Mini Job Germany: Limit, Rights and Leave

Q: What happens if a Minijob earns more than 603 euro in a month?

In a Minijob with an earnings limit, your average counts. Ordinary ups and downs are fine within 7,236 euros a year, but extreme swings, such as three months of full-time work, mean no continuous Minijob even within that sum. Above the limit on average, the job is no longer a Minijob, except for an overrun you could not foresee in no more than two calendar months within a year, each by at most the amount of the limit.

Key takeaways

A Minijob is marginal part-time work, in a business or a private household. Since January 1, 2026, a Minijob with an earnings limit may pay no more than 603 euros a month on average, up to 7,236 euros a year.
In a Minijob with an earnings limit in a business, your pension share is normally 3.6%, more if all your Minijobs together pay under 175 euros. An opt-out in writing ends your contribution and its pension benefits; since July 1, 2026, it can be revoked once, for the future. The job brings no statutory health insurance.
You have basically the same rights as full-time staff: paid leave, sick pay after four weeks in the job, pay for public holidays that fall on your workdays and the same protection against dismissal.
Your paid leave is four weeks a year, counted in your workdays: workdays per week times 24 Werktage (every day except Sundays and public holidays) divided by 6. Two days a week give you eight vacation days.
Several Minijobs with an earnings limit add up: together they may not pay more than 603 euros a month (short-term Minijobs are not counted), and next to a main job with compulsory insurance only the first Minijob with an earnings limit keeps its special status.

Contents

What is a minijob?
What is the Minijob earnings limit for 2026?
Do Minijobbers pay into pension insurance?
Do Minijobbers get paid holiday and sick pay?
How many vacation days am I legally entitled to in a mini-job?
Frequently asked questions
Your leave is yours to claim

Know what your Minijob in Germany may pay, what it costs you and which rights and paid days off you can claim. If you work the same days every week, our vacation days calculator counts them for you.

What is a minijob?

A Minijob is marginal part-time employment, defined by an earnings limit or a time limit, in a business or a private household, says the Minijob-Zentrale, the official Minijob agency¹. German law sets out two kinds²:

A Minijob with an earnings limit: you do not regularly earn more than a fixed amount, currently 603 euros a month. Your weekly hours and the number of shifts do not matter¹.
Short-term employment: limited from the start to three months or 70 workdays in a calendar year. Earnings as a rule do not matter^1,2.

A Minijob with an earnings limit counts as part-time work under German law (§ 2(2) TzBfG)³. Minijob is the official German term; English writers often spell it “mini job.”

What is the Minijob earnings limit for 2026?

In a Minijob with an earnings limit, the limit is 603 euros a month from January 1, 2026, and it rises when the minimum wage rises^1,4. Over a year, that is up to 7,236 euros⁴. Your average decides, with an exception for overruns you could not foresee⁴.

The limit equals ten hours a week at the minimum wage: by law, the minimum wage times 130, divided by three and rounded up to full euros (§ 8(1a) SGB IV)². Since January 1, 2026, the minimum wage has been 13.90 euros an hour^5,6. Our check: 13.90 × 130 ÷ 3 = 602.33, rounded up to 603 euros.

From January 1, 2027, the minimum wage is set at 14.60 euros an hour⁵. By the same formula, the limit would be 633 euros. That is our calculation: the Minijob-Zentrale pages we archived in November 2026 still show the 2026 limit⁴.

Do Minijobbers pay into pension insurance?

In a Minijob with an earnings limit, yes, by default. In a business, your own share is normally 3.6% of your earnings: the difference between your employer’s flat 15% and the full contribution of 18.6%⁷. If all your Minijobs held at the same time pay less than 175 euros in total, your contribution is based on 175 euros and your share is higher than 3.6%⁷. In a household Minijob, your share is normally 13.6%⁴.

You can opt out by asking your employer in writing^4,7; with several Minijobs, it can only cover all of them held at the same time⁷. You then pay no contribution of your own and give up the pension benefits that come with paying in⁷. Since July 1, 2026, you can revoke an exemption once, for the future⁸.

Tax in this kind of Minijob is your employer’s decision: a flat 2% or taxation by your tax class⁴. Your employer carries most of the charges, and you usually pay only pension contributions⁴. In its standard case for a business, the Minijob-Zentrale’s overview puts contributions, levies and taxes at 34.77% in total: 31.17% for your employer and, unless you are exempt, your 3.6% pension contribution, withheld from your pay⁴.

The Minijob gives you no statutory health or long-term care insurance⁹.

Do Minijobbers get paid holiday and sick pay?

Yes. You have basically the same rights as a full-time employee⁹, and as a rule you may not be treated worse than comparable full-time staff⁶:

Paid leave: at least four weeks a year, or 24 Werktage (every day except Sundays and public holidays) on a six-day week, pro rata for fewer days^6,10,11.
Sick pay: after four weeks of employment⁶, up to six weeks of your regular pay if an illness that is not your fault keeps you from work⁶.
Public holidays: if a public holiday falls on a day you would otherwise have worked, your employer pays what you would have earned⁶.
Bonuses and extra leave: you have no legal claim to a Christmas bonus or holiday allowance⁶. If full-time staff get special payments or more leave than the law requires, as a rule so do you: special payments adjusted to your working hours, extra leave converted to your own workdays^6,10,12.
Dismissal: you have the same protection against dismissal as full-time employees⁶.

How many vacation days am I legally entitled to in a mini-job?

Four weeks of your own workdays a year⁶, counted in days, not hours¹². The Minijob-Zentrale’s formula is workdays per week × 24 ÷ 6, so two days a week give you eight days¹². The 24 are the statutory Werktage (every day except Sundays and public holidays) of a six-day week¹⁰. The right column applies the agency’s formula for higher leave^10,12.

Paid days off a year by your workdays per week. Statutory minimum: the 24 Werktage (every day except Sundays and public holidays) of a six-day week, converted by the Minijob-Zentrale’s formula (workdays per week × 24 ÷ 6). Right column: our calculation with the Minijob-Zentrale’s formula for higher leave; it applies only if full-time staff at your employer get 30 days on a five-day week. Sources in German.
Your workdays per week	Statutory minimum (days a year)	With 30 days for full-time staff (five-day week)
1	4	6
2	8	12
3	12	18
4	16	24
5	20	30
6	24	36

The vacation days calculator does this for a fixed week. Under “Vacation days in your contract,” enter what full-time staff at your employer get, or 20 on a five-day basis if nobody gets more than the law requires¹²; then pick their workdays per week under “Contract is based on ... workdays/week” and your own under “Your actual workdays/week.” It shows the statutory minimum beside the converted value.

Workdays that change from week to week

If your number of workdays changes from week to week, your leave is calculated over the year¹³. Where only a year count gives you leave of equal length¹¹, the Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) counts 24 Werktage × days with work duty in the year ÷ 312 Werktage (six a week over 52 weeks; Werktage are every day except Sundays and public holidays)^10,11. In our reading, public holidays on days you would otherwise have worked count as such days¹¹. The Minijob-Zentrale’s example, 78 days in a five-day company (the BAG counts 260 possible days of work a year for a five-day week): 20 × 78 ÷ 260 = 6 days^10,11.

Our example: a café Minijob beside a full-time job, two days in half the weeks and three in the others¹³. Its 130 days with work duty, holidays on those days included, give 24 × 130 ÷ 312 = 10 days of paid leave¹¹.

Are fractions of a day rounded?

By statute, only partial-year leave rounds up. Under § 5(2) BUrlG, a fraction of at least half of a day becomes a full day¹⁴; in 2018 the BAG held that this covers only partial-year leave under § 5(1)¹⁵. A smaller fraction is neither rounded up nor down unless a statute, collective agreement or contract says otherwise¹⁵. With 100 days with work duty, you get 24 × 100 ÷ 312 = 7.69 days (our calculation)¹¹, and the fraction stays: § 5(2) does not rule out leave measured in fractions¹⁵, unless your contract or collective agreement has its own rule (our reading).

Waiting period and holiday pay

You earn full leave for the first time after six months of employment, the waiting period (Wartezeit)^10,16. One twelfth per full month applies only if you cannot complete the six months within the calendar year, if you leave before completing them, or if you leave after them in the first half of a year¹⁴. Holiday pay (Urlaubsentgelt) is your average pay of the last 13 weeks before the leave¹⁰, without overtime pay¹⁷. Unused leave lapses only once your employer has asked you to take it and warned you clearly and in time that it will lapse, the BAG ruled in 2019¹⁸.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if a Minijob earns more than 603 euro in a month?

In a Minijob with an earnings limit, your average counts^1,4. Ordinary ups and downs are fine within 7,236 euros a year, but extreme swings, such as three months of full-time work, mean no continuous Minijob even within that sum⁴. Above the limit on average, the job is no longer a Minijob⁴, except for an overrun you could not foresee in no more than two calendar months within a year, each by at most the amount of the limit².

How many hours can someone work on a Minijob?

In a Minijob with an earnings limit, the hours themselves are not limited; the earnings are¹. At the 2026 minimum wage of 13.90 euros an hour⁵, 603 euros a month come to about 43 hours (our calculation); with a higher wage, fewer. By law, the limit equals ten hours a week at the minimum wage².

Can someone hold two Minijobs at the same time?

Yes, with different employers, but Minijobs with an earnings limit may together pay no more than 603 euros a month, or none of them stays a Minijob⁹. Short-term Minijobs are not counted⁹. Next to a main job with compulsory insurance, only the first Minijob with an earnings limit keeps its special status^2,9. You earn paid leave in each job (our reading).

Do I need separate health insurance for a mini job?

The Minijob itself gives you no statutory health or long-term care insurance⁹. How you are insured otherwise, through a main job, your family or your own policy, is outside the Minijob and this guide.

Your leave is yours to claim

We think paid leave in a Minijob is your claim to take: you have basically the same rights as full-time staff, paid leave included^6,9. Our advice: check the limit whenever the minimum wage changes, work out your vacation days with the calculator or the year formula, keep the result in writing, and ask for your leave in good time.

Sources

Most sources are German statutes, court rulings and Minijob-Zentrale pages (in German; no official English translations of these laws exist). The Minijob-Zentrale’s home page and leaflets marked English are its own English documents.

Minijob-Zentrale: Information about minijobs in English. minijob-zentrale.de/EN. minijob-zentrale.de/EN/Home (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Section 8, Social Code Book IV (Sozialgesetzbuch Viertes Buch, SGB IV): marginal employment and the earnings limit. Consolidated text, gesetze-im-internet.de (in German). gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_4/__8.html (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Section 2, Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz, TzBfG): definition of part-time employees. Consolidated text, gesetze-im-internet.de (in German). gesetze-im-internet.de/tzbfg/__2.html (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Minijob-Zentrale: Der Minijob mit Verdienstgrenze (the Minijob with an earnings limit). minijob-zentrale.de (in German). minijob-zentrale.de/DE/die-minijobs/minijob-mit-verdienstgrenze (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance (Fünfte Mindestlohnanpassungsverordnung, MiLoV5) of November 5, 2025 (BGBl. 2025 I No. 268), Section 1. gesetze-im-internet.de (in German). gesetze-im-internet.de/milov5/BJNR10C0A0025.html (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Minijob-Zentrale: Information leaflet 'Labour law for mini-jobbers' (English, PDF). minijob-zentrale.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Merkblatt-Arbeitsrecht-Englisch.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Minijob-Zentrale: Leaflet 'Compulsory pension insurance for mini-jobbers' (English, PDF). minijob-zentrale.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Leaflet-compulsory-pension-insuranc-for.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Minijob-Zentrale: Leaflet 'Pension insurance for mini-jobbers' (English, PDF, for exempt mini-jobbers). minijob-zentrale.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Leaflet-pension-insurance-for-minijobbers.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Minijob-Zentrale: Welcome letter 'Important information regarding your mini-job' (English, PDF, version for mini-jobbers subject to pension insurance). minijob-zentrale.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Information-letter-for-minijobbers.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Minijob-Zentrale team: Urlaub im Minijob: So wird der Anspruch berechnet (leave in a Minijob: how it is calculated). Minijob-Magazin, last updated July 22, 2026 (in German). magazin.minijob-zentrale.de/urlaub-im-minijob (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Federal Labor Court (BAG), judgment of March 19, 2019, 9 AZR 315/17. bundesarbeitsgericht.de (in German). bundesarbeitsgericht.de/entscheidung/9-azr-315-17 (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Minijob-Zentrale (German pension insurance Knappschaft-Bahn-See): Urlaubsanspruch im Minijob (leave entitlement in a Minijob). minijob-zentrale.de (in German). minijob-zentrale.de/DE/die-minijobs/urlaubsanspruch-im-minijob (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Minijob-Zentrale: Haben Minijobber Anspruch auf bezahlten Urlaub? (Do Minijobbers get paid leave?, FAQ). minijob-zentrale.de (in German). minijob-zentrale.de/DE/meta/faq-bereich/urlaub-krankheit-und-arbeitsrechte/97_haben_minijobber_anspruch_auf_urlaub/faq_97_haben_minijobber_anspruch_auf_urlaub.html (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Section 5, Federal Leave Act (BUrlG): partial leave. Consolidated text, gesetze-im-internet.de (in German). gesetze-im-internet.de/burlg/__5.html (retrieved September 30, 2026)
Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG), judgment of January 23, 2018, 9 AZR 200/17. bundesarbeitsgericht.de (in German). bundesarbeitsgericht.de/entscheidung/9-azr-200-17 (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Section 4, Federal Leave Act (BUrlG): waiting period. Consolidated text, gesetze-im-internet.de (in German). gesetze-im-internet.de/burlg/__4.html (retrieved September 30, 2026)
Section 11, Federal Leave Act (BUrlG): holiday pay. Consolidated text, gesetze-im-internet.de (in German). gesetze-im-internet.de/burlg/__11.html (retrieved November 9, 2026)
Federal Labor Court (BAG), judgment of February 19, 2019, 9 AZR 541/15. bundesarbeitsgericht.de (in German). bundesarbeitsgericht.de/entscheidung/9-azr-541-15 (retrieved November 9, 2026)

Published November 10, 2026

Not legal advice. German law only; statutes and case law as of November 9, 2026. Collective bargaining agreements and employment contracts can differ.

Keep exploring

If working out your days shows it is about more than vacation: Find out where you want to take your work, and what your next step is. For a fixed week, the vacation days calculator counts your days, also in the year you start or leave a job. When a job ends, your leave and your reference letter come up together: our guide to the Arbeitszeugnis explains what its phrases mean. If your Minijob is a bridge to something new, read what jobs AI will replace. More guides on work are in the Job section.

Content and tools on Wild Garden are published by the Wild Garden Editorial Team. How we research, check and correct errors is set out in our editorial standards.