The minimum wage in Germany for 2026

The Mindestlohn is the statutory minimum wage that nearly every employee in Germany is entitled to. It is an hourly figure, set by an independent body called the Mindestlohnkommission, and it applies regardless of sector or region.

A few narrow groups sit outside it, such as apprentices, who have their own training pay, the Ausbildungsvergütung, some mandatory interns, and the long-term unemployed during their first months back in work. For the vast majority of hires, though, the minimum wage is a hard floor.

For 2026 the rate is 13.90 euro an hour, and it rises again to 14.60 euro in 2027. Because German pay is quoted monthly, the hourly figure has to be turned into a salary using the contracted hours.

On a full-time 40-hour week, 13.90 euro an hour works out at roughly 2,410 euro a month, or about 28,900 euro a year. Fewer contracted hours mean a proportionally lower monthly figure. There is no 13th month on top, so the annual number is simply twelve equal payments.

The minimum wage is exactly that, a minimum. For most roles that involve any skill or experience, the market rate sits well above it, and pitching an offer at the floor will lose you good candidates.

Collective agreements, the Tarifverträge that cover many sectors, often set their own minimum pay above the statutory figure, and where one binds your business it takes precedence. Treat the Mindestlohn as the legal line you cannot cross, not as a guide to what a role should pay.

The minimum wage applies to part-time staff in the same way, on a per-hour basis. It also sets the ceiling for a Minijob, the marginal form of employment, because that threshold is linked to the minimum wage and rises whenever the wage does.

Temporary and agency work is covered too. Staff placed through Zeitarbeit or Arbeitnehmerüberlassung have to be paid at least the minimum wage, and often more where a sector agreement applies. There is no category of ordinary work where an employer can pay below the floor.

Most breaches are not deliberate. They happen when unpaid overtime drags the effective hourly rate below the minimum, when deductions eat into pay, or when someone is misclassified as an intern or working student who should be on the full rate.

Germany also requires employers in certain sectors to record working hours, so that compliance with the minimum wage can be checked. The safest approach is to track hours, keep the effective rate above the floor at all times, and review pay each time the rate steps up. This is one of the routine checks we run as an employer of record.

Sources: the Mindestlohnkommission decision of June 2025 and BMAS publications on the statutory minimum wage. Figures reviewed July 2026.