A Minijob

A Minijob is a job with limited earnings, or a short-term job within a legal time limit. For earnings-limited Minijobs, the monthly limit is 603 euros in 2026 and rises to 633 euros on 1 January 2027. Different insurance rules apply depending on the type of job.

In short

• In 2026 the earnings ceiling is 603 euros a month, which is 7,236 euros a year. From 1 January 2027 it rises to 633 euros a month, or 7,596 euros a year. The statutory minimum wage rises from 13.90 to 14.60 euros gross an hour on that date. The test uses gross pay. Wages from every earnings-capped Minijob are counted together. A short-term job is not added to an earnings-capped one.
• A short-term Minijob is limited to 3 months or 70 working days in a calendar year. It does not qualify if it is your occupation and the pay exceeds the earnings limit. In agriculture, the time limit is 15 weeks or 90 working days.
• If you already have a regular job subject to social insurance, only the earnings-capped Minijob you started first stays outside that job. Any further one is added to the regular job and is subject to social insurance, except unemployment insurance. You cannot opt out of pension insurance on those further jobs.
• For an earnings-capped Minijob, pension insurance is the default. You may ask the employer, in writing or electronically, to be exempted, and that exemption gives up compulsory contribution periods. From 1 July 2026 you may cancel that opt-out once. The cancellation takes effect for the future, from the month after the request, and it cannot be undone. A short-term Minijob is exempt from the employee’s social-insurance contributions, so this opt-out does not apply to it.
• A Midijob is regular monthly pay above the Minijob ceiling and up to 2,000 euros. Section 20(2) calls that band the Übergangsbereich. Employees are generally insured through the job, with reduced employee contributions. Statutory exceptions still apply: a qualifying Werkstudent remains exempt from job-based health, care and unemployment insurance and needs health cover separately.
• An earnings-capped or short-term Minijob is free of compulsory health insurance. Cover still has to come from a regular job, family membership, or your own membership. The Minijob-Zentrale is the collection office for these employments.

What you need to know

Section 8 of Social Code Book IV defines geringfügige Beschäftigung, which the Minijob-Zentrale calls a Minijob. There are two kinds. An earnings-limited Minijob has regular pay no higher than the Geringfügigkeitsgrenze. A short-term Minijob is limited by its nature or contract to 3 months or 70 working days in a calendar year; it does not qualify if it is your occupation and the pay exceeds the ceiling. In agriculture, the time limit is longer: 15 weeks or 90 working days.

The earnings limit is set nationally. Section 8 calculates it from monthly pay for 10 hours a week at the statutory minimum wage: multiply the hourly minimum wage by 130, divide by 3 and round up to the next euro. The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs publishes the result in the Bundesanzeiger.

In 2026 the limit is 603 euros a month, or 7,236 euros a year, based on a minimum wage of 13.90 euros gross an hour. The minimum wage rises to 14.60 euros gross an hour on 1 January 2027, and the Minijob-Zentrale confirms that the limit will rise to 633 euros a month, or 7,596 euros a year.

The classification depends on your regular monthly pay, not on working exactly 10 hours a week. Use the limit for the relevant year and check that you are paid at least the statutory minimum wage for your hours.

Occasionally exceeding the earnings limit does not necessarily end your Minijob. Under section 8, an unpredictable overrun is allowed in at most 2 calendar months of the relevant year, by up to the amount of the ceiling each time.

What to do

1. Read your contract alongside the employment-contract guide. A Minijob is still employment, and your employer must still record your pay and hours.
2. Add up every earnings-capped Minijob you hold. The 2026 guidelines of the Minijob-Zentrale, applying section 8, say those wages are counted together. If the total regularly exceeds the applicable ceiling (603 euros a month in 2026; 633 euros from 1 January 2027), they are no longer a Minijob. A short-term job is not added to an earnings-capped one.
3. If you already have a regular job that is subject to social insurance, one earnings-capped Minijob stays outside that job. The guidelines say the Minijob that is left out is the one you started first. Any further earnings-capped Minijob is added to the regular job and is subject to social insurance, except unemployment insurance. You cannot opt out of pension insurance on those further jobs.
4. Pension insurance is the default on an earnings-capped Minijob. The Minijob-Zentrale says you may ask the employer, in writing or electronically, to be exempted. The employer’s flat contribution continues. The Zentrale states that flat rate as 15 percent in a commercial job and 5 percent in a private household. Your own share stops if the exemption is granted. The exemption lasts for the whole Minijob, and for every earnings-capped Minijob you hold at the same time or take later, until none is left. From 1 July 2026 you may cancel that opt-out once, again through the employer. The cancellation takes effect for the future, from the month after the request, and it cannot be undone. You do not get a separate approval letter. The form itself says the exemption gives up compulsory contribution periods. The pension page is the overview of what those periods are for. A short-term Minijob is exempt from the employee’s social-insurance contributions, so there is no employee pension share to opt out of and no opt-out to cancel.
5. Arrange health insurance separately. An earnings-limited or short-term Minijob does not provide compulsory health insurance. Cover can come from a regular job, family membership or your own membership; the health-insurance guide explains these options. Regular monthly pay above the Minijob ceiling and up to 2,000 euros is a Midijob, called the Übergangsbereich in section 20(2). Employees are generally insured through a Midijob, with reduced employee contributions. Statutory exceptions still apply: a qualifying Werkstudent remains exempt from job-based health, care and unemployment insurance and needs separate health cover. A Minijob can be taxed at a flat rate or individually using the tax-class system explained in the salary guide. Check your payslip to see what was withheld.

Common mistakes

• Using a city’s Minijob advert as the legal ceiling. The euro amount is the published national figure. It moves with the minimum wage.
• Assuming a second Minijob beside a regular job is as lightly insured as the first. The guidelines say only one stays outside the regular job.
• Opting out of pension insurance on an earnings-capped Minijob without reading that you give up compulsory contribution periods. Pension insurance is the default; exemption applies only if you request it. From 1 July 2026 that opt-out can be cancelled once, for the future, from the month after the request, not backwards. A short-term Minijob has no employee pension contribution to opt out of.
• Treating pay above the Minijob ceiling and up to 2,000 euros as still a Minijob. That band is a Midijob under section 20(2).
• Expecting the Bürgeramt or the tax office to classify the job. The Minijob-Zentrale is the collection office for these employments.