Minijobs and marginal employment

1. The earnings limit

A Minijob is defined by a monthly earnings ceiling. Since a reform, that ceiling is no longer a fixed figure but is tied to the statutory minimum wage: it is set so that a Minijob corresponds to roughly ten hours a week at the minimum wage.

The practical consequence is that it changes whenever the minimum wage does, and it therefore changed on 1 January 2026. Any figure you remember from a previous year is out of date.

The 2026 limit remains €603 through 31 December 2026. It is already confirmed to rise to €633 on 1 January 2027 alongside the statutory minimum wage.

2. What comes out of your pay

Very little, which is the point. The employer pays flat-rate contributions for health, pension and tax, and for the employee the only deduction is the pension contribution, which you can decline.

Declining is usually a mistake. Paying it keeps the months counting towards your pension record and preserves entitlements that depend on contribution periods, including some rehabilitation benefits. The saving is small and what you give up is not.

Important limitation: a Minijob does not give you health insurance. If it is your only employment you must be insured some other way, through family insurance, student insurance or a voluntary policy. This catches people who assume any job brings cover with it.

• No health insurance contribution for you, and no health insurance cover either
• No unemployment insurance contribution, and no entitlement built up
• Pension contribution deducted unless you opt out; opting in is usually better
• Tax normally handled at a flat rate by the employer, so no wage tax deduction for you
• A Minijob alongside a main job is treated differently, and a second Minijob is added to the first

3. A Minijob is real employment

This is the most important and least known thing on this page. A Minijob is a normal employment relationship with the earnings capped. Every core employment right applies, and employers breach these routinely on the assumption that they do not.

• Paid holiday, pro rata: on a two-day week that is at least eight working days a year
• Continued pay during sickness for up to six weeks, once employed four weeks
• The statutory minimum wage, which cannot be undercut
• Statutory notice periods, and the written-form requirement for any dismissal
• Public holiday pay where you would have worked that day
• Protection against dismissal on the same terms as other employees
• A written statement of your essential terms, and a written reference on leaving

4. Earning just above the limit: the Midijob

Above the Minijob ceiling there is a transition zone. Contributions phase in gradually rather than jumping to the full rate, so that earning slightly more never leaves you with less net pay.

This solved a real problem: before the transition zone existed, crossing the threshold by a few euros could reduce take-home pay, which gave people a reason to refuse extra hours.

In the transition zone you gain full social insurance, including health cover and unemployment entitlement, at a reduced contribution rate. For anyone who needs health insurance in their own right, that makes a Midijob considerably more valuable than a Minijob.

5. Who a Minijob suits, and who it does not

A Minijob works well where you already have health insurance from elsewhere and want simple, lightly taxed additional income. It works badly as your only employment, because of the insurance gap.

• Students, who are insured through student or family cover: a good fit
• People with a main job wanting extra income: works, though the tax treatment of the second job differs
• Pensioners topping up income: a common and straightforward fit
• Parents insured through a spouse’s family cover: a good fit
• Someone with no other insurance and no other income: a poor fit, because it brings no health cover
• Anyone needing to build unemployment entitlement: a poor fit, since none accrues