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In Brief
04. Sep 2025

New minimum wage amounts and new upper limits for the amount that can be earned by those with mini jobs as of 2026/27

According to recent statistics from the Federal Ministry of Labour, around 6 million employees in Germany work for the statutory minimum wage of €12.82. To strengthen the purchasing power of and to provide relief for employees in the low-paying sector, the German Minimum Wage Commission has decided to make further increases to the statutory minimum wage.

The Minimum Wage Commission - which consists of employer and trade union representatives - committed itself, on 27.6.2025, to a phased increase in the minimum wage. It is set to increase by 13.88% overall by 1.1.2027. In the first step, as of 1.1.2026, the minimum wage will undergo a nominal increase to €13.90 and subsequently, as of 1.1.2027, to €14.60. This constitutes the highest wage increase decided by social partners since the introduction of the minimum wage in January 2015 - at that time it was €8.50.

Please note

This change will also result in a further adjustment to the upper limit for the amount that can be earned by those with mini jobs. This was already dynamically aligned with the last increase in the minimum wage. In doing so, the aim is to prevent employers from having to do without employees. The monthly working time for those with mini jobs will be kept steady at approx. 43 hours. That is why the mini job limit for 2026 will then go up from €556 currently to €602.33. In 2027, this amount will be raised to €633.