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You employ mini-jobbers or short-term temporary staff

Employing mini-jobbers and temporary help

Understand the mini-job, the midi-job and the minimum wage, compute the employer's charges, check the time limits of short-term employment and the flat-rate wage tax, and register the establishment and the wage tax: 7 steps.

Start here: Minijobs, midijobs and the German minimum wage

Understand: mini-job, midi-job, minimum wage

  1. Step 1 of 7
    CoursePaid individually46 min

    Minijobs, midijobs and the German minimum wage

    The minimum wage is no longer in the Act but in the Fifth Adjustment Regulation: €13.90 an hour from 2026, €14.60 from 2027. The marginal-employment threshold derives from it — €603 in 2026, €633 from 2027 — together with the duty to record working time within seven days and fines of up to €500,000. The second module covers short-term employment, the employer's flat-rate contributions of 13 and 15 percent, the pension insurance opt-out and the transition zone up to €2,000. Two modules with case studies worked on the statute itself.
  2. Step 2 of 7
    CoursePaid individually44 min

    German social security reports and contribution statements

    Which events an employer must report to the collecting agency, and by when: registration and deregistration within six weeks, an interruption within two weeks, the annual report by 15 February — and in eleven sectors the immediate report no later than the first working day. The second module covers the money: contributions due on the third-last banking day, the contribution statement two working days earlier, payroll records, the pension insurance audit and the fines in section 111 of Social Code Book IV. Two modules with case studies worked on the statute itself.

Compute: mini-job charges, short-term employment, flat-rate wage tax

  1. Step 3 of 7
    CalculatorFree result

    German minijob — what does it really cost the employer?

    In a business the employer pays 13 per cent health, 15 per cent pension and, if chosen, a 2 per cent flat-rate tax; in a private household 5 per cent each. Unless exempted, the minijobber tops the pension up to the full rate.
  2. Step 4 of 7
    CalculatorFree result

    German short-term employment — three months or 70 working days?

    Employment is short-term when it is limited in advance to no more than three months or 70 working days in the calendar year — 15 weeks or 90 working days on a farm. If it is pursued professionally and pay exceeds the marginal-employment threshold, it does not qualify.
  3. Step 5 of 7
    CalculatorFree result

    German flat-rate wage tax on minijobs and short-term work

    Between 2 % and 20 % lies no difference in pay, only one question: does the employer pay the flat pension contributions? And the EUR 19 hourly limit applies only to subsections 1 and 3 — the minijob is not subject to it.

File: establishment number and wage tax return

  1. Step 6 of 7
    FormFree15 min

    Applying for a German establishment number (Betriebsnummer) before your first hire

    From the first employee, even a mini-jobber, every establishment needs an establishment number from the Federal Employment Agency (§ 18i SGB IV). Get the accident insurer's company number first, expect the confirmation by post, and in immediate-reporting sectors have it by day one. Guide and worked example.
  2. Step 7 of 7
    FormFree15 min

    German wage tax return (Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung)

    File AND pay by the tenth day: how monthly, quarterly or yearly follows from last year's wage tax, what applies to a newly opened business, and why the duty keeps running until you notify the tax office. Guide, deadlines and worked example.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in German