💶 Minimum wage 2026
In brief
The statutory minimum wage has been €13.90 gross per hour since 1 January 2026. From 1 January 2027 it is €14.60.
It also applies to mini-jobs, part-time work and home helps. Anyone who pays less must pay the difference and can receive a high fine.
Exempt are, among others, persons under 18 without completed vocational training. The minimum wage does not apply to certain internships. Long-term unemployed people do not have to be paid the minimum wage in the first six months of employment.
Higher minimum wages apply in some sectors. Check this for your sector.
The start, end and duration of daily working time must be recorded in certain cases.
Step by step
- Check the hourly wageDivide the monthly wage by the hours actually worked. The result must be at least €13.90.
- Clarify exceptionsCheck internship, age under 18 without training, long-term unemployed.
- Check the sector minimum wageA higher collectively agreed minimum wage may apply.
- Record working timeWhere required: write it down by the seventh day after the work, keep for two years.
Deadlines
- The statutory text of § 1 Abs. 2 MiLoG still states €12 (as of 1 October 2022); the increases are made by the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance (MiLoV5) of 5 November 2025 (decision of the Minimum Wage Commission of 27 June 2025): €13.90 from 1 January 2026 and €14.60 from 1 January 2027, both binding.
- The recording duty under § 17 MiLoG applies to mini-jobs and the sectors named in § 2a SchwarzArbG; mini-jobs in a private household (§ 8a SGB IV) are exempt.
- Benefits in kind, supplements or offsets may reduce the minimum wage only under the rules of case law; not evaluated here.
- The minimum wage does not apply to persons employed for their vocational training; for trainees the minimum training pay applies (not evaluated).
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Amount
Under the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance (MiLoV5) of 5 November 2025 (decision of the Minimum Wage Commission of 27 June 2025), the minimum wage has been €13.90 gross per hour since 1 January 2026, and is €14.60 from 1 January 2027. The Minimum Wage Commission recommends an adjustment every two years. § 1 Abs. 3 MiLoG clarifies that provisions of the Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetz and the Arbeitnehmerüberlassungsgesetz take precedence, as long as the sector minimum wages set there do not fall below the minimum wage.
Exceptions (§ 22 MiLoG)
Interns within the meaning of § 26 BBiG are deemed employees unless one of the exceptions applies (including compulsory internships, orientation internships and accompanying internships of up to three months, entry-level qualification). Persons under 18 without completed vocational training are not deemed employees within the meaning of the law (para. 2). For previously long-term unemployed people (§ 18 Abs. 1 SGB III), the minimum wage does not apply in the first six months of employment (para. 4). Pay for trainees and volunteers is not regulated by the MiLoG (para. 3).
Recording (§ 17 MiLoG)
Employers in the named cases must record the start, end and duration of daily working time at the latest by the end of the seventh calendar day following the day of work, and keep the records for at least two years. Employment relationships under § 8a SGB IV are exempt.
Fine (§ 21 MiLoG)
For non-payment of the minimum wage up to €500,000; for violations of recording and retention duties (§ 17 Abs. 1) up to €50,000; in other cases up to €30,000 (§ 21 Abs. 3 MiLoG). Inspection: Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit of the customs authority.
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