The rate: from 1 January 2026 the statutory minimum wage is €13.90 gross per hour worked (Zeitstunde). It rises to €14.60 on 1 January 2027. In 2025 it was €12.82.
Who gets it: essentially every employee working in Germany — including minijobbers and staff in private households, and regardless of where the employer is based. The main exceptions: apprentices, under-18s without completed vocational training, certain interns, volunteers, and the long-term unemployed in their first six months.
The paperwork: for minijobbers (outside private households) and for the sectors listed in § 2a of the Schwarzarbeitsbekämpfungsgesetz, you 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. The Zoll's Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit (FKS) checks unannounced; underpayment can cost up to €500,000.
What the Mindestlohn is
Germany has had a general statutory minimum wage since 1 January 2015, set by the Mindestlohngesetz (MiLoG). The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) puts it plainly: "Der allgemeine gesetzliche Mindestlohn ist in Deutschland die Lohnuntergrenze, die nicht unterschritten werden darf" — "the general statutory minimum wage is the wage floor in Germany that may not be undercut" (our translation).
Three mechanics matter for payroll:
- It's per hour actually worked, gross. The rate is defined brutto je Zeitstunde — gross per hour of work. Employees are entitled to it for every hour worked in the pay period.
- It has a statutory due date. Per the customs administration, the minimum wage must be paid at the agreed due date and at the latest by the last bank working day of the month following the month in which the work was performed. Working-time accounts (Arbeitszeitkonten) allow limited flexibility.
- It's the floor, not the ceiling. Sector minimum wages under the Posted Workers Act (AEntG) or temporary-agency rules (AÜG) — construction, building cleaning, care and others — take precedence where they are at least as high.
The rate is not indexed automatically. A standing, independent Mindestlohnkommission proposes adjustments, which the Federal Government then enacts by ordinance. The current rates come from the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance (MiLoV5), following the Commission's proposal of 27 June 2025.
The current rate, year by year
As verified against BMAS and the customs administration (zoll.de) on 10 July 2026:
- 2025: €12.82 gross per hour worked (1 January to 31 December 2025).
- 2026: €13.90 gross per hour worked, from 1 January 2026.
- 2027: €14.60 gross per hour worked, from 1 January 2027.
The customs administration states it in one sentence: "Das Mindestentgelt beträgt ab dem 1. Januar 2026 mindestens 13,90 Euro brutto je Zeitstunde. Ab dem 1. Januar 2027 wird das Mindestentgelt auf mindestens 14,60 Euro brutto je Zeitstunde erhöht." — "From 1 January 2026 the minimum pay is at least €13.90 gross per hour worked. From 1 January 2027 it is raised to at least €14.60 gross per hour worked" (our translation).
Rates change by ordinance, usually at the turn of the year. Confirm the figure in force for your pay period on the BMAS minimum-wage page (bmas.de → Mindestlohn) before running payroll against it.
Who is covered — and who isn't
Under § 1 MiLoG, every employee (Arbeitnehmerin und Arbeitnehmer) working in Germany is entitled to the minimum wage — including in private households, and whether the employer is based in Germany or abroad. Interns within the meaning of § 26 of the Vocational Training Act (BBiG) are covered in principle too.
§ 22 MiLoG then carves out a short list of exceptions. Per the customs administration's summary, no minimum-wage entitlement exists for:
- Interns, where the internship is (a) compulsory under a school rule, training regulation or university rule; (b) a voluntary orientation internship of up to three months before training or study; (c) a voluntary internship of up to three months accompanying training or study, if no such internship with the same trainer existed before; or (d) part of an Einstiegsqualifizierung (§ 54a SGB III) or vocational preparation (§§ 68–70 BBiG).
- Children and young people under 18 without a completed vocational training (§ 2 JArbSchG) — e.g. school pupils in holiday jobs.
- Apprentices (Auszubildende) — their training pay is governed by vocational-training law, not the MiLoG.
- Volunteers (ehrenamtlich Tätige).
- The long-term unemployed — people who were unemployed for at least one year (§ 18 SGB III) immediately before the job — for the first six months of the employment, unless the employer receives a wage subsidy under § 16i SGB II.
The intern exceptions are narrow and time-boxed. A "voluntary internship" that runs past three months, or a second orientation internship with the same person, flips into a minimum-wage entitlement — usually from the start of the relationship, not from month four. Document the internship type and its legal basis before the first day.
The minijob interaction: the threshold is built on the minimum wage
Since October 2022 the minijob earnings threshold (Geringfügigkeitsgrenze) has been dynamic: per the Minijob-Zentrale, it tracks the statutory minimum wage and a notional ten-hour week — so every minimum-wage rise moves the threshold too.
- For 2026 the threshold is €603 per month (up from €556 in 2025), or €7,236 per year.
- At the 2026 minimum wage of €13.90, a minijobber can work at most 43.38 hours per month without breaching the €603 limit — the Minijob-Zentrale publishes this figure.
- Above the threshold, the job doesn't instantly become fully contributory: from €603.01 to €2,000 per month the Übergangsbereich (midijob) rules apply, with reduced employee contributions.
When the minimum wage rises, a minijobber's hours must usually come down — the threshold rises with the wage, but only proportionally to a ten-hour week. If your minijobber's contracted hours were calibrated to the old rate and sit above the new maximum, January's pay run can quietly push them over the limit and out of minijob status. Recheck hours every time the rate changes.
Record duties: who must log working time, and for how long
The MiLoG's most-audited obligation isn't the wage — it's the timesheet. Under § 17 MiLoG (as set out on zoll.de), employers must record "Beginn, Ende und Dauer der täglichen Arbeitszeit" — the start, end and duration of the daily working time (our translation) — no later than the end of the seventh calendar day following the day the work was performed, and keep the records for at least two years. The duty applies to:
- Employers of minijobbers (geringfügig Beschäftigte within § 8 SGB IV) — except minijobs in private households (§ 8a SGB IV); and
- Employers (German or foreign) in the sectors named in § 2a Schwarzarbeitsbekämpfungsgesetz. As listed by the customs administration these include: construction; hotels, restaurants and accommodation; passenger transport; freight, transport and associated logistics including platform-based delivery services; building cleaning; trade-fair and exhibition set-up; the meat industry (except the butcher's craft); the prostitution trade; the security industry; and hairdressing and cosmetics.
Form is free — electronic or paper both work, and individual breaks don't have to be itemised, only start, end and daily duration. Records based on rosters/plans are acceptable if deviations are noted (and the absence of deviations is documented). Note the relief in the documentation ordinance (MiLoDokV): records are dispensable for employees with a steady gross monthly wage above €4,461, or above €2,974 where the employer has verifiably paid that wage for the last full twelve months (figures as published on zoll.de, retrieved July 2026) — this relief does not apply to drivers in goods or passenger transport.
Treat the seven-day deadline as "with the pay run, at the latest". A time-capture flow that stamps start, end and duration daily — and stores it immutably for two years — satisfies § 17 MiLoG as a by-product. Remember that working-time recording duties under other laws (notably the Arbeitszeitgesetz) exist independently of the MiLoG.
Enforcement: the Zoll, the FKS, and what violations cost
Minimum-wage compliance is policed by the customs administration's Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit (FKS). Per zoll.de, the FKS conducts both incident-driven and suspicion-independent checks, may enter business premises during working hours announced or unannounced, and its audits can reach back into past periods. Employers must cooperate — including producing payroll and time records, on request in machine-readable form.
Violations are Ordnungswidrigkeiten under § 21 MiLoG. The customs administration's published fine bands:
- Up to €500,000 — not granting, or not granting on time, the minimum wage. The same band applies to principals (Auftraggeber) who use subcontractors at significant scale and know, or negligently fail to know, that the subcontractor chain underpays.
- Up to €50,000 — failing to create working-time records correctly, completely or on time, or failing to keep them for at least two years.
- Up to €30,000 — most other breaches (e.g. not holding documents available in Germany in German, or obstructing an inspection).
- A fine of €2,500 or more can lead to temporary exclusion from public contracts; fines above €200 are entered in the trade register of offences (Gewerbezentralregister).
Separately, the employee's entitlement itself cannot be waived or forfeited — underpayment remains claimable regardless of any fine.
Quick answers
What is the German minimum wage in 2026?
From 1 January 2026 the statutory minimum wage (gesetzlicher Mindestlohn) is €13.90 gross per hour worked, set by the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance (MiLoV5) on the Minimum Wage Commission's proposal. It rises to €14.60 gross per hour on 1 January 2027. In 2025 it was €12.82. It applies per actual hour worked and must be paid at the latest by the last bank working day of the month following the month in which the work was performed.
Who is exempt from the Mindestlohn?
Under § 22 MiLoG, as summarised by the customs administration: young people under 18 without a completed vocational training; apprentices (for their training pay); volunteers; certain interns — where the internship is compulsory under school, training-regulation or university rules, or is a voluntary orientation or study-accompanying internship of up to three months; and the long-term unemployed (unemployed for at least one year) during the first six months of a new job, unless the employer receives a wage subsidy under § 16i SGB II. Almost everyone else — including minijobbers and staff in private households — is covered.
What working-time records must employers keep under the MiLoG?
Employers of minijobbers (except in private households) and employers in the sectors listed in § 2a of the Schwarzarbeitsbekämpfungsgesetz — such as construction, hospitality, passenger transport, freight and logistics including platform delivery, building cleaning, trade-fair construction, the meat industry, security, and hairdressing and cosmetics — must record the start, end and duration of each employee's daily working time no later than the end of the seventh calendar day after the work was performed, and keep those records for at least two years. The records can be electronic or on paper; individual breaks do not have to be itemised.
Who enforces the minimum wage, and what are the fines?
The customs administration's Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit (FKS) enforces the MiLoG. It can inspect without suspicion and without notice, including for past periods. Not paying (or not paying on time) the minimum wage can be fined up to €500,000 — this also catches principals whose subcontractors underpay. Failing to create or keep the working-time records can be fined up to €50,000, and other breaches up to €30,000, per the customs administration. A fine of €2,500 or more can also lead to temporary exclusion from public contracts.
The right rate, the right records — on every German pay run
Ledra Pay's German country pack applies the statutory minimum wage in force for each pay period, watches the minijob threshold as rates move, and keeps working-time and pay evidence in an auditable chain — so a § 17 MiLoG record request or an FKS audit is an export, not an emergency.
See German payroll →Government sources
- BMAS — Mindestlohn: Höhe, Anspruch und aktuelle Regelungen (€13.90 from 1 January 2026).
- BMAS — Fünfte Mindestlohnanpassungsverordnung (MiLoV5) (€13.90 from 2026, €14.60 from 2027; Commission proposal of 27 June 2025).
- Zoll — Mindestlohn nach dem Mindestlohngesetz (rates, due date, scope).
- Zoll — Anwendungsbereich des Mindestlohngesetzes (who is covered; the § 22 MiLoG exceptions).
- Zoll — Sonstige Pflichten — Führung von Arbeitszeitnachweisen (§ 17 MiLoG record duty, seven-day deadline, two-year retention, MiLoDokV relief).
- Zoll — Folgen bei Nichtbeachtung (fine bands under § 21 MiLoG; public-contract exclusion).
- Zoll — Aufgaben und Befugnisse der Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit (FKS powers; the § 2a SchwarzArbG sector list).
- Minijob-Zentrale — Minijob mit Verdienstgrenze (€603/month and €7,236/year from 2026; Übergangsbereich €603.01–€2,000).
- Minijob-Zentrale — Mindestlohn im Minijob (dynamic threshold; 43.38 hours/month at €13.90; § 17 MiLoG recording for commercial minijobs).
Note: the consolidated MiLoG text on gesetze-im-internet.de was unreachable at the time of writing, so this article cites the federal ministry and customs administration pages that restate the statute.