🧰 Hiring journeymen and skilled workers
In brief
If you hire staff, the statutory minimum wage and the social insurance rules apply.
- Minimum wage: 13.90 euros per hour since 1 January 2026; 14.60 euros from 1 January 2027.
- Mini-job: Up to 603 euros per month on average (2026). From January 2027, 633 euros.
- Collective agreements: In some trades higher minimum wages apply. Ask the guild (Innung) or the chamber.
- Agency work in construction: It is severely restricted.
Your employees' rights (leave, termination, continued pay) are in the Employees module.
Step by step
- Define the job and payPay at least the minimum wage or the collectively agreed rate.
- Conclude a written contractRecord the working conditions.
- Employer number and notificationsWithout an employer number, no registration with social insurance.
- In construction: immediate notificationNotification at the latest when employment starts (see the page on undeclared work).
Deadlines
- Temporary agency work into businesses in the construction industry for work usually done by manual workers is in principle prohibited (§ 1b AÜG). Exceptions are narrow.
- Sector minimum wages under AEntG 2026 (source: DGB): roofers 14.96 euros unskilled and 16.60 euros journeyman, electrical trade 14.93 euros, painter journeyman 15.55 euros (from 1 July 2026 16.13 euros). Main construction trade approx. 15.86 euros (wage group 1) and 17.34 euros (wage group 2): secondary source only, unverified; check against the Mindestlohn Bau collective agreement (Zoll) before relying on it.
- Further duties apply to mini-jobs (notification, flat-rate contributions). These were not checked here against the primary source.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Minimum wage
The statutory minimum wage has been 13.90 euros since 1 January 2026 and rises to 14.60 euros on 1 January 2027. The basis is the Fünfte Mindestlohnanpassungsverordnung (MiLoV5) of 5 November 2025, promulgated in BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 268 (issued 7 November 2025), based on the decision of the Mindestlohnkommission of 27 June 2025 (bmas.de). Higher sector or collectively agreed minimum wages take precedence. Sector minimum wages under AEntG 2026 (source: DGB): roofers 14.96 euros unskilled and 16.60 euros journeyman, electrical trade 14.93 euros, painter journeyman 15.55 euros (from 1 July 2026 16.13 euros). Main construction trade approx. 15.86 euros (wage group 1) and 17.34 euros (wage group 2): secondary source only, unverified; check against the Mindestlohn Bau collective agreement (Zoll) before relying on it.
Mini-jobs
The earnings limit for mini-jobs in 2026 is 603 euros per month as an annual average. It is calculated under § 8 Abs. 1a SGB IV: minimum wage × 130 ÷ 3, rounded up to the full euro (13.90 × 130 ÷ 3 = 602.33, so 603 euros; 14.60 gives 632.67, so 633 euros). From January 2027 it is 633 euros. Further duties of the employer were not evaluated here.
Temporary agency work in the construction industry
§ 1b AÜG declares temporary agency work into businesses in the construction industry for work usually done by manual workers to be impermissible. Exceptions: between construction businesses and other businesses if collective agreements declare it permissible, and between construction businesses if the lender has been covered by the same framework and social fund collective agreements for at least three consecutive years. Special rules apply to businesses from the EEA.
Employee rights
Employees' rights are not repeated here; they are in the Employees module.
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