The 2026 Minijob threshold is €603 per month — but the number is the least important thing about it. Minijobbers have the full set of German employee rights: paid vacation, six weeks of continued pay when sick, dismissal protection, statutory notice periods and a reference letter — identical to full-time staff. In our practice, no group of workers sees its rights ignored more routinely: „we only pay the hours you actually work” is the standard operating model in gastronomy, retail, cleaning and delivery — and it is unlawful on nearly every point. Below: the 2026 figures, the flat-tax system, and the rights your employer hopes you don’t know about.
The €603 threshold and why it moves every year
Since October 2022 the Minijob earnings limit (Geringfügigkeitsgrenze) is no longer a fixed figure. It is dynamically tied to the statutory minimum wage: 130 times the minimum hourly wage, divided by three, rounded up to the next full euro (§ 8 (1a) SGB IV). With the minimum wage at €13.90 per hour from 1 January 2026, that produces:
- €603 per month (130 × €13.90 ÷ 3 = €602.33, rounded up),
- €7,236 per year, and
- roughly 10 hours per week at minimum wage — fewer if your hourly rate is higher.
When the minimum wage rises to €14.60 in January 2027, the threshold is expected to climb to €633.
Occasional overruns are permitted
An unforeseeable overrun — covering for a sick colleague, say — is harmless if it occurs in no more than two calendar months within a rolling year and pay in those months stays under twice the threshold (€1,206 in 2026). A predictable overrun — agreed extra hours, the regular December rush — tips the entire job into full social insurance.
Tax and social security: the flat-rate system
The employer pays flat-rate contributions to the Minijob-Zentrale: 15% pension insurance, 13% health insurance (where you have statutory health cover), a 2% flat income tax (Pauschsteuer) and small levies — together roughly 31% on top of the wage. For you the result is simple: the flat tax is in practice borne by the employer, the income stays out of your tax return, and €603 gross is close to €603 net.
The one deduction that can affect you is pension insurance: by default you pay the gap between the full rate (18.6%) and the employer’s 15% flat share — 3.6%, or €21.71 per month at €603. You can opt out in writing (Befreiung von der Rentenversicherungspflicht), but staying in cheaply buys full waiting-period months (Wartezeit), reduced-earning-capacity protection and Riester eligibility — often the better default for expats planning a longer stay.
Full employee rights — the part employers routinely ignore
Social security law treats Minijobs differently. Employment law does not: a Minijobber is simply a part-time employee (§ 2 (2) TzBfG), and treating part-timers worse than comparable full-timers is prohibited (§ 4 (1) TzBfG). You are entitled to:
- Minimum wage: €13.90 per hour in 2026 — including mandatory meetings, till counts and cleanup after closing.
- Paid vacation: the statutory four weeks, pro-rated by weekly working days, not hours. Two shifts per week = 8 paid vacation days per year. See our article on vacation entitlement.
- Sick pay (Entgeltfortzahlung): up to six weeks of continued wages per illness (§ 3 EFZG), after four weeks of tenure.
- Public holiday pay: a holiday falling on your working day is paid without work (§ 2 EFZG); rescheduling shifts specifically to dodge this is unlawful.
- Notice periods and written form: statutory notice under § 622 BGB; dismissal requires a signed paper document (§ 623 BGB) — WhatsApp or text is void.
- Dismissal protection: in businesses with more than ten full-time-equivalent staff, after six months’ tenure the KSchG applies exactly as to full-timers — a dismissal needs a legally recognized reason and can be attacked with a Kündigungsschutzklage.
- Reference letter (Zeugnis): § 109 GewO — on request, a qualified reference.
- Written terms: the essential contract terms must be documented under the Nachweisgesetz.
Several jobs at once: the aggregation rules
The threshold applies to your Minijob earnings in total, not per employer:
- Multiple Minijobs, no main job: all Minijob wages are added together; if the total exceeds €603, all jobs become subject to full social insurance.
- Minijob alongside a main insured job: the first Minijob stays contribution-free for you. A second (and any further) Minijob is aggregated with the main employment and becomes subject to pension, health and nursing-care contributions (not unemployment insurance).
Answer employer questionnaires about other jobs accurately: retroactive assessments are primarily the employer’s problem, but incorrect statements can shift part of the risk to you.
Earning more: the Midijob zone (€603.01–€2,000)
Crossing the threshold is not a cliff edge. Between €603.01 and €2,000 per month — the transition zone (Übergangsbereich, § 20 (2a) SGB IV) — you are fully insured in all branches, but your employee contribution share starts near zero just above €603 and rises gradually to the full rate at €2,000, while pension credits run on your full actual pay. A Midijob at €900 often beats squeezing under the Minijob line, and it brings full health and unemployment cover in your own right.
Common violations and how to enforce your claims
The violations we see most often: no paid vacation, no sick pay, shifts silently cancelled on public holidays, dismissal by text message, no written contract, and hours above the threshold paid cash-in-hand (Schwarzarbeit — never agree; it endangers you too). All of these create enforceable money claims, but forfeiture clauses (Ausschlussfristen) of as little as three months are common — act promptly:
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Secure the evidence
Save duty rosters, WhatsApp shift confirmations, time records and payslips — in a per-hour-pay model, the roster usually proves the claim by itself.
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Assert claims in writing (Geltendmachung)
A dated letter listing unpaid vacation, sick pay and holiday pay, with amounts — this stops forfeiture clauses from eating your claims.
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Dismissed? Mind the three-week deadline
Even a void text-message dismissal calls for filing within three weeks to keep every argument open.
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Labor court if the employer stalls
Wage claims of a few hundred euros are routinely litigated at the Arbeitsgericht; legal-expenses insurance or legal aid often covers employees.
If you were dismissed, the three-week filing deadline runs from receipt of a written dismissal — and where the „dismissal” was only ever a text message, the employment formally continues and wages keep accruing.
Worked example
Maria works in a Bonn café: two shifts per week, ten hours in total, at the 2026 minimum wage of €13.90 — about €600 per month. After two years the owner „ends” the job by WhatsApp. She never received vacation, and during a two-week flu she was paid nothing.
- Vacation: two working days per week = 8 statutory days per year, at a daily rate of €69.50. The employer never issued the required use-it-or-lose-it notices, so the prior year did not lapse: 16 days × €69.50 = €1,112.
- Sick pay: two weeks × 10 hours × €13.90 = €278.
- Public holidays: six holidays fell on her scheduled days over the period, roughly 30 hours × €13.90 = €417.
- The WhatsApp dismissal is void (§ 623 BGB): the employment continues until validly terminated in writing with the statutory notice period. Two further months of wages ≈ €1,200.
Total: roughly €3,000 — on a job paying €600 a month. Claims of this shape are typical in Minijob practice.
Frequently asked questions
Do I really get paid vacation in a Minijob?
Yes. Four weeks minimum, converted to your schedule: (24 ÷ 6) × your weekly working days — one shift a week = 4 days per year, three shifts = 12. Days are paid at average earnings; untaken days must be paid out on termination.
My boss says Minijobbers get no sick pay. True?
False. After four weeks of employment you are entitled to up to six weeks of continued wages per illness (§ 3 EFZG), calculated on the hours you would have worked. Submit the sick note and claim the pay in writing.
Can I be dismissed from a Minijob by text or verbally?
No. Every dismissal requires written form with an original signature (§ 623 BGB); text, email and verbal dismissals are void. Statutory notice periods and — in larger businesses after six months — KSchG protection apply like for any other employee.
Do I have to declare Minijob income in my tax return?
Normally no. Where the employer uses the 2% flat tax — the standard case — the income is settled and does not enter your assessment. Only if the job is exceptionally run through your individual tax bracket does it appear on your return.
What happens if I earn over €603 in one month?
An unforeseeable overrun in up to two calendar months a year (up to €1,206 each) is harmless. Regular or agreed overruns convert the job into insurable employment — usually a Midijob with modest employee contributions. Not a catastrophe, but it should be papered correctly rather than drifting into cash payments.
Should I opt out of pension contributions?
Opting out saves €21.71 per month at €603 but costs Wartezeit months and disability-pension protection. For anyone building a longer-term life in Germany, we tend to see the small contribution as good value — but this is a personal financial decision, not a legal requirement either way.