💼 Mini-job and midi-job 2026
In brief
A mini-job exists if earnings regularly do not exceed €603 a month. Per year that is €7,236. This has applied since 1 January 2026.
Above that, the midi-job begins. It extends up to €2,000 a month. There, the employee pays reduced social insurance contributions.
The limit rises with the minimum wage. From 2027 it is €633.
If earnings are higher by chance and unforeseeably within the time year in no more than two calendar months (§ 8 Abs. 1b SGB IV), it remains a mini-job.
Short-term employment exists if it is limited to at most three months or 70 working days in the calendar year.
Important: the minimum wage also applies in a mini-job. If you have someone work more hours than €603 allows at €13.90, you may exceed the limit.
Step by step
- Calculate the hours€603 divided by €13.90 gives about 43 hours a month. Plan with a fixed number of hours.
- RegisterYou register mini-jobs with the Minijob-Zentrale, in a private household by household cheque (Haushaltsscheck).
- Watch out for multiple jobsSeveral mini-jobs are added together; ask the person about other employment.
- Document exceeding the limitFor one-off extra earnings, record why they were unforeseeable.
Deadlines
- The limit is tied to the minimum wage: minimum wage times 130, divided by three, rounded up to the full euro (§ 8 Abs. 1a SGB IV).
- Unforeseeable exceeding is permitted only in no more than two calendar months, in each case by at most the limit (§ 8 Abs. 1b SGB IV).
- Several mini-jobs, and a mini-job alongside a job that is not marginal, are added together (§ 8 Abs. 2 SGB IV); the effect in an individual case should be discussed with an adviser.
- From 1 January 2026, the separation of the contribution statement by legal area West and East no longer applies; a joint contribution statement is sufficient. Standing contribution statements for the legal area East must be resubmitted from contribution month January 2026.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Marginal employment limit
Under § 8 Abs. 1a SGB IV, the marginal employment limit is calculated by multiplying the minimum wage by 130, dividing by three and rounding up to the full euro. At €13.90 this gives €603. The Minijob-Zentrale states €603 per month and €7,236 per year for 2026 (previously €556 and €6,672) and €633 for 2027 (€7,596 per year; results from § 8 Abs. 1a SGB IV (€14.60 × 130 ÷ 3, rounded up) and § 1 MiLoV5; announcement by the BMAS in the Bundesanzeiger not checked).
Midi-job (transition zone)
Under § 20 Abs. 2 SGB IV, the transition zone covers earnings from employment that is more than marginal and that regularly do not exceed €2,000 a month. The lower limit in 2026 is €603.01 (Minijob Magazin). With several simultaneous jobs, the total earnings are decisive. The formula for the reduced employee contributions in the transition zone was not evaluated.
Short-term employment
§ 8 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 SGB IV: employment that by its nature tends to be limited to at most three months or 70 working days within a calendar year. Exemption from contributions in detail and the requirement "not by occupation" were not checked here. Not to be confused: the flat-rate tax of 25 percent (§ 40a Abs. 1 EStG) applies only to employment that is short-term for tax purposes (occasional, at most 18 consecutive working days, at most €150 per working day); this is something different from short-term employment under social insurance law (three months or 70 working days).
Employer contributions in a mini-job
According to the Minijob Magazin, the U1 was reduced from 1.1 to 0.8 percent on 1 January 2026. Percentages for commercial mini-jobs (flat-rate contributions to health and pension insurance) are not backed by primary sources here; for the private household, see the page Haushaltsscheck.
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