The regimes: a minijob (geringfügig entlohnte Beschäftigung) is a job paying at most €603 per month in 2026 (€7,236 across the year). From €603.01 to €2,000.00 the midijob rules of the Übergangsbereich apply. Both edges are calendar-2026 values.
The cost: in a minijob the employee pays no regular social-insurance contributions — instead the employer pays flat-rate charges: 13% health + 15% pension + typically 2% flat tax = 30%, plus the U1/U2/insolvency levies — roughly 31.2% on top of gross (2026, our addition). The employee's only default deduction is a 3.6% pension top-up, with an opt-out.
The trap: the threshold is dynamic — minimum wage × 130 ÷ 3, rounded up — so it moves every time the Mindestlohn moves. Crossing it, even by a cent, changes the employee's insurance status and the collection point: the Minijob-Zentrale hands over to the employee's Krankenkasse. The minimum wage and its record duties apply to minijobbers throughout.
Two regimes, one dial: the minimum wage drives both
Since 1 October 2022 the minijob earnings threshold (Geringfügigkeitsgrenze) is no longer a fixed euro amount but a dynamic value tied by law to the statutory minimum wage — introduced, per Deutsche Rentenversicherung, by the minimum-wage protection act of 28 June 2022. The Minijob-Zentrale publishes the formula: "Verdienstgrenze = Mindestlohn mal 130 geteilt durch 3 … Das Ergebnis wird auf volle Euro gerundet" — "earnings threshold = minimum wage times 130 divided by 3; the result is rounded to full euros" (our translation). The 130 ÷ 3 factor converts a notional ten-hour working week into a monthly amount.
For 2026 that produces: €13.90 × 130 ÷ 3 = €602.33, rounded up to €603 per month (2025: €556), or €7,236 per year. And because the Übergangsbereich starts one cent above the minijob line, the midijob band moved with it — €603.01 to €2,000.00 for 2026. The €2,000 upper edge has been fixed since 1 January 2023; only the lower edge rides the minimum wage.
The Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance (MiLoV5) fixed two steps at once: €13.90 from 1 January 2026 and €14.60 from 1 January 2027. Run through the published formula, €14.60 × 130 ÷ 3 = €632.67 → €633 per month from 2027 — our arithmetic from the published formula, not yet an officially published value. Contracts and pay-run budgets for 2027 minijobs can be shaped around it now.
One scope note: this article covers the earnings-threshold minijob. Germany also has a separate short-term variant (kurzfristige Beschäftigung) with its own rules, which we don't cover here.
What the employer pays: the flat-rate surprise
A minijob looks cheap because the employee's payslip is nearly deduction-free. It isn't cheap for the employer. Instead of the usual employer halves, the employer pays Pauschalabgaben — flat-rate charges on the earnings. For a commercial minijob in 2026, per the Minijob-Zentrale's contribution table and DRV's Zahlen und Tabellen:
- 13% flat health-insurance contribution (§ 249b SGB V);
- 15% flat pension contribution (§ 172 Abs. 3 SGB VI);
- 2% flat tax — the Pauschsteuer (§ 40a Abs. 2 EStG), which typically settles the wage tax;
- = 30% in total, plus the employer levies für 2026: U1 0.80% (sick-pay levy — cut from 1.1% on 1 January 2026), U2 0.22% (maternity levy) and the insolvency levy 0.15%.
Added up, that is about 31.2% on top of gross pay (our addition of the published 2026 rates). Compare a regular employee, where the employer halves of KV/PV/RV/AV come to roughly 21% up to the ceilings (2026 rates, at the average KV supplementary rate — see our social-insurance overview). Per euro of pay, the minijob costs the employer about ten points more. What the regime buys is simplicity and the employee-side relief — not employer savings.
On the employee side, one default deduction remains: minijobbers are by law pension-insured and pay the top-up between the employer's flat 15% and the full 18.6% pension rate — i.e. 3.6% (on an assessment floor of €175 per month). The employee can apply to the employer for exemption from pension insurance (the opt-out, § 6 Abs. 1b SGB VI); with the opt-out, the minijobber's gross is effectively their net.
The 15% flat pension charge is an employer cost either way — the opt-out removes only the employee's 3.6% top-up, not the employer's flat rates. And the U1/U2 levies apply to minijobbers like anyone else: U1 (with 80% reimbursement of continued sick pay) for employers with up to 30 employees, U2 (with 100% reimbursement of maternity costs) for all employers.
The private-household variant
Minijobs in private households (§ 8a SGB IV) run on a gentler tariff, per the Minijob-Zentrale's 2026 table: 5% health + 5% pension + 2% flat tax = 12%, plus U1 (0.80%) and U2 (0.22%) and a 1.60% statutory accident-insurance contribution collected on the same rail. Private households pay no insolvency levy — they are expressly exempt from it, per DRV. The employee's pension top-up is correspondingly larger in households: 13.6% (the gap from the employer's flat 5% to the full 18.6%), again with the opt-out available.
One collection point: the Minijob-Zentrale
For regular employees, the collection point (Einzugsstelle) for the total social-insurance contribution is each employee's own Krankenkasse — as many collection points as your staff have Kassen. Minijobs are different: "Bei geringfügigen Beschäftigungen ist zuständige Einzugsstelle die Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See als Träger der Rentenversicherung" — "for marginal employments the competent collection point is Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See as pension-insurance carrier" (§ 28i SGB IV, our translation). Operationally that is the Minijob-Zentrale in Essen: all minijob charges — the flat KV and RV contributions, the 2% Pauschsteuer, the Umlagen — flow to this one address.
The lodgement mechanics mirror the regular system, just pointed at the MJZ: the monthly Beitragsnachweis (contribution statement) must be with the Minijob-Zentrale by the start (0:00) of the fifth-last bank working day of the month — in practice transmitted by 24:00 the day before — and the contributions themselves are due on the third-last bank working day. Late payment attracts a Säumniszuschlag of 1% per commenced month on the arrears rounded down to €50, per the Minijob-Zentrale. Hiring paperwork stays too: minijobbers go through the normal DEÜV reporting under your Betriebsnummer — the regime redirects the rail, it doesn't remove it.
The 2% Pauschsteuer is a tax, but it does not go into your Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung to the Finanzamt. The official instructions to the 2026 wage-tax return say so verbatim: "Nicht einzubeziehen ist die an die Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See abzuführende 2 %-ige Pauschsteuer für geringfügig Beschäftigte" — "not to be included is the 2% flat tax for marginally employed persons, payable to Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See" (our translation). It rides the Minijob-Zentrale rail with the social charges. Booking it into the ELSTER return double-counts it; see our lodgement guide for the two rails side by side.
Crossing €603: the midijob (Übergangsbereich)
At €603.01 of regular monthly pay the job leaves the minijob world — but it does not jump straight to full contributions. From €603.01 to €2,000.00 (für 2026; multiple employments are added together) the Übergangsbereich applies: the employee becomes fully insured in all branches — health, care, pension, unemployment — but employee contributions are computed on a reduced assessment base under the statutory formula in § 20 Abs. 2a SGB IV. In summary: a factor F (28 divided by the year's total contribution rate) discounts the base heavily just above €603, and the discount melts away linearly until, at €2,000, contributions are computed on full pay. Since 1 July 2019 the reduced pension contributions no longer reduce pension benefits — the relief is free on the benefits side. One carve-out per DRV: the Übergangsbereich does not apply to apprenticeships.
What flips at the threshold is not just the contribution arithmetic:
- Insurance status: from flat-rate coverage to full membership in all four branches.
- Collection point: from the Minijob-Zentrale to the employee's own Krankenkasse.
- Tax: the 2% Pauschsteuer option belongs to the minijob; above the line the wage is taxed through the normal ELStAM/Lohnsteuer machinery.
The cent flip: €603.00 is a minijob; €603.01 is not. Regular pay must be assessed prospectively — and multiple employments are aggregated, so a second minijob elsewhere can push an employee over the line without either employer noticing.
The January trap: when the minimum wage rises, the threshold rises with it — but so does the hourly rate. Hours calibrated to the old rate can breach the new threshold (or the minimum wage). Recheck every minijob contract at every rate change; the MiLoG article walks through the hours ceiling.
The safety valve is narrow: an unforeseeable overshoot is tolerated in up to two calendar months per rolling year, capped at double the monthly threshold (€1,206 in 2026), per the Minijob-Zentrale. Foreseeable overtime doesn't qualify.
MiLoG still applies — and so do the records
A minijob is a normal employment relationship at a small scale. Minijobbers are entitled to the statutory minimum wage — €13.90 gross per hour worked in 2026, €14.60 from 1 January 2027 — which is exactly why the threshold formula exists: at €13.90, the €603 threshold buys at most 43.38 hours per month (603 ÷ 13.90). Fewer euros of headroom per hour means fewer hours, never a lower hourly rate.
The paperwork survives too: employers of minijobbers outside private households must record the start, end and duration of each day's work within seven calendar days and keep the records for at least two years (§ 17 MiLoG) — the duty the customs administration's inspectors actually check. Our minimum-wage article covers the record duty, the exemptions and the fine bands in full.
Quick answers
What is the minijob earnings threshold in 2026?
For 2026 the minijob earnings threshold (Geringfügigkeitsgrenze) is €603 per month, or €7,236 across the year. The threshold is dynamic: since October 2022 it is derived from the statutory minimum wage by the formula minimum wage × 130 ÷ 3, rounded up to full euros — for 2026: €13.90 × 130 ÷ 3 = €602.33, rounded up to €603. Every minimum-wage rise therefore moves the threshold; when the minimum wage reaches €14.60 on 1 January 2027, the same formula yields €633 (our arithmetic from the published formula — not yet an officially published value).
What does a minijob cost the employer in 2026?
For a commercial minijob the employer pays flat-rate charges on the earnings: 13% health insurance, 15% pension insurance and typically the 2% flat tax (Pauschsteuer) — 30% in total — plus, for 2026, the levies U1 (0.80%), U2 (0.22%) and the insolvency levy (0.15%): roughly 31.2% on top of gross pay (our addition of the published rates). That is more per euro than the roughly 21% in employer halves of KV/PV/RV/AV for a regular employee. The employee normally pays only a 3.6% pension top-up, which they can opt out of. In private households the flat rates are 5% + 5% + 2% instead, plus U1, U2 and a 1.60% accident-insurance contribution.
What happens when monthly pay crosses €603 — the midijob?
From €603.01 to €2,000.00 of regular monthly pay (2026 values; multiple employments are added together) the Übergangsbereich — midijob — rules apply. The employee becomes fully insured in all social-insurance branches, but employee contributions are computed on a reduced assessment base under the statutory formula in § 20 Abs. 2a SGB IV, sliding from strong relief just above €603 to full contributions at €2,000; since 1 July 2019 the reduced pension contributions no longer reduce pension benefits. The payroll mechanics flip too: contributions now go to the employee's own Krankenkasse as collection point instead of the Minijob-Zentrale. The €2,000 upper edge has been fixed since 2023; the lower edge moves with the minijob threshold every time the minimum wage moves.
Do the minimum wage and record-keeping rules apply to minijobbers?
Yes. Minijobbers are covered by the statutory minimum wage — €13.90 gross per hour worked in 2026, rising to €14.60 in 2027 — so at the 2026 rate the €603 threshold buys at most 43.38 hours per month (603 ÷ 13.90). Employers of minijobbers outside private households must also record the start, end and duration of each day's work within seven calendar days and keep those records for at least two years under § 17 MiLoG. A minijob reduces contributions and switches the collection rail — it does not switch off employment law.
Both regimes, one engine — with the threshold watched for you
Ledra Pay's German country pack classifies each employment against the current Geringfügigkeitsgrenze and Übergangsbereich band, applies the flat-rate charges or the reduced-base formula as the pay dictates, routes the Minijob-Zentrale rail separately from the ELSTER rail, and re-checks every minijob when the minimum wage steps — so a January rate change is a recalculation, not a compliance incident.
See German payroll →Government sources
- Minijob-Zentrale Magazin — Neue Verdienstgrenze 2026 (the × 130 ÷ 3 formula; €13.90 × 130 ÷ 3 = €602.33 → €603).
- Minijob-Zentrale — Minijob mit Verdienstgrenze (€7,236/year; the two-month overshoot tolerance capped at double the threshold).
- Minijob-Zentrale Magazin — Minijob-Beiträge 2026 (2026 contribution tables for commercial and household minijobs; U1 cut to 0.8%).
- Minijob-Zentrale Magazin — Umlageverfahren U1 und U2 (U1/U2 mechanics and 2026 rates; 100% maternity reimbursement).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Zahlen und Tabellen 1.1.–30.6.2026 (flat rates with statutory references; 3.6%/13.6% RV top-up and €175 floor; § 6 Abs. 1b SGB VI opt-out; Übergangsbereich band and § 20 Abs. 2a formula; Einzugsstelle for minijobs).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Übergangsbereich (Gleitzone) (dynamic threshold since 1 October 2022; €603.01–€2,000 from 2026; no pension-benefit loss since 1 July 2019).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — summa summarum Lexikon: Insolvenzgeldumlage (0.15% since 1 January 2025; private households exempt).
- BMAS — Fünfte Mindestlohnanpassungsverordnung (MiLoV5) (€13.90 from 2026 and €14.60 from 2027 in one ordinance).
- Zoll — Mindestlohn nach dem Mindestlohngesetz (minimum-wage rates 2026/2027).
- BMF — Muster der Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung 2026 (Hinweis Nr. 2: the 2% Pauschsteuer is excluded from the Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung and paid to Knappschaft-Bahn-See).
- Minijob-Zentrale — Beitragszahlung und Fristen (Beitragsnachweis by 0:00 of the fifth-last bank working day; payment on the third-last; 1% Säumniszuschlag per commenced month).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung (rvrecht) — § 28i SGB IV (Einzugsstelle: the employee's Krankenkasse; for minijobs, Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See).
Note: the consolidated statute texts on gesetze-im-internet.de were unreachable at the time of writing; paragraph references above are as stated by the cited federal authorities. Church-tax and Kasse-specific parameters vary and are not covered here.