2023, and your BG's Beitragsfuß is re-set annually in arrears. Re-verify the year-labelled figures on the sources below before relying on them.
Quick answers
How much does a German employee cost the employer on top of gross pay in 2026?
For a regular employee below the contribution ceilings, the employer's social-insurance halves for 2026 add up to about 21% of gross pay: pension (RV) 9.3%, unemployment (AV) 1.3%, health (KV) 7.3% plus half the Krankenkasse's supplementary rate (1.45% at the officially assumed 2026 average of 2.9%), and long-term care (PV) 1.8% (1.3% in Saxony). On top sit the employer-only levies — U2 maternity (0.22% at the Minijob-Zentrale's 2026 rate), the insolvency levy (0.15% for 2026), U1 sick-pay for employers with up to 30 employees (0.8% at the Minijob-Zentrale's 2026 rate) — plus statutory accident insurance, which has no national rate. At those illustrative rates, €1,000 gross costs the employer roughly €1,223 before accident insurance — our synthesis from individually verified 2026 figures, not an official total.
Which payroll costs are employer-only in Germany?
Four items are paid by the employer on top of gross pay and never appear as payslip deductions: the U1 sick-pay levy (only employers with up to 30 employees; rate set by each Krankenkasse — 0.8% at the Minijob-Zentrale for 2026 — funding an 80% refund of continued sick pay); the U2 maternity levy (all employers, likewise fund-specific — 0.22% at the Minijob-Zentrale for 2026 — funding 100% refunds of maternity costs); the Insolvenzgeldumlage at 0.15% since 1 January 2025, unchanged for 2026 (public-sector employers, private households and homeowner associations are exempt; one-off payments count toward its base); and statutory accident insurance (UV), financed solely by employers through their Berufsgenossenschaft as pay × Gefahrklasse × Beitragsfuß ÷ 1,000, levied retrospectively.
What happens above the contribution ceilings (Beitragsbemessungsgrenzen)?
Contributions are only charged on pay up to each branch's ceiling. For 2026 the ceilings are €5,812.50 per month (€69,750 per year) for health and long-term care insurance, and €8,450 per month (€101,400 per year) for pension and unemployment insurance (2025: €66,150 and €96,600). Pay above the ceiling attracts no further contributions in that branch — the euro amounts stop growing, so as a percentage of a high salary the employer's social-insurance cost falls. The ceilings are re-set every 1 January by the annual Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung, carried forward in line with the prior year's wage growth.
Do employers pay social contributions on a minijob?
Yes — but as flat rates, not halves. In a commercial minijob (earnings up to €603 per month in 2026) the employee pays no regular social contributions; the employer instead pays flat-rate charges of 15% pension, 13% health and typically 2% flat tax — 30% in total — plus the U1, U2 and insolvency levies (0.8%, 0.22% and 0.15% at the Minijob-Zentrale's 2026 rates). The employee by default pays only a 3.6% pension top-up, with the right to opt out. The employer's percentage burden on a minijob is therefore higher than on regular employment, even though the minijobber's payslip shows almost no deductions.
The whole stack, parameterised — not averaged
Ledra Pay's German country pack computes the employer halves against each employee's actual Krankenkasse rates and the ceilings in force for the pay period, carries the U1/U2/insolvency levies and the Saxony split as first-class parameters, and shows the true employer cost next to every gross figure — so costing a German hire is a lookup, not a spreadsheet estimate.
See German payroll →Government sources
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — summa summarum Lexikon: Beitragstragung (the half/half base rule; PV modifiers; the Saxony 1.3%/2.3% split).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — summa summarum Lexikon: Beitragssatz (KV 14.6%, PV 3.6% since 1 January 2025, AV 2.6% since 1 January 2024).
- DRV Knappschaft-Bahn-See — Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen 2026 (RV 18.6% at 9.3%/9.3%; the 2026 ceilings; the Verordnung mechanism).
- BMF — Programmablaufplan 2026, Anlage 1 (PDF) (KV/PV ceiling €69,750; Grundfreibetrag €12,348; SolZ Freigrenze €20,350; kassenindividueller Zusatzbeitrag as input).
- BMF — BMF-Schreiben of 12 November 2025 (PDF) (average KV Zusatzbeitrag of 2.9% assumed for 2026).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — summa summarum Lexikon: Insolvenzgeldumlage (0.15% since 1 January 2025; exemptions; one-off payments in the base).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — summa summarum Lexikon: Ausgleichsverfahren U2 (all employers participate; RV-liable pay as base; 100% maternity refunds).
- Minijob-Zentrale (Magazin) — Minijob-Beiträge 2026 (U1 0.8% and U2 0.22% for 2026; the U1 cut from 1.1%; the ≤30-employee scope; minijob contribution table).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Zahlen und Tabellen 1.1.–30.6.2026 (PDF) (minijob flat rates 15%/13%/2%; the 3.6% employee top-up; branch rates and ceilings in one table).
- DGUV — FAQ Beitrag (accident insurance financed solely by employers; the Gefahrklasse × Beitragsfuß formula; retrospective levy).
- BZSt — Kirchensteuer (church-tax rate currently 8% or 9%).
Note: the consolidated statute texts on gesetze-im-internet.de were unreachable at the time of writing, so this article cites the federal authorities' pages and PDFs that restate the operative values. Which Länder apply 8% and which 9% church tax is Land law and was not verifiable against the cited pages — confirm the rate for your employee's Land.
Related
Lohnsteuer, social insurance, payslips, leave and sick pay — the hub.
KV · PV · RV · AV — who pays what, the ceilings, and the Umlagen.
What a foreign employer without a German entity must set up, and where the traps are.