On 1 January 2027 Germany’s statutory minimum wage rises from €13.90 to €14.60 gross an hour, and the minijob earnings limit goes from €603 to €633 a month (as of 13 October 2026). Both figures are settled: the federal government has already enacted the Minimum Wage Commission’s recommendation by ordinance, so no new law is needed.
According to the government, more than six million employees are affected, meaning everyone who until now earned less than €13.90 an hour. If you work in a café, shop, cleaning, care assistance or warehousing, check your January payslip closely.
What does it mean in euros?
The 70-cent rise is a little over five per cent. For a full-time job of 40 hours a week (about 173 hours a month), the minimum monthly pay goes from roughly €2,409 to roughly €2,530 gross, around €121 more. At 20 hours a week the gain is about €61 gross a month. Take-home pay rises by less, since tax and social contributions depend on tax class and health insurer.
The wage floor is rising in two steps: from €12.82 in 2025 to €13.90 on 1 January 2026, and now to €14.60 — about 13.9 per cent in two years. The commission agreed this unanimously in June 2025, its chair Christiane Schönefeld said at the time. The €15 mentioned in the coalition agreement was not reached. Employer representative Steffen Kampeter said the greatest difficulty had been “the great political and media pressure”, while DGB board member Stefan Körzell calculated that full-time workers would have about €310 more gross a month in 2027 than in 2025.
Minijobs: more euros, not more hours
The minijob limit is tied to the minimum wage: minimum wage times 130, divided by three, rounded up to the next full euro. For 2027 that gives €633 a month, or €7,596 a year. In practice the number of hours barely changes: at €14.60 it is still about 43 hours a month. Someone working 43 hours at €13.90 will earn roughly €30 more without becoming liable for social insurance. Earn above €633, though, and you enter the transition zone (“Midijob”) up to €2,000, where the employee’s share of contributions is reduced.
A minijob paying €13.90 for 43 hours would fall below the minimum from January, so employers must either raise the hourly rate or cut hours. This applies regardless of nationality or residence permit: the minimum wage is owed to every employee aged 18 and over, including people with protection under Section 24 of the Residence Act. Exceptions cover certain internships, trainees (who have their own pay rules) and under-18s without a vocational qualification; many sectors also have higher collectively agreed minimums.
What to do now: check the hourly rate in your contract and on your payslip, and ask your employer in December whether they will pay €14.60 from January. If you are paid less, trade-union advice centres and the customs authority (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit) can help; the federal labour ministry offers an information sheet on the minimum wage in 14 languages.
Our assessment: the commission is expected to decide on the 2028 level by around mid-2027. Whether it will again be unanimous is open, and the argument over €15 is likely to return. Putting a number on it now would be speculation.
Sources: Bundesregierung, BMAS, Tagesspiegel, Deutsche Handwerks Zeitung
